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State Senator Gary Clemons, 700 Capital Avenue, Frankfort, KY (2026)

05/24/2026

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW
State Senator Gary Clemons
May 22, 2026

Memorial Day weekend usually feels like the first turn toward summer. Families make plans, kids are getting close to the end of school, grills come out, and people try to get a little time with the folks they love. This year may bring some rain, so I hope everyone keeps an eye on the weather, takes it slow on the roads, and enjoys the weekend safely.

I also hope we do not let the reason for this day get pushed to the side.

Memorial Day is for the men and women who died while serving this country. They were not just names in a book or on a marker. They were sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Many came from communities like ours. They had homes they wanted to return to and people waiting for them. They put on the uniform, served, and never made it back.

I served in the Army Reserves, and that experience stays with you. It teaches you to show up when you are needed, to do your job, to be accountable, and to look out for the person next to you. It also gives you a deep respect for those who gave far more than most of us will ever be asked to give.

When I think about Memorial Day, I think about the families who carry that loss long after the ceremonies are over. I think about the folded flags, the empty chairs, the stories told at family tables, and the quiet moments that come when a name is spoken. Some families in Kentucky know that pain personally. They do not need a speech to understand the cost. They live with it.

That is why this day should be handled with care. We can enjoy the weekend, spend time with family, and welcome the start of summer while still pausing to remember the people who never got to come home and do those same things. Those two things can exist in the same weekend if we are honest about what the holiday means.

Honoring them also means taking care of the country they served. That starts with how we treat people here at home. It means taking veterans seriously after they return. It means respecting military families and the weight they carry. It means standing up for working people, protecting basic freedoms, keeping faith with our neighbors, and making sure government does not forget the people who keep our communities moving.

I have always believed service comes with responsibility. Whether in uniform, at a union hall, in a neighborhood, or in Frankfort, you are supposed to do your part and remember who you are doing it for. The people we honor on Memorial Day gave everything. The rest of us still have work to do.

I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy your family. Check on your neighbors. Watch the weather. Take care on the roads. And at some point, take a moment for the men and women who did not make it home.

They deserve to be remembered plainly, honestly, and with gratitude that lasts longer than one weekend.

05/11/2026

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW
State Senator Gary Clemons
One week after the Derby, Louisville is getting back to its regular pace. The crowds have cleared out, traffic around Churchill Downs has eased up, and folks are back to work, school, church, ballgames, and the routines that keep this city moving. But last weekend gave Louisville plenty to be proud of. We welcomed people from across the country, showed off Kentucky’s horse industry, and reminded visitors that this city knows how to host the world without losing sight of who we are.

This year’s 152nd Kentucky Derby gave people a finish they will remember. Golden Tempo came from the back of the field, found room late, and ran down the stretch to win the roses. That is the kind of race people talk about long after the horses leave the track. In just a couple of minutes, the Derby can still give Kentucky surprise, excitement, and a story that carries well beyond Churchill Downs.

Cherie DeVaux’s win as trainer made this year’s Derby even more meaningful. She became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, a milestone that deserves recognition in a sport built on long tradition. A victory like that comes from years of work, patience, discipline, and knowing the job. It also recognizes, in a very public way, the women who have long been part of the equine industry through training, breeding, veterinary care, ownership, barn work, business operations, and every other part of the sport.

For young women and girls who love horses, seeing a woman trainer in the Derby winner’s circle opens the picture a little wider. It shows that leadership in this industry is not limited to one kind of person or one old way of thinking. Progress usually looks sudden when the public finally sees it, but most of the time it is built by people who kept working even when the door was not open all the way.

Over the last couple of weeks, I had the chance to be out at Derby season events across Louisville, from the river to the track to community fundraisers supporting good causes. I will not repeat every stop, but I will say this: those events show why Derby season reaches so many parts of this city. It brings families out, supports local organizations, helps small businesses, and gives people from different neighborhoods and backgrounds a reason to gather. Derby is not just one race on one Saturday; it is a season of work, pride, and community.

It is also one of the most important economic weeks of the year for Louisville. Derby season brings hundreds of millions of dollars in activity to the local economy. The Kentucky Derby Festival, Thunder Over Louisville, the steamboat race, events at the track, hotels, restaurants, shops, vendors, and neighborhood gatherings all play a part. Those dollars help businesses, support jobs, and bring attention to a city that has a lot to offer.

