 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
School Choice Amendment | |||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
 Against 70%–80% 60%–70% 50%–60% | |||||||||||||
| Elections in Kentucky |
|---|
 |
 Government |
2024 Kentucky Amendment 2 was a rejected legislatively referred amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, which was voted on as part of the 2024 Kentucky elections. If enacted, the amendment would have allowed the Kentucky General Assembly to fund charter schools. [1]
To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?
IT IS PROPOSED THAT A NEW SECTION BE ADDED TO THE CONSTITUTION OF KENTUCKY TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
The General Assembly may provide financial support for the education of students outside the system of common schools. The General Assembly may exercise this authority by law, Sections 59, 60, 171, 183, 184, 186, and 189 of this Constitution notwithstanding.
In 2021 the General Assembly passed a law awarding tax credits for donations to private schools. The law was struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2022 for violating provisions of the Constitution of Kentucky forbidding public funding of private education. [2] The General Assembly passed a separate law in 2022 which would have allowed for the public funding of charter schools and the creation of two pilot schools, which was also declared unconstitutional by a Circuit Court judge in December 2023. [3]
Amendments to the Kentucky Constitution require 3/5 support in both houses of the General Assembly and a majority vote by referendum; they can not be vetoed by the governor. The amendment was first introduced on January 26 in the 2024 General Assembly as House Bill 2 by representative Suzanne Miles. [4] The bill passed both houses and was voted on in November 2024. It was one of two constitutional amendments to be approved by both houses during the 2024 legislative session. [5]
The amendment was approved by the house on March 13 with 65 yeas, 32 nays, and one abstention. [6] Representative Billy Wesley later modified his vote from nay to yea. [7]
| Party | Votes for | Votes against | Abstentions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (20) | – | 20 | – | |
| Republican (78) | 65 | |||
| Total (98) [a] | 65 | 32 | 1 | |
The amendment was approved by the senate on March 15 with 27 yeas, eight nays, and three senators not voting. [5] Senator Johnnie Turner later modified his vote from yea to nay. Brandon Smith and Robin L. Webb, who did not vote, modified their votes to nay. Jared Carpenter, who also did not vote, later modified his vote to yea. [8]
| Party | Votes for | Votes against | Not voting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (7) | – | 6 | 1 | |
| Republican (31) | 27 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total (38) | 27 | 8 | 3 | |
| Party | Votes for | Votes against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (7) | – | 7 | |
| Republican (31) | 27 | ||
| Total (38) | 27 | 11 | |
U.S. Senators
Statewide officials
State legislators
Newspapers
Organizations
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 No | 1,302,466 | 64.79 |
| Yes | 707,819 | 35.21 |
| Total votes | 2,010,285 | 100.00 |
Julian Morton Carroll was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Kentucky. A Democrat, he served as the 54th governor of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979, succeeding Wendell H. Ford, who resigned to accept a seat in the U.S. Senate. He was most recently a member of the Kentucky Senate, representing Anderson, Franklin, Woodford, Gallatin, and Owen counties. He was the first Kentucky governor from the state's far-western Jackson Purchase region. Thelma Stovall, who served as lieutenant governor with him, was the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.
Brereton Chandler Jones was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1991 to 1995, he was the state's 58th governor, and had served from 1987 to 1991 as the 50th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. After his governorship, he chaired the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), a lobbying organization for the Kentucky horse industry.
The Child Labor Amendment (CLA) is a proposed and still-pending amendment to the United States Constitution that would specifically authorize Congress to regulate "labor of persons under eighteen years of age". The amendment was proposed on June 2, 1924, following Supreme Court rulings in 1918 and 1922 that federal laws regulating and taxing goods produced by employees under the ages of 14 and 16 were unconstitutional.
John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham was an American attorney and politician who served as the 35th governor of Kentucky and a United States senator from Kentucky. He was the state's first popularly-elected senator after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment.
The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives.
Lawrence Winchester Wetherby was an American politician who served as Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Kentucky. He was the first of only two governors in state history born in Jefferson County, despite the fact that Louisville is the state's most populous city. The second governor born in Jefferson County is the incumbent governor, Andy Beshear.
The Constitution of the State of Delaware of 1897 is the fourth and current governing document for Delaware state government and has been in effect since June 10 of that year.
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the document that governs the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was first adopted in 1792 and has since been rewritten three times and amended many more. The later versions were adopted in 1799, 1850, and 1891.
Charles Slaughter Morehead was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, and served as the 20th Governor of Kentucky. Though a member of the Whig Party for most of his political service, he joined the Know Nothing, or American, Party in 1855, and was the only governor of Kentucky ever elected from that party.
David Lewis Williams is an American attorney, Republican politician, and a judge from the U.S. state of Kentucky. From the year 1987 to 2012, Williams represented Senate District 16, a position he secured upon the retirement of fellow Republican Doug Moseley. When Republicans gained control of the state senate in 2000, Williams was chosen as President of the Senate, and held that post continuously until his resignation in November 2012. In September 2010, he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor in the 2011 gubernatorial election. On May 17, 2011, Williams secured the Republican nomination over Tea Party movement-backed Phil Moffet. However, he lost the general election by twenty points to incumbent Democratic governor Steve Beshear. In November 2012, Williams resigned his Senate seat to accept a circuit court judgeship.
Steven Lynn Beshear is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1980, was the state's 44th attorney general from 1980 to 1983 and was the 49th lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1987.
The 1850–51 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1850 and 1851, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
Andrew Graham Beshear is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 63rd governor of Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Kentucky from 2016 to 2019. He is the son of former Kentucky governor Steve Beshear.
Senate Bill 151, also known as SB 151, is a pension bill passed on March 29, 2018, by the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The bill includes increases for cost of living, ends the inviolable contract for new teachers hired after January 1, 2019, and requires employees hired between 2003 and 2008 to pay an additional 1 percent of their pay for health care benefits in retirement. The bill received numerous criticism, especially from teachers. The bill was overturned on December 13, 2018, by the Kentucky Supreme Court as unconstitutional, which prevented the bill from going into effect on January 1, 2019.
The 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2023, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Incumbent Democratic governor Andy Beshear won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron. If Cameron had won, he would have become Kentucky's first African-American governor.
Josh Calloway is an American politician from Kentucky. A member of the Republican Party, he has been a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2021. He represents Kentucky's 11th House district, which includes Breckenridge and Hardin counties.
Kentucky Amendment 2 was a rejected legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, which was voted on as part of the 2022 elections. If enacted, the amendment would have declared that nothing in the Kentucky Constitution could be construed to protect a right to an abortion or public funding of an abortion.
The 2024 Kentucky General Assembly was a meeting of the Kentucky General Assembly, composed of the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. It convened in Frankfort on January 2, 2024, and adjourned sine die on April 15, 2024. It was the fifth regular session of the legislature during the tenure of governor Andy Beshear.
The 2024 Maryland Question 1 was a voter referendum that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2024. It established in the Constitution of Maryland a right to reproductive freedom. The referendum was approved overwhelmingly, with more than three times as many voters voting in favor of it than against it, and only losing in Garrett County.
