Part 2 of Legislative Session Begins

Lawmakers returned to Frankfort on February 4 to resume the 2025 Regular Session and got right to work filing several bills, meeting with constituents, and attending committee meetings. 

The biggest victory of the week was the Senate passage of legislation that will make Kentucky more competitive by lowering the state’s individual income tax to 3.5 percent as of January 2026. This measure is the next step in the legislature’s efforts to leave more money in the pockets of Kentuckians, empowering them to save, invest, and spend in ways that benefit their own communities. This measure not only helps Kentuckians, but also strengthens Kentucky’s economic competitiveness, making it an even more attractive place to work.

A lower income tax fosters growth, creates jobs, and ensures that our state remains on a path toward sustained prosperity. HB 1 continues the House Majority’s efforts to eliminate the individual income tax entirely. In 2018, the General Assembly first acted to decrease the individual income tax rate from 6 percent to 5 percent, which resulted in historic economic growth, as well as record job creation and state revenue. Lawmakers passed legislation HB 8 22RS that lays the groundwork to eliminate the individual income tax entirely but includes preset triggers that must be met before the legislature can move to decrease the tax in half a percentage point increments. These triggers essentially hold funding for state programs and agencies harmless. I am pleased to share that the bill was signed into law just a day after the House and Senate sent it to the Governor’s desk. We were, of course, prepared to override another veto if necessary.