FRANKFORT, KY (March 27, 2025)—The Kentucky Senate has once again voted to override Gov. Andy Beshear's vetoes, continuing a trend that has surpassed 100 veto overrides during his time in office. The measures at the center of the overrides aim to reduce bureaucratic overreach, enhance government transparency, and reassert constitutional checks and balances.
The vetoed Senate bills (SB) address various policy priorities—from education and economic development to regulatory oversight and judicial independence. Each bill was overridden with the support of Republican supermajorities in both legislative chambers.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Max Wise Reacts
“In overriding these vetoes, the legislature continues its strong precedent of upholding Kentucky’s values—values the executive branch increasingly contradicts.
“What’s most concerning in the Governor’s veto messages is the pattern of laying the groundwork to later ignore his constitutional duty to faithfully execute laws duly enacted by the legislature.
“As we near the end of the 2025 Session and head into the interim, when many of these new laws will take effect, Kentuckians and the press should remain alert. This administration’s selective enforcement and contradictory positions have become as routine as our overriding of his misguided and misleading vetoes.
“Kentucky deserves an executive branch that respects its constitutional responsibilities above the Governor’s political ambitions.”
The following are summaries of SB vetoes overridden by the legislature on Thursday, along with rebuttals to the Governor's veto messages.
SB 19
Sponsor: Sen. Rick Girdler, R-Somerset
SB 19 allows Kentucky students to quietly reflect, pray, or meditate at the start of each public school day. It also outlines a framework for local school boards to approve off-campus moral instruction, with transparency and safety requirements.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s veto overlooks the legislation’s practical and constitutional design. A brief, seated silence allows students to reflect or pray privately without drawing attention to personal beliefs. Beshear objected to the requirement that students be seated, arguing it could conflict with religious practices. However, SB 19 is neutral in language and intent. No major religion universally mandates standing prayer or prohibits seated prayer. Additionally, despite the Governor’s concerns, the Senate believes in the ability of Kentucky’s teachers to oversee this maximum two minutes of silence. The Governor also expressed confusion over the term “moral instruction,” a concern the Senate believes most Kentuckians do not share.
SB 25
Sponsor: Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson
This comprehensive accountability package creates a Medicaid Oversight Board, defines the role of the Commonwealth Office of the Ombudsman, improves transparency in government technology, and adds safeguards to child welfare oversight.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s line-item vetoes targeting the Ombudsman and Auditor reflect reluctance toward independent oversight and disregard for legislative authority. SB 25 clarifies and strengthens the roles of these offices, ensuring they have access to necessary records and operate with greater transparency. Section 91 of the Kentucky Constitution affirms that the duties of constitutional officers, including the Auditor, are prescribed by law—Beshear’s veto attempts to bypass that authority. The bill also included a $750,000 appropriation for an independent audit of the Kentucky Communications Network Authority, which oversees the KentuckyWired broadband project. Beshear vetoed the funding, calling it a misuse of the Budget Reserve Trust Fund. Yet the audit aims to provide long-overdue transparency into a project that has ballooned to over $1.5 billion and will cost the state nearly $211 million in bond obligations by fiscal year 2025–26. The Senate did concur with one element of Beshear’s veto: logistical clarification regarding delivery of legislation during State Capitol renovations. The legislature sought guidance from the executive branch weeks earlier, but no response was provided until the Governor’s veto message.
SB 28
Sponsor: Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray
SB 28 creates a new fund and board to support innovative agriculture projects and rural job growth. It reorganizes the Department of Agriculture to prioritize rural health and economic opportunity. The law takes effect immediately under an emergency clause.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s veto reflects ongoing resistance to collaborative efforts in rural development. The bill encourages cooperation between the Cabinet for Economic Development and the Agriculture Commissioner without violating confidentiality or the Constitution. Framing this coordination as a constitutional crisis suggests a desire to protect executive turf at the expense of rural progress.
SB 65
Sponsor: Sen. Steve West, R-Paris, and co-chair of the Administrative Regulations and Review Subcommittee
SB 65 nullifies certain administrative regulations related to Medicaid services after legislative review committees find them deficient. The bill includes an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s veto represents an annual pattern of resisting legislative oversight. SB 65 operates fully within the General Assembly’s authority, targeting regulations that failed to meet established standards. Rather than violating the Constitution, the bill reinforces accountability, ensuring that executive agencies cannot implement deficient policies without legislative consent. This bill has been passed annually and has never been challenged by the courts.
