Legislators bring Frankfort home to GRADD

When the gavel bangs and legislators push in their chairs and leave the Frankfort legislative chambers, the question can be asked: Is the work ending or just beginning?

In 2026, Kentucky lawmakers filed more than 1,300 bills, and only a fraction of those bills and resolutions passed both chambers and became law. It's safe to say that while a lot of work was done, there is still a lot on the table. Still, a victory lap or two can be taken for the important legislation that was passed.

This past May, the legislators for the Green River Area District took a small portion of that victory lap through Owensboro and the Green River Area Development District's monthly board meeting. All but one of the legislators representing the district in the House and Senate were able to attend the meeting.

The meeting was a chance for community members to not only hear from their legislators face to face, but also get a full recap on what they fought for while in Frankfort.

"Their willingness to share insights from the 2026 legislative session reflects a deep commitment to the communities we collectively serve," GRADD Executive Director Kenny Williams said. "We are grateful for their leadership, their accessibility and their continued investment in the future of western Kentucky. Opportunities like this remind us of what can be accomplished when public servants, local leaders and regional partners come together with a shared vision for progress."

Present for the meeting from the Senate were Sen. Stephen Meredith and Sen. Gary Boswell. From the House of Representatives were Rep. Suzanne Miles, Rep. Jim Gooch Jr., Rep. Scott Lewis, Rep. DJ Johnson and Rep. JT Payne.

"My mission is to reduce healthcare costs, specifically the Medicaid program, by 30% over the next five years," Sen. Stephen Meredith said. "If we can do that, if we can reduce the bureaucracy, if we reduce the number of people on the Medicaid program and give them gainful employment and improve the population, we can do this. So, to that end, the piece of legislation I'm proudest of this session was Senate Concurrent Resolution 9, which called for a different means of delivering the Medicaid program."

For Rep. Scott Lewis and Rep. JT Payne, education matters were at the top of their list this session.

"Overall, we've had a good session, probably the last six years, in education in Kentucky," Rep. Lewis said. "We've put in place policies that help student outcomes, and that's what we should be doing."

"We're changing from a change model to a growth model," Rep. Payne said. "Our former accountability model looked at schools and said, how did this year's third-grade class compare to next year's third-grade class? Well, that's like comparing apples to oranges. That's a totally different set of teachers, and that's a totally different set of kids. So, now what we're doing is measuring the growth of each individual child."