KY HB 281

enacted

AN ACT relating to the donation of food.

Kentucky · 2026 Regular Session · lower

Follow this bill’s action updates (Atom)

Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.

Quick answers

Did KY HB 281 pass?

Yes. KY HB 281 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-04-03): signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 30)

What is KY HB 281 about?

Amend KRS 217.127 to define "charitable food donor" as a nonprofit or religious organization that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or home-based processor, which produces food for distribution to a homeless shelter or to individuals displaced due to a declared natural disaster; exempt a charitable food donor from the licensing requirements of KRS 217.005 to 217.215 and application of State Plumbing Code requirements; amend KRS 217.218 to conform; amend KRS 411.241 to exempt a nonprofit or religious organization that is recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or a home-based processor from civil or criminal liability arising from the production or donation of food to a homeless shelter or to individuals displaced due to a declared natural disaster.

Who sponsors KY HB 281?

W. Williams, R. White, A. Thompson and 27 others are the primary sponsors of KY HB 281.

Description

Introduced: 2026-01-08
Latest action: 2026-04-03 — signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 30)
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Subjects

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

2026-04-03
signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 30)
executive-signature
2026-03-26
delivered to Governor
2026-03-26
enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
passage
2026-03-26
enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
passage
2026-03-26
received in House
2026-03-25
3rd reading, passed 38-0
passage,reading-3
2026-03-24
passed over and retained in the Consent Orders of the Day
passage
2026-03-20
posted for passage in the Consent Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 24 2026
2026-03-11
2nd reading, to Rules as a consent bill
reading-2
2026-03-10
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Consent Calendar
committee-passage
2026-03-06
to Agriculture (S)
referral-committee
2026-01-30
to Committee on Committees (S)
referral-committee
2026-01-30
received in Senate
2026-01-29
3rd reading, passed 95-0
passage,reading-3
2026-01-27
posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, January 28, 2026
2026-01-22
2nd reading, to Rules
reading-2
2026-01-21
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
committee-passage
2026-01-15
to Agriculture (H)
referral-committee
2026-01-08
to Committee on Committees (H)
referral-committee
2026-01-08
introduced in House
introduction

Versions

IntroducedCompare
Current/FinalCompare
Acts Chapter 30Compare

Documents

Votes

Pass
2026-01-29 · pass · 95-0
Member-level votes (101)
- Aull: yes
- Dietz: yes
- Hancock: yes
- McCool: yes
- Rudy: yes
- Baker: yes
- Doan: yes
- Hart: yes
- McPherson: yes
- Sharp: yes
- Banta: yes
- Donworth: yes
- Heavrin: yes
- Meade: yes
- Smith: yes
- Bauman: yes
- Dotson: yes
- Hodgson: yes
- Meredith: yes
- Stalker: yes
- Bivens: yes
- Duvall: yes
- Holloway: yes
- Miles: yes
- Stevenson P: yes
- Blanton: yes
- Elliott: yes
- Imes: yes
- Moore: yes
- Tackett Laferty: yes
- Bojanowski: yes
- Fister: yes
- Jackson: yes
- Moser: yes
- Tate: yes
- Bowling: yes
- Flannery: yes
- Johnson: yes
- Neighbors: yes
- Thomas: yes
- Branscum: yes
- Fleming: yes
- King: yes
- Nemes: yes
- Thompson: yes
- Bratcher S.: yes
- Freeland: yes
- Koch: yes
- Osborne: yes
- Tipton: yes
- Bray: yes
- Fugate: yes
- Lawrence: yes
- Payne: yes
- Truett: yes
- Bridges: yes
- Gentry: yes
- Lehman: yes
- Petrie: yes
- Upchurch: yes
- Burke: yes
- Gooch: yes
- Lewis C: yes
- Pollock: yes
- Watkins: yes
- Callaway: yes
- Gordon: yes
- Lewis D: yes
- Proctor: yes
- Wesley: yes
- Calloway: yes
- Griffee: yes
- Lewis S: yes
- Rabourn: yes
- Whitaker: yes
- Camuel: yes
- Grossberg: yes
- Lockett: yes
- Raymer: yes
- White: yes
- Chester-Burton: yes
- Grossl: yes
- Maddox: yes
- Riley: yes
- Williams: yes
- Clines: yes
- Hale: yes
- Marzian: yes
- Roarx: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Decker: yes
- Hampton: yes
- Massaroni: yes
- Roberts: yes
- Witten: yes
- Brown: not voting
- Dossett: not voting
- Huff T: not voting
- Kulkarni: not voting
- Willner: not voting
- COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY SENATE: not voting
CONSENT PASSAGE OF HB 281
2026-03-25 · pass · 38-0
Member-level votes (38)
- Berg: yes
- Girdler: yes
- Neal: yes
- Storm: yes
- Boswell: yes
- Givens: yes
- Nemes: yes
- Thomas: yes
- Carpenter: yes
- Herron: yes
- Nunn: yes
- Tichenor: yes
- Carroll: yes
- Higdon: yes
- Raque Adams: yes
- Webb: yes
- ChambersArmstrong: yes
- Howell: yes
- Rawlings: yes
- West: yes
- Clemons: yes
- Madon: yes
- Reed: yes
- Wheeler: yes
- Deneen: yes
- Mays Bledsoe: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Williams: yes
- Douglas: yes
- McDaniel: yes
- Smith: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Elkins: yes
- Meredith: yes
- Stivers: yes
- Wise: yes
- Funke Frommeyer: yes
- Mills: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb281.html

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:22:24.357326Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changes Status and relationship changes

Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:

Bulk imports for this session Session dates and activity

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=KY&identifier=HB 281. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
Committee referrals are not yet captured.

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.