The 2021 Kentucky General Assembly was a meeting of the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in th ...

, composed of the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout Kentucky, the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky senators. T ...

and the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

. It convened in Frankfort on January 5, 2021, and adjourned ''sine die'' on March 30, 2021. It was the second regular session of the legislature during the tenure of governor

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

. The legislature convened again in September 2021 for an extraordinary session. Republicans maintained their majorities in both chambers following the 2020 elections for the senate and the house. During this session, the General Assembly approved two constitutional amendments that were voted on in November 2022, including the No Right to Abortion Amendment.

Major legislation

Enacted

; House bills
HB 4
2022 Kentucky Amendment 1: An act proposing to amend the

Constitution of Kentucky The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the document that governs the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was first adopted in 1792 and has since been rewritten three times and amended many more. The later versions were adopted in 1799, 1850, ...

relating to sessions of the General Assembly
HB 91
2022 Kentucky Amendment 2: An act proposing an amendment to the

relating to abortion

Party summary

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

Presiding

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Robert Stivers Bertram Robert Stivers II (born December 24, 1961) is a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate representing the 25th Senate District since 1997. He served as the Republican Majority Leader of the Kentucky Senate through 2012 and became the ...

(R) * President pro tempore: David P. Givens (R)

Majority (Republican)

* Majority Leader: Damon Thayer * Majority Whip: Mike Wilson * Majority Caucus Chair: Julie Raque Adams

Minority (Democratic)

* Minority Leader: Morgan McGarvey * Minority Whip: Dennis Parrett * Minority Caucus Chair: Reggie Thomas

House of Representatives

Presiding

* Speaker: David Osborne (R) * Speaker pro tempore: David Meade (R)

Majority (Republican)

* Majority Leader:

Steven Rudy Steven Jack Rudy (born August 9, 1978) is an American politician and agribusiness owner who has served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2005. He represents Kentucky's 1s ...

* Majority Whip: Chad McCoy * Majority Caucus Chair: Suzanne Miles

Minority (Democratic)

* Minority Leader: Joni Jenkins * Minority Whip: Angie Hatton * Minority Caucus Chair: Derrick Graham

Extraordinary session

The legislature was convened by governor

from September 7 to 9 following a ruling of the

Kentucky Supreme Court The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of Ap ...

that his

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

regarding the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

required the approval of the legislature. The General Assembly approved the state of emergency, but banned Beshear from instituting mask mandates.

Members

Senate

Senators in odd-numbered districts were elected in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, while senators in even-numbered districts were elected in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. : 1.

Jason Howell Jason Glenn Howell (born December 19, 1970) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate representing District 1. Biography Howell was born in Fulton, Kentucky. He earned his JD from the University of Kentucky Colle ...

(R) : 2. Danny Carroll (R) : 3.

Whitney Westerfield Whitney Henderson Westerfield (born November 29, 1980) is an American attorney, politician and a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate who represented district 3 from 2013 to 2025. In 2015, Westerfield was the unsuccessful Republican nominee ...

(R) : 4. Robby Mills (R) : 5.

Stephen Meredith Air Vice Marshal Stephen Leslie Meredith, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He joined the RAAF as a navigator in 1986. He has commanded No. 6 Squadron RAAF (2006–08), No. 42 Wing RAAF (2008–10), the A ...

(R) : 6. C. B. Embry (R) : 7.

Adrienne Southworth Adrienne E. Southworth (born April 18, 1988) is an American politician from Kentucky. She is a Republican who represented District 7 in the Kentucky Senate. She was defeated for renomination in the 2024 primaries. After Donald Trump lost the 2 ...

(R) : 8. Matt Castlen (R) : 9. David P. Givens (R) : 10. Dennis Parrett (D) : 11.

John Schickel John Schickel (born March 29, 1954) is an American Republican politician. He was a member of the Kentucky Senate from 2009 to 2025. He did not run for reelection in 2024. Schickel earned an M.P.A. degree from Northern Kentucky University. A ...

(R) : 12. Alice Forgy Kerr (R) : 13. Reggie Thomas (D) : 14.

Jimmy Higdon James Cecil Higdon Jr. (born July 15, 1953) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Kentucky Senate since 2009. He represents the 14th district, which includes LaRue, Marion, Nelson, Spencer, and Washington Counties. He cur ...

(R) : 15. Rick Girdler (R) : 16. Max Wise (R) : 17. Damon Thayer (R) : 18. Robin L. Webb (D) : 19. Morgan McGarvey (D) : 20. Paul Hornback (R) : 21. Brandon J. Storm (R) : 22. Tom Buford (R) : 23.

Christian McDaniel Christian Edward McDaniel (born July 19, 1977) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate, representing District 23 since January 2013. He was the running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate James Comer ...

