# Kentucky SB 9: AN ACT relating to teacher benefit provisions and declaring an emergency. Kentucky SB 9, AN ACT relating to teacher benefit provisions and declaring an emergency., is a 2025 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Jimmy Higdon (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-03-31 (signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 138)); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-SB9-2025RS - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Kentucky SB 9 - State: Kentucky - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: AN ACT relating to teacher benefit provisions and declaring an emergency. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2025-02-18 - Last action: 2025-03-31, signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 138) - Sponsor: Jimmy Higdon (Republican) - Cosponsors: 3 - Subjects: Education, Elementary and Secondary, Effective Dates, Emergency, Public Officers and Employees, Retirement and Pensions, State Agencies, Teachers, Actuarial Analysis, Fiscal Note - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 3 (159 yes, 16 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 15 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Paid maternity leave for school employees: benefit, medium. By July 1, 2030, Kentucky school districts must adopt policies providing up to 30 paid maternity leave days. This leave covers teachers and employees who give birth. Employees must use these days before other leave. Unused days expire upon return to work and cannot become another type of leave. Dis… - Disability coverage and teacher retirement choices: benefit, medium. Teacher pension members joining on or after January 1, 2022, are eligible for a disability benefit set through board rules. The board must arrange a contracted or self-insured plan, with benefits based on actuarial calculations and adjustable as law allows. Separately, disability retirees who immed… - Pension access for computer academy staff: benefit, medium. Qualifying full-time WeLeadCS staff can participate in Kentucky's Teachers' Retirement System. Their teaching or professional jobs must require certification or a four-year college degree. The law also counts members as active contributors when they contributed in the previous fiscal year. Member c… - Teacher account bonuses and lifetime payments: benefit, medium. Employers may add $1,000 to eligible nonuniversity members' supplemental retirement accounts for each of their first five contributing service years. Members must have joined on or after January 1, 2022, and employers must choose to contribute. Nonuniversity members who participate in the supplemen… - Teachers gain disability appeal report access: benefit, medium. Members appealing a denial of disability retirement can obtain the medical review committee's written recommendations and reports. Their lawyers have the same access. Outside that appeal, the reports remain confidential, even against subpoenas or court orders. - Teachers lose pensions after job felonies: cost, high. Teacher pension members who joined on or after August 1, 2000, forfeit retirement rights and benefits after a job-related felony conviction. The conviction can be in state or federal court. Members can receive accumulated contributions and interest credited only through the conviction date. - Firm deadlines for teacher pension claims: cost, medium. Written appeals involving retirement pay, service credit, retirement eligibility, or survivor eligibility are due within 30 days of first notice. Members must withdraw, postpone, or change a retirement application by the 15th day of the month they applied. Disability applications are due within one… - Full costs for teacher service purchases: cost, medium. Some teacher pension members must pay the full actuarial cost when buying retirement service credit. That cost includes benefit increases or eligibility for increases, including retirement health insurance supplement payments. The retirement board can set rules for calculating, collecting, and payi… - Stricter checks on teacher disability benefits: cost, medium. The teacher retirement system must suspend disability benefits when recipients skip required medical exams or fail to provide requested medical records. Recipients subject to income limits must provide requested income and job records, including tax returns or wage forms. Missing income records sus… - Retirees face firm beneficiary change limits: cost, low. Covered teacher pension retirees can name a new beneficiary only after a qualifying event. Events include divorce, annulment, marriage dissolution, marriage, remarriage, or the named beneficiary's death. A beneficiary change or new optional payment choice must be made within 60 days of the event. T… - Teacher pension funding framework is repealed: cost, low. The law repeals the statutory funding framework for past teacher pension benefit improvements. That framework covered appropriation schedules and cost-of-living increases. The repeal does not itself state a new pension payment amount. - Sick leave payouts and pension funding: mixed, medium. Districts may pay for unused sick days at retirement, or pay an estate when an active member dies after qualifying for service retirement. Each day's payment is capped at 30% of the daily pay rate from the employee's last annual salary. Kentucky covers related pension costs for eligible balances ac… - Teacher pension corrections and overpayment collection: mixed, medium. The teacher retirement system must correct discovered