The Kentucky General Assembly kicked off its 2026 session in Frankfort on Tuesday in unfamiliar surroundings, as state lawmakers operate in a new temporary structure while the Capitol Building is closed for major renovations.
Unlike the Capitol, the smaller temporary building does not contain any room for the public to watch proceedings in the gallery in-person or gather for protests and rallies.
The legislature will use temporary chambers, set up in a large structure in the parking lot, for several years while the Capitol undergoes major renovations next door. Crews continued working on the historic 1910 building as lawmakers met in the new structure for the first time Tuesday.
After gaveling in, Republican House Speaker David Osborne of Prospect declared the 2026 session underway, then added under his breath, “in the parking lot.”
Only staff, lawmakers, reporters and a few guests will be allowed access to the temporary chambers, while members of the public will be relegated to viewing rooms in the connected Capitol Annex or the livestream via KET. The Capitol will likely remain under construction for the next three legislative sessions, if not longer.
As the House passed a resolution laying out the rules of the chamber this session, Rep. Lindsey Burke, the Democratic minority caucus chair from Lexington, lamented that they “take us even further away from transparency,” as the public cannot access the new building or chambers.
"I do think that we need to be very mindful as we go forward in a space that doesn't allow the public to be present of what steps we can take to ensure that they're fully informed about the work we're doing,” Burke said. “I wish we could have collaborated more. However, it seems that the opportunity escaped us."
Osborne later told reporters that access to the chambers is limited by the construction, but the annex where committee meetings take place remains completely accessible to the public.
“It is certainly not the grand building that we're used to meeting in,” Osborne said. “I continue to remind our members that the work that goes on in here is just as important, and so we're going to have to find inspiration in the work we do, as opposed to the building we serve in. This is still the Capitol.”
The Republican supermajority’s biggest task this session will be drafting the state’s two-year budget. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear will announce his budget priorities in his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday, but the legislature will deliver its own budget to his desk by the end of the 60-day session.
Republicans were expected to file their budget bill in the first week of the session, but Osborne told reporters that it has not yet been finalized and he’s unsure if it will be filed before Beshear gives his budget address.
“I don't know when that bill will be filed,” Osborne said. “We'll file ours when it's ready. And it's not ready yet.”
After a decade of budget surpluses — spurred in the last two budget sessions by pandemic era federal stimulus spending — Kentucky is facing a projected budget shortfall in the current fiscal year. Osborne said he thought this would be the most difficult budget to craft since Republicans took over the House majority in 2017, but added that the state has built up a record budget reserve trust fund of nearly $4 billion.
“I think that the real debate and conversations that we will have around (the budget) is the uncertainty,” Osborne said. “Uncertainty is the enemy of good budgeting, and we have a dramatic amount of uncertainty.”
Osborne said this uncertainty involves the global and national economies, as well as the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Congress last year that makes future cuts to federal programs.
GOP Senate President Robert Stivers of Manchester said he “totally disagrees” with Democrats who say that this year’s budget will be full of tough decisions. He said he does not agree that the forecasted $156 million budget shortfall has any bearing on future budgets, arguing it is outweighed by previous surpluses and that it is a very small percentage of the more than $15 billion per-year state budget.
“We have plenty of surplus to cover anything we need to do. So some people want to create chaos, anarchy, some type of catastrophe, but we feel like we're pretty comfortable dealing with the budget as it currently exists.” Stivers said. “In the next few years, we expect to have pretty robust growth in our receipts even though we're cutting taxes.”
Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald Neal of Louisville said Tuesday he wants lawmakers to face upcoming budget difficulties head on and with full transparency. He pointed to the cost shifting of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program onto states — approximately $180 million annually for Kentucky — and impending cuts to Medicaid that will roll out over the next decade.
“Decisions made in Washington are already shifting costs onto states, counties and local communities,” Neal said. “Our responsibility in Frankfort is to confront those realities head on and not pretend that they do not exist.”
Beshear gives his budget address Wednesday, where he is expected to call for his universal pre-K program. He has campaigned hard for Pre-K for All, especially in the last year, but Republican leadership has been unreceptive.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated that the State of The Commonwealth address will be held in front of a joint session of lawmakers. This year lawmakers will not call a joint session for the address.
