republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2026rs/sb-59.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to prohibited uses of tax dollars and resources."
description: "Amend KRS 65.013 to define terms; expand the prohibition on using tax dollars to advocate for or against a public question on the ballot to prohibit using any resources, and to explicitly apply prohibition to school districts, regional educational cooperatives, and recalls on a ballot; establish a criminal penalty and a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person found guilty of violating the prohibition; create a cause of action for a citizen aggrieved by a violation of the prohibition; establish a statute of limitations to commence suit and the appropriate venue; provide when the suit accrues; specify damages recoverable per violation; allow for class action; include a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person held civilly liable; amend KRS 48.025 and 132.017 to conform."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "SB 59"
citation: "Kentucky SB 59 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cities", "Corrections Impact", "Counties", "Crimes And Punishments", "Education", "Elementary And Secondary", "Local Government", "Local Mandate", "Public Officers And Employees", "Special Districts", "Special Purpose Governmental Entities", "State Agencies"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["A. Reed", "D. Douglas", "G. Elkins", "L. Tichenor", "M. Deneen", "S. Rawlings"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 41
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-01-09T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2157a3f0-4dd2-4885-991f-e29388ca5855"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/sb59.html"
source_hash: "534d73599a919eede8298ec2dcaeba747e9b225f9c5e2049a32222fb4507cef7"
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 SB 59 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to prohibited uses of tax dollars and resources.

Amend KRS 65.013 to define terms; expand the prohibition on using tax dollars to advocate for or against a public question on the ballot to prohibit using any resources, and to explicitly apply prohibition to school districts, regional educational cooperatives, and recalls on a ballot; establish a criminal penalty and a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person found guilty of violating the prohibition; create a cause of action for a citizen aggrieved by a violation of the prohibition; establish a statute of limitations to commence suit and the appropriate venue; provide when the suit accrues; specify damages recoverable per violation; allow for class action; include a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person held civilly liable; amend KRS 48.025 and 132.017 to conform.

## 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/sb59/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 155** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0155.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb59/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS SB 59 w/ SCS 1 — **28–9** (pass) · upper
- OVERRIDE VETO FINAL PASSAGE SB 59 — **31–7** (pass) · upper
- Pass — **75–16** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE OF SB 59 w/ HCS 1, HFA 2 — **29–8** (pass) · upper
- Veto Override — **80–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- A. Reed — primary (person)
- D. Douglas — primary (person)
- G. Elkins — primary (person)
- L. Tichenor — primary (person)
- M. Deneen — primary (person)
- S. Rawlings — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-09T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-01-09T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-20T05:00:00+00:00** to Appropriations & Revenue (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-25T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-26T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-04T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, March 05 2026
- **2026-03-05T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 28-9 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-06T05:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-03-06T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-10T04:00:00+00:00** to State Government (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-12T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (1) filed to Committee Substitute `amendment-introduction`
- **2026-03-13T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-17T04:00:00+00:00** floor amendment (2) filed to Committee Substitute `amendment-introduction`
- **2026-03-19T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, March 20 2026
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 75-16 with Committee Substitute (1) and Floor Amendment (2) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** taken from Rules
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in House Committee Substitute (1) and Floor Amendment (2)
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** Senate concurred in Committee Substitute (1) and Floor Amendment (2)
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** passed 29-8 `passage`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-07T04:00:00+00:00** Vetoed `executive-veto`
- **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 passage 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 31-7 `passage`
- **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 (H)
- **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** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-14T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 155) `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2157a3f0-4dd2-4885-991f-e29388ca5855`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).