“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” – Isaiah 30:21
As the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly is heating up, there are two notable bills impacting churches and rights of conscience that have recently been filed. First, is Senate Bill 72, the “Health Care Heroes Recruitment and Retention Act,” which importantly protects medical conscience rights, and second, House Bill 101, which will end sales and use taxes impacting churches and their ministries.
Senator Donald Douglas (R-Nicholasville) filed SB 72 to ensure that no healthcare worker or anyone in the medical field could have their employment or livelihood threatened because of their refusal to participate in any act that would violate their deeply held religious or moral convictions. Last session, Sen Douglas filed a similar bill to protect medical conscience rights that overwhelmingly passed the Senate, but unfortunately, as it was on the verge of passage, House leadership kept the bill from receiving its final vote.
House Bill 101 was filed by Representative James Tipton (R-Taylorsville) in order to free pastors and church leaders to focus on their immensely important ministries and not on the burden that sales and use tax places on the ministries. In 2022, the KY General Assembly passed House Bill 8, which led to churches being subject to these taxes, leading to the need for HB 101. Last session, Rep. Tipton also filed a similar bill that did not move forward in the House despite having more than half of the Republican caucus cosponsoring the bill.
In November, the largest denomination in the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC), called on the Kentucky General Assembly to pass both of these legislative measures in strongly worded resolutions at their annual meeting. It is encouraging to see believers across Kentucky advocate for God-honoring legislation, fulfilling the command to be salt and light, which will lead to a state that God will bless.
As we begin our “Let Us Pray” devotionals for 2026, we will be taking time during the legislative session to encourage you to pray, by name, for our elected leaders (see below). Let us commit to praying regularly for our Kentucky governmental leaders to act in ways that bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ and are a blessing to our Commonwealth.
LET US PRAY…
Father, we praise You for the courage of Senator Donald Douglas and Representative James Tipton for filing these much-needed God-honoring bills. Lord, may both of these bills reach passage this year. Lord, we praise You for believers across our Commonwealth fulfilling Your command to be salt and light and for coming together to powerfully advocate for these immensely important bills. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Praying For Our Kentucky Leaders
Join us in praying for our elected leaders throughout the 2026 Legislative Session!
KY Legislators
Sen. Jared Carpenter
Sen. Danny Carroll
Rep. Josh Branscum
Rep. Steve Bratcher
Rep. Josh Bray
Rep. Randy Bridges