“It reminds me of the Kentucky basketball season. It was a great year. We went to the Sweet 16, which is a lot to be proud of, but we’re Kentucky fans. If we don’t win it all, we’re disappointed.” That is how 82nd District Rep. Nick Wilson summed up his experiences during the recently completed 2025 legislative session, explaining that, while there were many positive developments, there was still a lot more that he would have liked to get done.
“I had two bills get across the finish line,” Wilson said. “Those were important, but I filed six or seven, and in a perfect world we’re able to make a difference in every area that we’re trying to make a difference in.”
We don’t live in a perfect world, obviously, so Wilson had to join his fellow legislators in taking the wins where he could get them while also making preparations to regroup and try again in those areas where his efforts were not so successful.
Among Wilson’s disappointments this year is the fact that one of his bills, HB 290, did not become law despite it receiving universal support in both the House of Representatives. The bill, which aimed to ensure that law library funds can be used to pay for subscriptions to computer-assisted legal research, internet access, and computer equipment as opposed to only physical resources, like books, passed the House on Feb. 26 with a vote of 91-0. It made it to the Senate, where it received a favorable report after committee review, but then it stalled out and was never brought up for a vote.
“It is frustrating to have a bill that gets passed unanimously, but doesn’t become law,” Wilson said, saying that he considered HB 290 “common sense legislation” that would be helpful to communities, bar associations, and individual lawyers, especially younger lawyers who are just starting out.
Wilson said that he expects this particular piece of legislation to get passed during the 2026 session.
Another instance of efforts coming up short was with HB 292 and the resulting House Joint Resolution 49. With HB 292, Wilson proposed that the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) make some procedural changes in how it processes the transfers of student-athletes. The bill never made it out of committee in the House, leading to HJR 49, which directed the KHSAA to “submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) by December 1, 2025 concerning student-athlete transfers and eligibility and making recommendations to improve the process.”
HJR 49 would go on to pass the House with a unanimous 92-0 vote, but it was never assigned to a committee in the Senate. According to Wilson, this means that the KHSAA will not be compelled to submit any reports to the LRC, but he said that he would still like to communicate with officials from the association in hopes of finding ways to better serve student-athletes across the Commonwealth.
Some of the wins that Wilson can celebrate this year include House Bill 241, which passed into law without Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature late last week.
Wilson had input on this bill, which was primarily sponsored by 89th District Rep. Timmy Truett (R) and allows school districts to make up days missed by adding instructional time to student attendance days. It also provides five “disaster relief student days” for districts who otherwise would not be able to complete the required 1,062 hours of instruction by June 4, 2025. Whitley County Public Schools has already made use of the legislation, announcing via its official Facebook page last week that the last day of instruction for students will be Thursday, May 22, and the closing day for staff will be Friday, May 23.
Despite not being in total agreement with some of the provisions related to “virtual programs” that were later added thanks to a Senate committee substitute, Wilson said that he is happy to see HB 241 get passed and become available for school superintendents to utilize as needed.
“I am so glad that it passed,” Wilson said of HB 241. “Rep. Truett worked so hard on it, and it went through a lot of speed bumps, but it became law and school districts are now using it.”
Wilson was the primary sponsor of HB 132, which allows a student admitted to an inpatient facility to receive home and hospital services effective on the day of admittance. This bill was passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate before receiving the Governor’s signature on March 18.
Another bill sponsored by Wilson, HB 805, did make it into law, but not in the way initially intended.
“The bill was originally a cleanup for child abuse reporting practices,” Wilson said of HB 805, going on to explain that an eventual Senate committee substitute became a point of debate and was taking too much time to get resolved. When it looked like the bill would not be able to pass as-is, other options were utilized.
Ultimately, the provisions outlined in HB 805 were added onto a bill coming out of the Senate, SB 181, which sponsor Lindsey Tichenor (R, 6th District) has used to set guidelines for how school districts should handle electronic communications to-and-from students.
Just before the conclusion of this year’s legislative session, Wilson had the opportunity to stand on the House floor and recite a legislative citation in honor of another accomplished Whitley Countian – the late Elmer Patrick.
“It meant a lot to me to be able to honor him as a pillar of this community that so many people knew, and were proud to know,” Wilson said of the former state representative, who passed away last November.
The Kentucky General Assembly will reconvene in Frankfort next January for what promises to be another eventful legislative session. It will certainly look and feel a little different, however, as legislators will be conducting the people’s business at a temporary location as the Capitol building undergoes extensive renovations.
For more on the 2025 legislative session, go online to www.legislature.ky.gov.
