News

Good afternoon colleagues,

Last night, the Kentucky General Assembly adjourned sine die until January 5, 2027. Entering the final two days of the session, most universities were facing base appropriation reductions of approximately 4% over the biennium. However, following extensive discussions between university leaders and legislators, those reductions were ultimately restored. Senate Bill 197 (SB197) was amended in the House Appropriations and Revenue committee and repurposed as a budget clean up bill. Through SB197, university base appropriations were restored,along with a range of other adjustments affecting various areas of state government. At this time, there is no single consolidatedbudget document reflecting all of these changes. For reference, I have linked to House Bill 500 (HB500) and SB197 below for those who wish to review the measures together.

Budget Breakdown:

HB500 is the Executive Branch Biennial Budget. HB500 provides the following funding for WKU:

House Bill 900 (HB900) is a one-time appropriations bill and includes $7,700,000 in each year of the biennium for a total of $15,400,000 for IT infrastructure upgrades. 

View HB500 here.

View SB197 here.

View HB900 here.

Other Legislation:

House Bill 96

House Bill 96 (HB96) alters the makeup of the performance funding workgroup and requires the workgroup to meet every four years instead of every three years. HB96 will add ten members to the existing performance funding workgroup:

HB96 was vetoed by Governor Beshear. However, the General Assembly overrode the veto and delivered the bill to the Secretary of State. View HB96 here.

House Bill 307

House Bill 307 (HB307) establishes a proactive admissions program for public universities. HB307 requires the Kentucky Department of Education to share directory level information for all students with the public universities and offers students the opportunity to opt into the proactive admissions program. For every student that opts into the program, the Kentucky Department of Education will be required to provide the public universities with the student’s GPA and ACT and/or SAT test score. Public universities are required to notify all students that meet the minimum qualification for admissions to their prospective university. HB307 was signed by Governor Beshear on April 7, 2026. View HB307 here.

House Bill 379

House Bill 379 (HB379) is a postsecondary education clean-up bill. The main item of relevance to WKU in the bill is a mandate that the Kentucky Department of Revenue must continue to provide enrollment related debt collection services upon a university’s request. Governor Beshear vetoed HB379. However, the General Assembly overrode the veto and delivered the bill to the Secretary of State. View HB379 here.

House Bill 490

House Bill 490 (HB490) is an Act relating to employment at public postsecondary education institutions. HB490 provides for the removal of faculty members at public universities for bona fide financial reasons and requires each institution’s governing board to establish a process for removal based on financial reasons. Governor Beshear vetoed HB490. However, the General Assembly overrode the veto and delivered the bill to the Secretary of State. View HB490 here.

Senate Resolution 217

Senate Resolution 217 (SR217) confirms the reappointment of W. Currie Milliken to the WKU Board of Regents for a term expiring June 30, 2031. SR217 was adopted by the Senate. View SR217 here.

View all legislation WKU tracked this session here.