republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2026rs/hb-490.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to employment at public postsecondary education institutions and declaring an emergency."
description: "Amend KRS 164.360, 164.230, and 164.830 to allow for the removal of faculty members at public postsecondary education institutions for bona fide financial reasons; require the boards of regents and trustees of the institutions to establish the process for removal based on financial reasons with specified parameters; EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "HB 490"
citation: "Kentucky HB 490 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Boards And Commissions", "Education", "Higher", "Effective Dates", "Emergency", "Universities And Colleges"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["A. Thompson", "J. Tipton"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 46
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/832fbbf2-f2b7-468d-9034-5e43dd213a57"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb490.html"
source_hash: "883fa65eb98a7ee8a0f2592ad1d5186c43a10470ac3be491884c661e39a8b713"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky HB 490 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to employment at public postsecondary education institutions and declaring an emergency.

Amend KRS 164.360, 164.230, and 164.830 to allow for the removal of faculty members at public postsecondary education institutions for bona fide financial reasons; require the boards of regents and trustees of the institutions to establish the process for removal based on financial reasons with specified parameters; EMERGENCY.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/hb490/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 169** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0169.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/hb490/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- Final Passage — **75–18** (pass) · lower
- Pass — **72–21** (pass) · lower
- OVERRIDE VETO FINAL PASSAGE HB 490 — **32–6** (pass) · lower
- PASS HB 490 w/ SCS 1 — **30–7** (pass) · lower
- Veto Override — **80–19** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- A. Thompson — primary (person)
- J. Tipton — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in House `introduction`
- **2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03T05:00:00+00:00** to Postsecondary Education (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-10T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-11T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-02-12T05:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2026-02-13T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, February 17 2026
- **2026-02-17T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 72-21 with Floor Amendment (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-02-18T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** to Education (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Education (S)
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** 1st reading `reading-1`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** returned to Education (S)
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Education (S)
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** returned to Education (S)
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, to Rules with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** placed in the Orders of the Day
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** passed over and retained in the Orders of the Day `passage`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 30-7 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-31T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in Senate Committee Substitute (1)
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Committee Substitute (1)
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** passed 75-18 `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00** Vetoed `executive-veto`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** posted for consideration of Governor's veto
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** veto overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** passed 80-19 `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** posted for consideration of Governor's veto
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** veto overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** passed 32-6 `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 169) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/832fbbf2-f2b7-468d-9034-5e43dd213a57`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).