Thank you so much to @claywallace.bsky.social for having me on to talk about two last-second anti-trans bills in Kentucky! #kyga26 Check it out:

NEW: Hope everyone placed their bets on the number of shell bills this session. #KYGA26 open.substack.com/pub/thegalle...

Among the new bills tonight: HB 888 would prohibit any future collective bargaining agreements tied to local governments and school districts. Existing CBAs would be grandfathered in. #KYGA26

More on Senate Bill 351 in my latest for Queer Kentucky 👇 #kyga26 queerkentucky.com/kentucky-sb-...

Such an important story + thread 👇

NEW: A few Ky. Republicans filed a bill that would keep transgender teachers out of the classroom. Let's chat Senate Bill 351. #KYGA26 open.substack.com/pub/thegalle...

Kentucky House just passed HB 503, the legislative budget for the next 2 years. It would give legislators a 2% raise. They ruled a Democratic amendment out of order that would have stripped out the raises. #kyga26

the long travel nightmare that is simply being a clifton resident continues

I’ve filed a lot of stories in a lot of odd places but writing in a salon chair I believe is a first

HB 1 will be in the Senate Education Committee tomorrow at 10 a.m.

"About two dozen Kentucky communities, including Lexington and Louisville, also have 'fairness ordinances' that prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people, which their local human rights commissions can act on. There is no statewide fairness law." The latest from John Cheves:

House Bill 1 — the federal scholarship tax credit bill — just passed out of committee. Three Dems passed on their vote, only one Dem voted no. HB 1 can get a full House vote as early as this afternoon. #kyga26

In a convo about cuts to graduate programs at U of L's Pan-African Studies Dept., Prof. Ricky Jones raised an interesting q: Will UofL bring back supports designed for Black students and faculty following a recent ruling against Trump's DEI restrictions? www.lpm.org/investigate/...

NEW: Midseason stats from the first half of Kentucky’s 2026 legislative session #kyga26 open.substack.com/pub/thegalle...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will join Rep. Jason Petrie tomorrow in Frankfort to present a resolution in a committee meeting that calls Congress to submit to states a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution for their ratification. #kyga26 Resolution: apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/...

NEW: Nine things I'm watching, wondering, thinking, etc. as we head into the second half of Kentucky's 2026 legislative session. #KYGA26 thegallerypass.substack.com/p/nine-thing...

School decision-making councils become advisory panels only under Shelbyville Republican lawmaker’s legislation.

Massie Update

Y’all, the next edition of The Gallery Pass is going to be delayed a bit so I can see how a few votes turn out tomorrow. We’re alive, we’re good, I’m just trying to bring y’all the freshest news. #KYGA26

Catch up on the week’s news in Kentucky policy and politics with the latest issue of @thegallerypass.bsky.social! #kyga26 open.substack.com/pub/thegalle...

A Kentucky Senate committee has passed bills that would limit administrator pay increases to those given to teachers and require more training, as the legislature hones in on public school accountability. www.lpm.org/news/2026-02...

Kentucky’s SNAP error rate is low enough that the state’s health cabinet doesn’t plan to request cost share funding from the General Assembly this budget cycle, per Department for Community Based Services Commissioner Lesa Dennis. MORE: kentuckylantern.com/2026/02/05/s...

y’all can’t drive and that’s why the schools are closed. learn to think, and then learn to drive. good lord.

Don’t forget: Today is the last day to nominate someone to be a 2026 Gallery Pass Power Player! Nominate your fave movers and shakers in Frankfort here #kyga26 forms.gle/VjpPcnMWfFDL...

Rep. Daniel Grossberg says he's "been fully cleared of these frivolous allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct." That's not what happened today. The ethics commission is limited in investigating sexual harassment; it's not explicitly considered misconduct in the code.

“I did not feel safe refusing him. I did not feel safe leaving. I did not feel safe fully asserting boundaries...No one, especially someone elected to represent their neighbors, should be permitted to behave this way without accountability.” -- Sarah Ritter kentuckylantern.com/2026/02/02/e...

Is a Buc-ee's coming to the Louisville area? Here's what we know

GOP Sen. West, chair of committee, goes a little off topic & asked the JCTA teachers union president how much their PAC spent to help elect Justine Goodwine & if that was a quid pro quo to get favorable ruling in the Kentucky Supreme Court. Background on GOP's related impeachment inquiry: #kyga26

This bill is up in Senate Education committee now. Testifying against it is JCPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood: "You want to give me more authority. I shouldn't have it." Says this bill is a distraction from imporving student outcomes, it's just a bill about adults/politics. #kyga26

FYI: Senate Bill 1 — the JCPS bill — and SB 3 will be heard in the Senate Education Committee Thursday at 10. #kyga26

On Wednesday’s committee agendas in Frankfort: — HB 4, which would make grooming a minor a crime — HB 103, a no-fluoride-in-your-water bill. #kyga26

If I were the social media manager of a police department that was found to have routinely violated the civil rights of the community it serves, and also had to pay out $200K for a sexual harassment lawsuit a mere month ago, I would simply not post things like this. But that's just me!

👀 a source just told me Kentucky’s legislative session for Monday has been canceled due to the snow #kyga26

thank god

State Rep. Beverly Chester-Burton — twice arrested for DUI as a public office holder — has filed a bill "to strengthen penalties for illegal street racing ... citing growing risks to drivers, pedestrians..." She said the bill makes it clear KY won't "tolerate conduct that endangers public safety.”

Just got copies of the Senate GOP’s two new priority bills — both big on education. SB 1 basically redoes the law that gave JCPS’ superintendent more power over the district that the state Supreme Court struck down in December. This time, the bill has much more solid language. #kyga26

frankly, getting less "engagement" is a plus. a zero note post keeps you humble.

NEW newsletter! #kyga26 open.substack.com/pub/thegalle...

In these tumultuous times, let it be known we are attempting to codify our official Kentucky state mushroom.

SCOOP www.lpm.org/investigate/...

We’ve got an anti-drag bill here in Kentucky #kyga26

Ahh, we’ve gotten so many new nominations for TGP’s 2026 class of Power Players today! Who are *the* folks to watch in Kentucky policy and politics this year? Nominate someone here: forms.gle/vYTCWSs6rUKR...

To cock-a-doodle-do or cocka-doodle-don't? That is the question. I'm keeping an eye on state bills that seem targeted at Lex or would have a particularly strong effect here. The only one I see so far would ... override Lex's recent limit to 1 rooster per house. www.kentucky.com/news/local/c...

After a technical delay, my post-election filings takeaways newsletter has arrived — check it out: open.substack.com/pub/thegalle...

it is a beautiful evening to write nearly 1,000 words of political analysis to later realize your wifi has been down the whole time and you can’t post it, nor do you know if it saved anywhere, ever.

Rep. Nima Kulkarni of Louisville, who was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, would be banned from office in Kentucky if this was enacted. She called these bills “antithetical to everything that we would consider essential to a healthy democracy.” #kyga26

ICYMI: The first #KYGA26 edition of The Gallery Pass is OUT! Give it a read + subscribe if you haven’t already. substack.com/home/post/p-...

The Senate has already adjourned for the day, but the House is still reading bills into the record. Sounds like more than 200 new bills so far in the House. I'm hearing topics like open meetings, elections, lots of constitutional amendments, another Charlie Kirk Day bill and more. #kyga26

This feed is super, super helpful — highly recommend!

Hello from the majestic Capitol Annex! The House and Senate are kicking things off for the year in the temporary chambers. All of the public and lobbyists are forced to watch a livestream of the proceedings in the Annex. As you can see, it is popping. #KYGA26