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AN ACT relating to benefits for Kentucky National Guard members. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 38.030 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Only the Governor shall have the authority to order units and members of the 4
Kentucky National Guard into state active duty. 5
(a) The Governor may order units and individual members of the Kentucky 6
National Guard into state active duty for any of the following purposes: 7
1. Protecting lives and property; 8
2. Assisting in disaster relief or other humanitarian efforts; 9
3. Preventing or suppressing riot or civil disorder; 10
4. Enforcing the laws of the Commonwealth; or 11
5. Other similar purpose. 12
(b) In addition to ordering personnel and units to state active duty, the Governor 13
may order other members of the Kentucky National Guard to participate in or 14
perform duty in support of state active duty missions notwithstanding the fact 15
that they are then entitled to receive federal pay and allowances pursuant to 16
Title 32 of the United States Code. The personnel may be ordered to perform 17
state active duty support missions either prior to, during, or after the time that 18
state active duty missions are planned or performed. 19
(c) Members of the National Guard who are ordered to perform duty as provided 20
in paragraph [subsection (1)](b) of this subsection[section] while they are 21
entitled to receive federal pay under Title 32 of the United States Code shall 22
have all of the powers, immunities, and benefits conferred by law upon 23
persons ordered to state active duty except that they shall receive no 24
additional pay for the duty and the provisions of KRS 38.235 shall not apply 25
to them. The powers, immunities, and benefits conferred upon those persons 26
shall be in addition to, and not in place of, those powers, immunities, and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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benefits provided under federal law. 1
(d) Any member of the National Guard may, with his consent, be ordered to state 2
active duty without pay. 3
(e) Any member of the Kentucky National Guard who is not serving without 4
pay under paragraph (d) of this subsection shall be entitled to hazardous 5
duty incentive pay when called to active duty service under Title 32 of the 6
United States Code during a state of emergency as declared by the 7
Governor. The Department of Military Affairs shall determine and 8
implement reasonable personnel pay and classification rates for hazardous 9
duty incentive pay as described in this paragraph. 10
(2) The Governor may direct the commanding officer of the military forces ordered to 11
state active duty to report to any civil officer, including, but not limited to, judge, 12
county judge/executive, mayor, sheriff, or head of law enforcement or other public 13
agency in whose jurisdiction the state active duty mission is to be performed. The 14
civil officer may advise the commanding officer regarding the specific objectives to 15
be accomplished by the military force, but the tactical direction and disposition of 16
the troops and the particular means to be employed to accomplish the mission shall 17
be left solely to the commanding officer of the National Guard. 18
(3) Troops shall not be relieved from active field service except by order of the 19
Governor. 20
(4) National Guard officers, enlisted soldiers, and airmen who are temporarily or 21
permanently disabled as a direct result of an injury or disease arising out of the 22
performance of an act in the line of duty while on state active duty shall, at the 23
discretion of the Governor, remain on paid state active duty status until a competent 24
medical authority releases them to return to their normal activities or the Governor 25
deems it appropriate to relieve the individual from state active duty status. 26
Compensation paid to the soldier or airman by the department shall be adjusted and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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maintained at the soldier's or airman's regular rate of active duty pay; however, 1
compensation paid by the department shall be reduced by the amount of payments 2
received from workers' compensation insurance, Social Security benefits, and other 3
federal or state-financed disability programs designed to supplement the soldier's or 4
airman's income. Final compensation shall not be reduced by payments for medical 5
care. 6
Section 2. KRS 138.470 is amended to read as follows: 7
There is expressly exempted from the tax imposed by KRS 138.460: 8
(1) (a) Motor vehicles titled or registered to the United States, or to the 9
Commonwealth of Kentucky or any of its political subdivisions; and 10
(b) The gross rental or lease charges for the rental or lease of a motor vehicle paid 11
