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Kentucky House passes college‑outreach 'My Kentucky Future Act' and a package of bills on data centers, domestic violence and prison education
Summary
The Kentucky House passed a slate of measures March 4, 2026, including HB307 ("My Kentucky Future Act") to allow opted‑in juniors to receive targeted college outreach and a common application, HB593 to protect ratepayers amid data‑center development, HB418 on child‑centered domestic‑violence visitation rules, HB5 improving prison education data collection, and HB584 adjusting DEA licensing discretion for reinstated physicians.
The Kentucky House advanced a broad set of bills March 4, 2026, approving measures on higher education outreach, data‑center development, domestic violence, prison education and professional licensing before adjourning until March 5.
Representative Tipton introduced House Bill 307, which backers labeled the "My Kentucky Future Act," and the House adopted committee and floor amendments before passing it by roll call. The bill creates an opt‑in outreach process for juniors who preliminarily qualify for admission to public post‑secondary institutions, establishes a common application usable across the nine public institutions, and directs the Kentucky Department of Education to share data with KY Stats for longitudinal cohort analysis. A floor explainer from the gentleman from Spencer said the effort aims to streamline application steps and provide students with information on institutional scholarships and the new common application. "We actually gave this bill a designated name and that is my Kentucky Future Act," the sponsor said on the floor.
Lawmakers also passed House Bill 593, a measure sponsors said is intended to protect electric ratepayers as data‑center investment grows in the Commonwealth. Representative Bray sponsored the bill; a floor explainer from the gentleman from Rockcastle described three guardrails: requiring data centers either to bring their own generation, purchase on the open market, or prepay for projected generation and transmission cost increases, and preserving local regulatory certification before tax incentives. The explainer argued the approach balances economic development with protections for utility customers. The bill passed on a recorded vote.
On child‑safety policy, the House approved House Bill 418, which sponsors said prioritizes the non‑offending parent in custody and visitation decisions involving domestic violence. The sponsor told members the bill ensures victim advocates can be heard and requires repeatedly violent parents to address abusive behavior before unsupervised visitation.
Prison education reform also moved forward. House Bill 5 carried a friendly floor amendment that adds post‑release employment tracking (in addition to offers recorded prior to release). Supporters said the amendment improves data collection about employment outcomes for people leaving custody.
House Bill 584, which amends licensing language so medical boards have discretion rather than an absolute statutory ban when considering reinstatement and subsequent DEA applications for physicians with past license revocations, drew more questions. The gentleman from Knox said boards retain authority to deny reinstatement and federal DEA approval remains a separate safeguard.
Votes at a glance: HB307 (My Kentucky Future Act) — passed by roll call; HB593 (data centers) — passed 90–8; HB418 (domestic violence/visitation) — passed 96–1; HB5 (prison education, with amendment) — passed; HB584 (licensing/DEA discretion) — passed 80–16; HB628 (athletic trainer compact) — passed unanimous; HB469 (school board background checks) — passed unanimous. Several other bills and dozens of new filings were referred to committees or placed on the calendar.
The House temporarily suspended rules to accommodate last‑day bill filing procedures and completed committee referrals before adjourning until 2 p.m. on March 5, 2026.
