Senate President Robert Stivers, left, and House House Speaker David Osborne speak briefly during a joint session of the House and Senate convened to hear Gov. Andy Beshear’s speech on the State of the Commonwealth, Jan. 8, 2025. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Arden Barnes)
FRANKFORT — Top Republicans in Kentucky’s legislature are waiting to see what federal mandates come from the Trump administration before enacting policies based on them at the state level.
Both House Speaker David Osborne, of Prospect, and Senate President Robert Stivers, of Manchester, told reporters this week that the General Assembly would be “reactionary” or “reactive” to any new federal measures.
“We may be more reactive than proactive,” Stivers told a group of reporters Wednesday morning. For instance, Stivers said there is an informal working group with Kentucky lawmakers and the Office of the Attorney General discussing potential legislation with Kentucky universities on diversity, equity and inclusion. What comes out of that could be affected by changes from the federal level, he said.
Since taking office last month, Republican President Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders, including measures to gut diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government. Plus, the president has worked to implement tariffs against Canada and Mexico, though those have been paused for a month. Some expected moves from the Trump administration include dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and making some changes to Medicaid. Some Republicans in Congress want to pay for Trump’s proposed tax cuts by cutting spending on Medicaid, the government-funded health insurance for low-income people. Almost 1.5 million Kentucky adults and children are covered by Medicaid.
In Frankfort, Osborne told reporters Tuesday afternoon that state lawmakers “lay some groundwork to what happens, but we almost have to react to what happens on the federal level”
“There’s obviously discussions about downsizing Medicaid, there’s discussions about dispersing the functions of the Department of Education,” Osborne said. “Those things obviously will affect us and impact us, and we will have to make policy about it, but it’s pretty difficult to make it in advance of.”
“There are several areas, like the Department of Education, I don’t think the functions would be different,” Stivers said. “I think they may divert funding and optioning to let states make more of the decisions on how they use educational funds, more of a coordinator than an entity that would mandate or dictate policy.”
The president lacks the power to unilaterally abolish an agency created by the U.S. Congress; nonetheless, national news outlets report the White House is preparing an executive order to abolish the Department of Education.
Stivers also said Kentucky lawmakers “have to be responsive to what they will allow or not allow” in regards to Medicaid changes at the federal level.
“We put up generally 30% of the Medicaid dollars they match with 70%, so the criteria around what they put up, then we can work within those guardrails would be one thing we look at and want to acknowledge,” Stivers said. “The other is the match rate. If they were to change the match rate, and that would impact us. So yes, we will — and we are — being very cognizant and watching what moves in Washington.”
Kentucky’s legislature adjourns at the end of March. Stivers said that some federal changes may come after that. He added that lawmakers have been discussing policies with various stakeholders, like health care providers, universities and Kentucky’s federal delegation.
“I think Washington moves much slower than us. So one of our big concerns is, will this happen after we leave the session?” Stivers said. “Then it would be up to a governor to call us back in if there is something that we need to respond to.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Andy Beshear, the state’s leading Democrat, has been critical of Trump administration policies. Last week, he called the chaos around the White House’s attempt to pause federal funding “one of the most bizarre days” he’s seen in government.”
State legislature priorities
The first Republican priority — a bill to further reduce Kentucky’s income tax — made it to the governor’s desk Tuesday after gaining passage in the Senate. Lawmakers will continue introducing and debating new legislation in the coming days.
Stivers said legislation from “virtually every task force” that met in the interim session will be introduced. Those groups reviewed artificial intelligence, housing and more. Stivers said the AI legislation could focus on notifying viewers about content generated by AI.
Osborne said other priorities for Republicans in his caucus include a focus on “government efficiency” and education policy. He noted that the House split its education committee in two to “each focus on their own areas of expertise.”
“Between the Medicaid budget and some of the other cabinet budgets, I think it’s important that we continue to make sure that we’re making sound business decisions with our budget, making sure that those programs are running effectively and efficiently, seeing what works, what doesn’t work,” Osborne said.
Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, filed Tuesday a measure to create a working group to aid the Kentucky treasurer’s office in modernizing occupational tax collections, House Bill 253.
On the other side of the aisle, House Democrats held a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss their legislative agenda, which includes 15 bills focused on strengthening public schools, supporting household economics, changing public safety policies to support justice for all, expanding health care access and protecting workers’ rights. The House has 20 Democrats to the Republicans’ 80 seats, meaning they will need GOP support to advance their agenda.
“This legislation may be seen by some through a partisan lens, but we see these bills as common sense solutions that benefit us all — not just one party over another,” said Rep. Al Gentry, the Democratic caucus chair from Louisville. “We stand ready to work with our colleagues across the aisle and pass these vital measures.”
The last day to introduce bills in the Senate is Feb. 18. The last day in the House is Feb. 19.
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