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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky Bill HB 270 raises state minimum wage incrementally to $15 per hour by 2030
Last action · January 15, 2026: to Economic Development & Workforce Investment (H)Sponsors: Daniel Grossberg and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky employers must pay employees a minimum wage starting at $9.50 per hour upon the Act's effective date, stepping up annually to reach $15 per hour by July 1, 2030. The measure also sets a tipped minimum wage of $5 per hour and prohibits employers from using employee tips to satisfy the base statutory minimum hourly wage requirement.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Kentucky employees
Kentucky employers
Employers must pay higher mandatory hourly wage rates, maintain specific records for tipped staff, and refrain from using tips to offset the statutory minimum wage.
Tipped workers
Tipped workers are subject to a $5 per hour base wage floor and are protected from having tips counted toward their employer's minimum wage obligations.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can employers use customer tips to cover part of the minimum wage for tipped workers?
What is the minimum hourly wage for tipped employees under this bill?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Jan 15, 2026HouseCommitteeto Economic Development & Workforce Investment (H)
- Jan 8, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Stepped Minimum Wage Escalation
The bill replaces older, stagnant minimum wage baselines with a multi-year schedule culminating in a $15 per hour floor by 2030.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
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