Kentucky’s 2026 General Assembly has concluded, and overall, it was a disappointing session that lacked many significant victories for pro-family issues.
While several notable bills were passed, including HB 1 to opt Kentucky into the new federal school choice program and legislation that The Family Foundation faith fully advocated for over three years to protect churches from the ministry burden of collecting and remitting sales tax, many priority pro-life and pro-family bills were stalled and ultimately killed.
Too many meaningful, God-honoring bills were not even given the light of day, while bad bills expanding unconstitutional forms of gambling (HB 904) and inconsequential bills designating a state mushroom and renaming the state dog were passed instead.
In some cases, key bills passed one chamber but not the other, including much-needed legislation to empower parents to protect kids from harmful social media (HB 227 passed the House, but was killed in the Senate) and legislation protecting the fundamental right to medical conscience (SB 72 passed the Senate, but was killed in the House).
Other broadly supported bills to stop deadly abortion death pill trafficking (HB 646), protect religious liberty (HB 170), clearly define that there are only two sexes in state law (HB 334/SB 179), protect K-12 schools from discriminatory DEI (SB 26), and restore the Ten Commandments to classrooms (HB 670) were not even allowed to have a committee hearing by Republican leadership.
While there were many excuses offered throughout the session based upon protecting certain members from “tough votes” in an election year, the buck ultimately stops with the Republican leadership in both chambers who prevented key bills from moving forward.
The failure of the General Assembly to prioritize laws valuing life and family led to celebrations from anti-family and anti-life organizations like Planned Parenthood and the pro-LGBTQ Fairness Campaign (pictured). This certainly speaks volumes to the lack of boldness this session.
Kentuckians deserve better than allowing radical advocacy groups and their Leftist media cheerleaders to operate a kind-of “heckler’s veto” over policies that were deemed too “controversial.” It’s no wonder there are growing frustrations with Republican leaders for having priorities that are out of step with conservative Kentuckians.
This session is a reminder of why Christians must remain committed to working to advance God-honoring policies each and every session. As we move forward and look toward the 2026 elections and next legislative session, Kentuckians must demand higher accountability and bolder action from our legislators in Frankfort.
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