by the United States, or the Commonwealth of Kentucky or any of its political 12
subdivisions; 13
(2) Motor vehicles titled or registered to institutions of purely public charity and 14
institutions of education not used or employed for gain by any person or 15
corporation; 16
(3) Motor vehicles which have been previously titled in Kentucky on or after July 1, 17
2005, or previously registered and titled in any state or by the federal government 18
when being sold or transferred to licensed motor vehicle dealers for resale. The 19
motor vehicles shall not be leased, rented, or loaned to any person and shall be held 20
for resale only; 21
(4) (a) Motor vehicles sold by or transferred from dealers registered and licensed in 22
compliance with the provisions of KRS 186.070 and KRS 190.010 to 190.080 23
to: 24
1. Members of the Armed Forces on duty in this Commonwealth under 25
orders from the United States government; or 26
2. Current members of the Kentucky National Guard or Reserve 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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Component; or 1
(b) Motor vehicles brought into the Commonwealth that were sold by or 2
transferred from a licensed motor vehicle dealer in another state to a 3
member of the Armed Forces on duty in this Commonwealth under orders 4
from the United States government while that person was assigned to 5
temporary duty in that other state; 6
(5) Commercial motor vehicles, excluding passenger vehicles having a seating capacity 7
for nine (9) persons or less, owned by nonresident owners and used primarily in 8
interstate commerce and based in a state other than Kentucky which are required to 9
be registered in Kentucky by reason of operational requirements or fleet proration 10
agreements and are registered pursuant to KRS 186.145; 11
(6) Motor vehicles titled in Kentucky on or after July 1, 2005, or previously registered 12
in Kentucky, transferred between husband and wife, parent and child, stepparent 13
and stepchild, or grandparent and grandchild; 14
(7) Motor vehicles transferred when a business changes its name and no other 15
transaction has taken place or an individual changes his or her name; 16
(8) Motor vehicles transferred to a corporation from a proprietorship or limited liability 17
company, to a limited liability company from a corporation or proprietorship, or 18
from a corporation or limited liability company to a proprietorship, within six (6) 19
months from the time that the business is incorporated, organized, or dissolved, if 20
the transferor and the transferee are the same business entity except for a change in 21
legal form; 22
(9) Motor vehicles transferred by will, court order, or under the statutes covering 23
descent and distribution of property, if the vehicles were titled in Kentucky on or 24
after July 1, 2005, or previously registered in Kentucky; 25
(10) Motor vehicles transferred between a subsidiary corporation and its parent 26
corporation if there is no consideration, or nominal consideration, or in sole 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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consideration of the cancellation or surrender of stock; 1
(11) Motor vehicles transferred between a limited liability company and any of its 2
members, if there is no consideration, or nominal consideration, or in sole 3
consideration of the cancellation or surrender of stock; 4
(12) The interest of a partner in a motor vehicle when other interests are transferred to 5
him or her; 6
(13) Motor vehicles repossessed by a secured party who has a security interest in effect 7
at the time of repossession and a repossession affidavit as required by KRS 8
186.045(6). The repossessor shall hold the vehicle for resale only and not for 9
personal use, unless he or she has previously paid the motor vehicle usage tax on 10
the vehicle; 11
(14) Motor vehicles transferred to an insurance company to settle a claim. These 12
vehicles shall be junked or held for resale only; 13
(15) Motor carriers operating under a charter bus certificate issued by the Transportation 14
Cabinet under KRS Chapter 281; 15
(16) (a) 1. Motor vehicles registered under KRS 186.050 that have a declared gross 16
vehicle weight with any towed unit of forty-four thousand and one 17
(44,001) pounds or greater; and 18
2. Farm trucks registered under KRS 186.050(4) that have a declared gross 19
vehicle weight with any towed unit of forty-four thousand and one 20
(44,001) pounds or greater. 21
(b) To be eligible for the exemption established in paragraph (a) of this 22
subsection, motor vehicles shall be registered at the appropriate range for the 23
declared gross weight of the vehicle established in KRS 186.050(3)(b) and 24
shall be prohibited from registering at a higher weight range. If a motor 25
vehicle is initially registered in one (1) declared gross weight range and 26
