FRANKFORT, Ky. — Lawmakers won’t be able to advance any bills until they return to Frankfort at the end of the month to finish out this year’s legislation session. Here are a few bills they should be able to pass. 


What You Need To Know

  • The 2023 legislative session is nearing completion 

  •  Lawmakers return for the last two days on March 29

  • Lawmakers can override vetoed bills until then

A bill legalizing medical marijuana cleared the Senate Thursday, March 16. Senate Bill 47 still must pass the House before ending up on the governor’s desk.

House Bill 551, regulating sports betting in Kentucky, awaits a final vote in the Senate. 

Both measures, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) says, he supports. 

“I am always going to back a statutory medical marijuana framework whereby people won’t have to drive to other states to secure medical marijuana,” Gov. Beshear said during his Team Kentucky briefing Thursday. 

House Bill 544 will soon be on its way to the governor. The bill would regulate delta 8 and other hemp-derived products. People would have to be at least 21 to purchase those products as well. The bill would also require products to be tested for harmful chemicals.

“There are bad players in this industry and this process of extracting this higher level of delta-8, if it’s done inappropriately it can be dangerous, it can leave byproducts behind, pesticides, heavy metals,” State Rep. Rebecca Raymer (R-Morgantown) said. 

A bill thought to be on its death bed has gained new life in the House. 

Senate Bill 115, which would restrict where drag performances could take place, received its first reading in the House late Thursday night.  

SB 115 would ban “sexually explicit” adult performances in publicly owned spaces and businesses where a child could see the show. 

If passed, the governor would likely veto Senate Bill 115. 

Lawmakers have until they come back for the remaining two days of the legislative session to override the governor’s veto.

After that period, any bills he vetoes will not become law.