The deadline for filing bills passed this week. While no new bills can be filed, over 100 shell bills - legislative bills introduced without any substantive policies but which can be later amended with substantive legislative proposals - have been submitted since the start of the 2023 legislative session.

A significant development this week was the House committee's approval of a labor reform bill designed to safeguard taxpayer dollars and uphold employee rights. The bill prohibits the government from withholding or transmitting funds directly to labor unions, and it also requires unions to seek employees' annual opt-in instead of leaving the onus on employees to go through the process to opt-out.

Despite having dozens of sponsors, the constitutional amendment that would enable state education dollars to fund students rather than institutions has yet to make any progress. This amendment is crucial for Kentucky to ever have any school choice options, particularly after a recent Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that struck down scholarship tax credits and education opportunity accounts. The soonest the proposed amendment could appear on the ballot for voters to decide would be in the November 2024 general election.

In other legislative news, the Senate passed legislation this week to cover teachers' liability insurance, and the bill now moves on to the House. The aim is to pass the legislation this year and then make an appropriation next year during the budgeting session to cover the costs.

Following a study by an interim task force, a bill to reduce Kentucky's bourbon barrel tax has been introduced and assigned to the House's Appropriations and Revenue Committee. Unlike other types of taxes, bourbon is taxed while it is aging in the barrel, rather than just on the overall product.

A House bill establishing a board to review tax expenditures and economic incentives was assigned to a committee. Although filed last year, the bill never moved. However, creating this board is an important step towards greater government accountability and reducing corporate welfare.

Here is an updated list of bills we are watching: