2024 Kentucky Amendment 2 was a rejected

legislatively referred A legislative referral (or legislative referendum) is a referendum in which a legislature puts proposed legislation up for popular vote. This may either be voluntarily or, as is the case in many countries for a constitutional amendment, as a man ...

amendment to the

Kentucky Constitution 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 ...

, which was voted on as part of the

2024 Kentucky elections A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 5, 2024. The primary election for all offices was held on May 21, 2024. The last day to register to vote in the primary election was April 22 and the last day to register to ...

. If enacted, the amendment would have allowed 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 ...

to fund charter schools.

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Background

In 2021 the General Assembly passed a law awarding tax credits for donations to private schools. The law was struck down by 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 ...

in 2022 for violating provisions of 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, ...

forbidding public funding of private education. The General Assembly passed a separate law in 2022 which would have allowed for the public funding of charter schools and the creation of two

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

schools, which was also declared unconstitutional by a

Circuit Court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

judge in December 2023.

Legislative history

Amendments to the Kentucky Constitution require 3/5 support in both houses of the General Assembly and a majority vote by referendum; they can not be

vetoed A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

by the governor. The amendment was first introduced on January 26 in the 2024 General Assembly a
House Bill 2
by representative

Suzanne Miles Suzanne Miles (born November 18, 1970) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2014. She represents Kentucky's 7th House district, which includes Daviess, Henderson ...

. The bill passed both houses and was voted on in November 2024. It was one of two constitutional amendments to be approved by both houses during the 2024 legislative session.

House vote

The amendment was approved by the house on March 13 with 65 yeas, 32 nays, and one abstention. Representative Bill Wesley later modified his vote from nay to yea.

Senate vote

The amendment was approved by the senate on March 15 with 27 yeas, eight nays, and three senators not voting. Senator Johnnie Turner later modified his vote from yea to nay. Brandon Smith and Robin L. Webb, who did not vote, modified their votes to nay.

Jared Carpenter Jared Keith Carpenter (born in Richmond, Kentucky, April 26, 1977) is a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate representing District 34 since January 2011. He is the Chairman of the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee. He also serves on the ...

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Background

Legislative history

House vote

Senate vote

Endorsements

Results

See also

Notes

References

Further reading