Bill > HB81

This bill creates several significant changes to Kentucky's administrative regulation process and COVID-19 related policies. It provides that any person who lost a permit, certificate, license, or benefit due to COVID-19 restrictions must be immediately reinstated and can seek legal relief in court. The bill substantially expands the Attorney General's role in the administrative regulation process, giving them new powers to review, modify, or withdraw administrative regulations alongside the Governor. Specifically, the Attorney General can now co-sign emergency regulations, participate in determining whether deficient regulations should be withdrawn, and review agency head decisions that impose more severe penalties than originally recommended by a hearing officer. Additionally, the bill introduces a new judicial review mechanism where courts can investigate whether an agency has willfully violated appropriation restrictions, with potential consequences including removal from office and a 10-year prohibition on holding public office for agency heads found to have intentionally violated such restrictions. The bill applies retroactively to pending administrative matters and takes effect immediately upon passage, reflecting the legislature's intent to provide swift accountability and remedy for actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor and Employment

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25RS/hb81.html