SB 84
Sponsor: Sen. Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington
This bill requires Kentucky courts to interpret laws independently of agency interpretations by adopting a de novo standard of review. It reflects the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine.
Senate Rebuttal: SB 84 aligns Kentucky with a national legal shift that reaffirms the judiciary’s role in interpreting statutes. The bill does not weaken governance—it strengthens separation of powers by removing undue deference to regulatory agencies and restoring courts’ neutrality in legal interpretation.
SB 89
Sponsor: Sen. Scott Madon, R-Pineville
SB 89 updates legal definitions of “waters of the Commonwealth” to be consistent with federal law and protects springs, sinkholes, and wellhead areas. It also codifies post-mining water treatment bonding requirements.
Senate Rebuttal: Contrary to the Governor’s claim, SB 89 does not weaken water protections. It broadens them to include non-navigable water sources. The bill maintains environmental safeguards while preventing overregulation that could harm key industries like Kentucky’s agriculture and energy sectors.
SB 183
Sponsor: Sen. Matt Nunn, R-Sadieville
This bill requires investment decisions for Kentucky’s state-administered retirement systems to focus solely on financial interests, not political or social agendas.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s veto of SB 183 reflects either a fundamental misunderstanding of the legislation or an intentional defense of the very practices the bill aims to reform. SB 183 does not restrict fiduciary discretion; it reinforces it by requiring proxy advisory firms to justify votes against corporate boards with clear, demonstrable financial benefit to Kentucky’s public pension systems. This is not a limitation—it is a safeguard designed to provide transparency and accountability for state employees and retirees.
Proxy firms such as ISS and Glass Lewis, which are not subject to fiduciary standards, have increasingly advanced political agendas—including ESG and DEI mandates—within decisions that should be driven solely by financial considerations—SB 183 re-centers pension governance on fiscal responsibility rather than ideological influence.
SB 207
Sponsor: Sen. Steve West, R-Paris, and Senate Education Committee Chair
SB 207 creates a waiver process allowing public schools to adopt innovative instructional strategies, especially in struggling districts. All waivers require approval and oversight by the Kentucky Board of Education.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s veto dismisses a carefully structured tool for school improvement, demonstrating his lack of faith in his own board of education to authorize the waiver of statutes that could promote innovation. SB 207 empowers districts to pursue customized solutions without compromising accountability. It responds to workforce shortages and educational challenges with a responsible framework that mirrors successful initiatives in other states.
SB 245
Sponsor: Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard
SB 245 closes a loophole in the confirmation process for Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioner nominees, requiring affirmative Senate approval for appointments.
Senate Rebuttal: The Governor’s veto misrepresents the constitutional checks the legislature holds over Kentucky’s various boards and commissions and his executive appointments. SB 245 assures that nominees cannot indefinitely serve without Senate confirmation. The legislature has full authority to establish, revise, or dissolve departments and commissions—authority first exercised when it created the Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1944. This bill reinforces that principle by safeguarding transparency and accountability in regulatory leadership.
House Bill Vetoes Overridden
The state House of Representatives took final action on the SB overrides above. The Senate took final action on numerous gubernatorial vetoes of House bills (HB), including HBs 2, 4, 6, 90, 136, 216, 240, 346, 398, 399, 424, 495, 546, 552, 566, 684, 694, 695 and House Joint Resolutions 30 and 46.
Bills not officially reaching enrollment will be acted upon on Friday morning.
Additional Bills Delivered to the Governor
Senate passage was given on Thursday to House Bills 430, 493, 555, and House Joint Resolution 5, and they were returned to the House for concurrence with Senate revisions.
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Please visit Legislature.ky.gov for more information on Senate Majority Caucus members and the 2025 Legislative Session, including committees, membership, legislation, and more.
Live legislative coverage is available at KET.org/legislature and via the Legislative Research Commission YouTube channel.
Access archived footage of legislative meetings at ket.org/legislature/archives.