subsequently is registered at a declared gross weight range lower than forty-27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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four thousand and one (44,001) pounds, the person registering the vehicle 1
shall be required to pay the county clerk the usage tax due on the vehicle 2
unless the person can provide written proof to the clerk that the tax has been 3
previously paid; 4
(17) Motor vehicles transferred to a trustee to be held in trust, or from a trustee to a 5
beneficiary of the trust, if a direct transfer from the grantor of the trust to all 6
individual beneficiaries of the trust would have qualified for an exemption from the 7
tax pursuant to subsection (6) or (9) of this section; 8
(18) Motor vehicles transferred to a trustee to be held in trust, if the grantor of the trust is 9
a natural person and is treated as the owner of any portion of the trust for federal 10
income tax purposes under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. secs. 671 to 679; 11
(19) Motor vehicles transferred from a trustee of a trust to another person if: 12
(a) The grantor of the trust is a natural person and is treated as the owner of any 13
portion of the trust for federal income tax purposes under the provisions of 26 14
U.S.C. secs. 671 to 679; and 15
(b) A direct transfer from the grantor of the trust to the person would have 16
qualified for an exemption from the tax pursuant to subsection (6) or (9) of 17
this section; and 18
(20) Motor vehicles under a manufacturer's statement of origin in possession of a 19
licensed new motor vehicle dealer that are titled and transferred to a licensed used 20
motor vehicle dealer and held for sale. 21
Section 3. KRS 164.5161 is amended to read as follows: 22
(1) (a) "Dependent" means an individual recognized as a dependent by a 23
uniformed service and verified in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility 24
Reporting System database. 25
(b) "Educational institution" means an in-state public or private postsecondary 26
educational institution. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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(2) (a) The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky establishes the 1
National Guard Tuition Award Program to provide members of the Kentucky 2
National Guard and the dependents of members with the opportunity to 3
attend an in-state educational institution. 4
(b) The tuition paid shall be up to or equal to the in-state full or part-time tuition 5
rate of the institution the member or his or her dependent attends except that 6
tuition paid in support of a member or his or her dependent attending a 7
private postsecondary educational institution shall be up to or equal to the 8
average in-state full or part-time tuition rate of a public university or 9
community college. 10
(c) Until the appropriation for the tuition assistance program of the Department of 11
Military Affairs is first fully funded by the General Assembly, tuition for a 12
member or his or her dependent to attend a private institution shall not be 13
paid. 14
(d) The tuition award program shall be established in the Kentucky Higher 15
Education Assistance Authority, and moneys shall be available for all degree 16
programs, including graduate and postgraduate degree programs offered by 17
the institutions set out in this subsection. 18
(3) (a) Each member of the Kentucky National Guard and the member's 19
dependents shall collectively be entitled to not more than one hundred 20
twenty (120) hours of tuition paid for by the program. 21
(b) The total number of credit hours available for the member and his or her 22
dependents may be transferred between the current member and their 23
dependent and used concurrently until depleted. 24
(4) (a) The adjutant general may grant a current member of the Kentucky National 25
Guard up to forty-five (45) paid credit hours in addition to the benefit as 26
described in subsection (3) of this section at any postsecondary institution 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1931
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for an area of study that will have material benefits to the operations of the 1
National Guard. 2
(b) The areas of study shall be established by administrative regulations 3
promulgated under subsection (6) of this section. 4
(c) The additional hours awarded under this subsection shall not be 5
transferable. 6
(5) The Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority pursuant to KRS Chapter 7
13A, shall promulgate administrative regulations necessary to the financial 8
management of the tuition award program. 9
(6)[(4)] The Department of Military Affairs, pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A, shall 10
promulgate administrative regulations concerning the eligibility of members to 11
participate in the tuition award program established in this section. 12