record errors that caused too much or too little benefit pay. It must adjust payments, as far as practical, to provide the actuarial equivalent of the benefit owed. It must also take practical, cost-effective steps to collect overpayments, regar… - Pension subpoenas cover more, with costs: mixed, low. Lawful subpoenas or court orders can cover retirement estimates, affidavits, and other documents prepared or held in response to requests. The teacher retirement board can adopt rules to recover reasonable costs when a subpoena requires an employee to travel. The subpoena issuer bears those costs u… - Public access to lawmakers' pension records: mixed, low. Anyone can request specified teacher pension account details about current or former Kentucky lawmakers. The retirement system must provide names, membership or retiree status, retirement-allowance information, and current or last participating employers. This rule excludes accounts paying benefici… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Jimmy Higdon (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Donald Douglas (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Shelley Funke Frommeyer (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Steve Rawlings (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-03-28 | House | passed | pass | 90 | 9 | | | 2025-03-28 | Senate | passed | pass | 38 | 0 | | | 2025-03-05 | Senate | 3rd reading, passed | pass | 31 | 7 | | ## Actions (38) - 2025-03-31: signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 138) - 2025-03-28: delivered to Governor - 2025-03-28: enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House (Senate) - 2025-03-28: enrolled, signed by President of the Senate (Senate) - 2025-03-28: passed 38-0 (Senate) - 2025-03-28: Senate concurred in House Committee Substitute (1) (Senate) - 2025-03-28: posted for passage for concurrence in House Committee Substitute (1) (House) - 2025-03-28: to Rules (S) (Senate) - 2025-03-28: received in Senate (Senate) - 2025-03-28: passed 90-9 with Committee Substitute (1) (House) - 2025-03-28: taken from the Orders of the Day (House) - 2025-03-28: returned to the Orders of the Day (House) - 2025-03-28: Committee Substitute adopted (House) - 2025-03-28: 3rd reading (House) - 2025-03-27: Floor Amendment (1) withdrawn (House) - 2025-03-13: placed in the Orders of the Day (House) - 2025-03-13: taken from Rules (House) - 2025-03-12: floor amendments (1) and (2) filed to Committee Substitute (House) - 2025-03-12: reported favorably, 2nd reading, to Rules with Committee Substitute (1) (House) - 2025-03-11: to State Government (H) (House) - 2025-03-11: returned to Committee on Committees (H) (House) - 2025-03-11: 1st reading (House) - 2025-03-11: taken from Committee on Committees (H) (House) - 2025-03-06: to Committee on Committees (H) (House) - 2025-03-06: received in House (House) - 2025-03-05: 3rd reading, passed 31-7 with Floor Amendments (1) and (2) (Senate) - 2025-03-04: floor amendments (1) and (2) filed (Senate) - 2025-03-04: posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, March 05, 2025 (Senate) - 2025-03-04: reported favorably, to Rules (Senate) - 2025-02-28: returned to State & Local Government (S) (Senate) - 2025-02-28: 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-28: taken from State & Local Government (S) (Senate) - 2025-02-27: returned to State & Local Government (S) (Senate) - 2025-02-27: 1st reading (Senate) - 2025-02-27: taken from State & Local Government (S) (Senate) - 2025-02-20: to State & Local Government (S) (Senate) - 2025-02-18: to Committee on Committees (S) (Senate) - 2025-02-18: introduced in Senate (Senate) ## Bill text - Current, 2025-03-28: [PDF](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/25RS/sb9/bill.pdf) - Introduced, 2025-03-05: [PDF](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/25RS/sb9/orig_bill.pdf) ## Related bills - HB 501: AN ACT relating to pharmaceutical drugs. (became law) - HB 664: AN ACT relating to the operation of a motor vehicle and declaring an emergency. (signed) - HB 606: AN ACT relating to economic development. (signed) - HB 421: AN ACT relating to colorectal cancer screenings. (signed) - HB 555: AN ACT relating to local government financial practices. (signed) - HB 493: AN ACT relating to the towing and storage of motor vehicles. (signed) ## Sources - [Current (PDF)](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/25RS/sb9/bill.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/25RS/sb9/orig_bill.pdf) ## Related - [HB 501: AN ACT relating to pharmaceutical drugs.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-HB501-2025RS) - [HB 664: AN ACT relating to the operation of a motor vehicle and declaring an emergency.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-HB664-2025RS) - [HB 606: AN ACT relating to economic development.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-HB606-2025RS) - [HB 421: AN ACT relating to colorectal cancer screenings.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-HB421-2025RS) - [HB 555: AN ACT relating to local government financial practices.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-HB555-2025RS) - [HB 493: AN ACT relating to the towing and storage of motor vehicles.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-HB493-2025RS) - [Kentucky bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/kentucky/bills) - [Kentucky state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/kentucky) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KY-SB9-2025RS (as of 2026-10-17).