Hartz, 033121 KYAGO, AGO OAG 21-02

• Case Date: March 31, 2021
• Court: Kentucky

Jay D. Hartz, Executive Director AGO OAG 21-02 No. OAG 21-02 Kentucky Attorney General Opinion Commonwealth of Kentucky Office of the Attorney General March 31, 2021          Subject: The effective date of legislation passed during the 2021 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.          Requested by: Jay D. Hartz, Executive Director Legislative Research Commission          Written by: James M. Herrick Assistant Attorney General          Syllabus: Under Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, the effective date of legislation passed by the 2021 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, except for general appropriation measures and those containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, is Tuesday, June 29, 2021, since 90 full days will then have passed after final adjournment on March 30, 2021.          OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL          On March 30, 2021, the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly adjourned sine die. Thus, the effective date of legislation, other than general appropriation bills and acts containing emergency or delayed effective date provisions, passed during this session is Tuesday, June 29, 2021.          Section 55 of the Constitution of Kentucky provides:

No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become a law until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which it was passed, except in cases of emergency, when, by the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to each House of the General Assembly, by a yea and nay vote entered upon their journals, an act may become a law when approved by the Governor, but the reasons for the emergency that justifies this action must be set out at length in the journal of each House.

         As used in Section 55, “until ninety days after the...