(R) : 24. Wil Schroder (R) : 25.

(R) : 26. Karen Berg (D) : 27. Steve West (R) : 28. Ralph Alvarado (R) : 29. Johnnie Turner (R) : 30. Brandon Smith (R) : 31. Phillip Wheeler (R) : 32. Mike Wilson (R) : 33.

Gerald Neal Gerald Anthony Neal (born September 22, 1945) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Kentucky Senate since 1989. He has been the longest-serving member of the senate since the resignation of David Williams in 2012. Early l ...

(D) : 34. Jared Carpenter (R) : 35. Denise Harper Angel (D) : 36. Julie Raque Adams (R) : 37.

David Yates David Yates (born 8 October 1963) is an English filmmaker, who has directed feature films, short films, and television productions. He is best known for directing the final four films in the Harry Potter (film series), ''Harry Potter'' series ...

(D) : 38. Michael J. Nemes (R)

House of Representatives

All 100 house districts were last up for election in

. : 1.

(R) : 2.

Richard Heath Richard Heath (born August 9, 1955) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2012 to 2025. He represented Kentucky's 2nd House district, which included Graves County and part o ...

(R) : 3. Randy Bridges (R) : 4. Lynn Bechler (R) : 5. Mary Beth Imes (R) : 6.

Chris Freeland Chris Freeland (born January 7, 1969) is an American politician serving as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2019. He represents Kentucky's 6th House district, which incl ...

(R) : 7. Suzanne Miles (R) : 8. Walker Thomas (R) : 9.

Myron Dossett Myron Blane Dossett (born January 9, 1961) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2007. He represents Kentucky's 9th House district, which includes part of Christi ...

(R) : 10. Josh Calloway (R) : 11. Jonathan Dixon (R) : 12. Jim Gooch (R) : 13. DJ Johnson (R) : 14. Scott Lewis (R) : 15. Melinda Gibbons Prunty (R) : 16. Jason Petrie (R) : 17.

Steve Sheldon Steve Sheldon (born March 30, 1960) is an American politician from Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican party and represented District 17 in the Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house ...

(R) : 18.

Samara Heavrin Samara Rae Heavrin (born March 12, 1992) is an American politician and Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. She represents Kentucky's 18th House district, which includes Grayson County as well as part of Hardin County ...

(R) : 19. Michael Meredith (R) : 20. Patti Minter (D) : 21. Bart Rowland (R) : 22. Shawn McPherson (R) : 23. Steve Riley (R) : 24. Brandon Reed (R) : 25.

Jim DuPlessis James Carme DuPlessis (born November 19, 1969) is an American politician and engineer who served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for House District 25 from 2015 to 2023. As an engineer, he works for ChemTreat Inc. ...

(R) : 26.

Russell Webber Russell Webber (born July 11, 1967) is an American politician and a former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing District 49 from 2013 until 2015 and District 26 from 2015 to ...

(R) : 27.

Nancy Tate Nancy Jones Tate (born December 4, 1964) is an American politician and Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from District 27. Her district includes all of Meade County as well as the northern portion of Hardin County, inc ...

(R) : 28. Charles Miller (D) : 29.

Kevin Bratcher Kevin Dale Bratcher (born April 17, 1961) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1997 to 2025. In 2016, Bratcher became the first Republican House Majority Whip in Kentucky hist ...

(R) : 30. Tom Burch (D) : 31. Josie Raymond (D) : 32.

Tina Bojanowski Christine Bojanowski (born August 29, 1964) is an American politician. She is a Democrat representing District 32 in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Personal life Bojanowski holds a Bachelor of Science and an MBA from the University of ...

(D) : 33.

Jason Nemes Jason Michael Nemes (born March 27, 1978) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member in the Kentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 33rd House district since 2017. He currently serves as House Majority Whip. Ba ...

(R) : 34. Mary Lou Marzian (D) : 35.

Lisa Willner Lisa Gail Willner (born March 9, 1959) is an American politician from Kentucky, serving as a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly ...

(D) : 36. Jerry T. Miller (R) : 37.

Jeffery Donohue Jeffery M. Donohue (born June 26, 1954) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 37 from 2013 to 2023. He was defeated for reelection in 2022 by Republican Emily Cal ...

(D) : 38. McKenzie Cantrell (D) : 39. Matt Lockett (R) : 40. Nima Kulkarni (D) : 41. Attica Scott (D) : 42. Reginald Meeks (D) : 43. Pamela Stevenson (D) : 44. Joni Jenkins (D) : 45. Killian Timoney (R) : 46. Al Gentry (D) : 47. Felicia Rabourn (R) : 48. Ken Fleming (R) : 49. Thomas Huff (R) : 50. Chad McCoy (R) : 51. John Carney (R) : 52. Ken Upchurch (R) : 53. James Tipton (R) : 54. Daniel Elliott (R) : 55. Kim King (R) : 56. Daniel Fister (R) : 57. Derrick Graham (D) : 58.

Jennifer Decker Jennifer Decker (born 28 December 1982) is a French actress. She is best known for the role of Lucienne in the 2006 American film '' Flyboys''. Life and career Jennifer began her theatrical career at an early age. At 18 she was spotted by di ...

(R) : 59. David Osborne (R) : 60. Sal Santoro (R) : 61.

Savannah Maddox Savannah Lee Maddox (born November 2, 1987) is an American politician. She is a Republican and represents District 61 containing Grant County, Gallatin County, and parts of Kenton and Boone Counties in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Madd ...

(R) : 62. Phillip Pratt (R) : 63. Kim Banta (R) : 64. Kimberly Poore Moser (R) : 65. Buddy Wheatley (D) : 66. C. Ed Massey (R) : 67. Rachel Roberts (D) : 68. Joseph Fischer (R) : 69. Adam Koenig (R) : 70. William Lawrence (R) : 71. Josh Bray (R) : 72. Matthew Koch (R) : 73. Ryan Dotson (R) : 74. David Hale (R) : 75.

Kelly Flood Kelly Flood (born April 14, 1959) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives representing District 75 from 2009 to 2023. Education Flood attended Starr King School for the Ministry and earned her ...

(D) : 76. Ruth Ann Palumbo (D) : 77.

George Brown Jr. George Edward Brown Jr. (March 6, 1920 – July 15, 1999) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from California. He represented suburban portions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County in the United ...

(D) : 78.

Mark Hart Mark Hart (born July 2, 1953), is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for being a member of both Supertramp (1986–1988, 1996–2002) and Crowded House (1993–1996, 2007–2016). As well as being a group member, touring ...

(R) : 79. Susan Westrom (D) : 80. David Meade (R) : 81. Deanna Frazier (R) : 82. Regina Bunch (R) : 83. Josh Branscum (R) : 84.

Chris Fugate Christopher Wade Fugate ( ; born December 28, 1969) is an American politician and Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 84th House district. His district includes Breathitt, Owsley, and Perry counties. He a ...

(R) : 85. Shane Baker (R) : 86. Tom Smith (R) : 87.

Adam Bowling Adam Edward Bowling (born February 4, 1982) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 87th House district since January 2019. His district includes Bell County and ...

(R) : 88.

Cherlynn Stevenson Cherlynn Watley Stevenson (born July 17, 1976) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as a member in the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 88th district from 2019 to 2025. She also served as Minority Caucus Chair. ...

(D) : 89. Robert Goforth (R) : 90. Derek Lewis (R) : 91. Billy Wesley (R) : 92. John Blanton (R) : 93.

Norma Kirk-McCormick Norma Kirk-McCormick is an American politician from Kentucky who was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. Kirk-McCormick was first elected in 2020 after incumbent representative Chris Harris retired to run for th ...

(R) : 94. Angie Hatton (D) : 95. Ashley Tackett Laferty (D) : 96. Patrick Flannery (R) : 97. Bobby McCool (R) : 98.

Danny Bentley Danny R. Bentley is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2017 to 2025. He represented Kentucky's 98th House district which included Greenup County as well as part of Boyd County ...

(R) : 99. Richard White (R) : 100.

Scott Sharp Scott Sharp (born February 14, 1968) is an American professional racing driver in the United SportsCar Championship. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing Leagu ...

(R)

Changes in membership

Senate changes

, - ! 22 , ,
(R) , data-sort-value="July 6, 2021" , Incumbent died July 6, 2021.
A

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

was held November 2, 2021. , colspan=2 align=center , Vacant until the next session

House of Representatives changes

, - ! 51 , ,
(R) , data-sort-value="July 17, 2021" , Incumbent died July 17, 2021.
A

was held November 2, 2021. , colspan=2 align=center , Vacant until the next session , - ! 89 , ,
(R) , data-sort-value="August 24, 2021" , Incumbent resigned August 24, 2021.
A

was held November 2, 2021. , colspan=2 align=center , Vacant until the next session

Committees

Senate committees

House of Representatives committees

Notes

References

* {{Kentucky General Assemblies Kentucky legislative sessions 2021 in Kentucky

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Major legislation

Enacted

Party summary

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

Presiding

Majority (Republican)

Minority (Democratic)

House of Representatives

Presiding

Majority (Republican)

Minority (Democratic)

Extraordinary session

Members

Senate

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

Senate changes

House of Representatives changes

Committees

Senate committees

House of Representatives committees

See also

Notes

References