Still, the money only goes so far in explaining what this weekend takes. Derby depends on people. Hotel workers and restaurant workers are busy serving thousands of guests. Cooks are staying late and drivers are fighting traffic. Police, firefighters, and EMS crews keep people safe. Vendors are set up early. Musicians are playing into the night. Backside workers are caring for horses before most of us are awake. The Derby runs because working people make it run.

I also want to recognize Louisville’s Latino immigrant community, because they play a vital role in Churchill Downs, Derby week, and this city’s success. Many Latino workers are part of the daily labor that keeps the horse industry moving, especially on the backside, in barns, in food service, hospitality, transportation, event setup, cleaning, and small businesses across Louisville. A lot of that work happens before the cameras show up and after the crowds leave. They deserve our thanks and respect, not only during Derby week, but every week of the year.

That appreciation for working people was also front and center on May Day. May Day, or International Workers’ Day, has long been a day to recognize labor, workers’ rights, and the people who built the communities we live in. Here in Louisville, I had the chance to speak with working people who care about fair wages, safe jobs, the right to organize, health care, retirement security, and basic dignity on the job. Those issues decide whether a family can pay the bills, keep a roof overhead, get medical care, and retire with some security after a lifetime of work.

May Day also brought together union members, immigrant workers, advocates, families, and community organizations who understand that working people are stronger when they stand together. That is the lesson the labor movement has always carried. No one should have to beg for safe working conditions. No one should have to work full-time and still fall behind. No one should be treated as invisible when their labor is holding up entire industries, including the ones Kentucky is most proud of.

That is why Derby week and May Day connected for me this year. One shows the world what Louisville can do. The other reminds us who makes it possible. Workers do not just support our economy; they are our economy. They are the people raising families, serving customers, caring for horses, building roads, teaching children, staffing hospitals, keeping businesses open, and showing up every day, whether anyone applauds them or not.

As we look back on this year’s Derby, I am proud of what Louisville put forward. We showed hospitality, tradition, and the strength of Kentucky’s horse industry. We also saw a historic win that added something new to a tradition that has been around for generations. But above all else, we saw the work ethic of this city. That is what stays with me after the crowds leave and the cameras move on.

To everyone who worked, volunteered, hosted, served, protected, drove, cooked, cleaned, organized, performed, cared for horses, supported local events, or welcomed visitors, thank you. Derby weekend may only last a few days, but the work behind it starts long before the first Saturday in May and continues after everyone else heads home. Louisville should be proud of the race, proud of the history, and especially proud of the people who made it happen.

05/02/2026

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW
State Senator Gary Clemons
May 1, 2026

Derby weekend is here, and Louisville is busy in the way only Louisville can be this time of year. You can feel it in the traffic around Churchill Downs, see it in the crowds downtown and along the river, and hear it in the way people are talking about the horses, the weather, the food, the music, and who they like in the race. For one weekend, the whole world turns its attention toward Kentucky, and that is something we ought to be proud of.

The Derby is known for the hats, the horses, the Twin Spires, and the two minutes on Saturday evening. Here at home, we also know how much work goes into making this weekend happen. It takes workers showing up early and staying late. It takes the folks on the backside of Churchill Downs caring for the horses before most of the city is awake. It takes hotel workers, restaurant workers, cooks, servers, bartenders, drivers, public safety officers, EMS crews, firefighters, transportation workers, sanitation workers, vendors, union workers, small business owners, volunteers, and plenty of people whose names never make the program. I am grateful for every person who helps carry this tradition forward and helps Louisville welcome the world.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been able to get out around Louisville for several Derby season events, and each one gave me another reason to appreciate this city. Thunder Over Louisville brought families and neighbors together along the river to start the season the way Louisville has for years. The annual steamboat race gave us a little friendly competition, and it was good to see the Belle of Louisville bring the win home to Kentucky this year. I also spent time at 502’s Day at the track with members of Local 502, local officials, state officials, and folks who care deeply about this community. I am always glad to be around working people who stay involved, speak plainly, and remind those of us in public office what matters outside the walls of Frankfort.

One of the most meaningful stops for me was visiting the backside of Churchill Downs. A lot of people know the Derby by what they see from the grandstands or on television, but the backside tells another part of the story. That is where the daily work happens. I was grateful to speak with workers there, see some of those beautiful horses up close, and better understand the care and discipline that go into Kentucky’s horse tradition. Those workers deserve respect, not just during Derby week, but all year long.

I was also glad to attend the Harbor House “Ken-Ducky Derby” Pluck a Duck event on the river. It was a fun event, but it supports important work. Harbor House serves adults with physical and cognitive disabilities through programs focused on job training, education, life skills, social connection, health and wellness, and community involvement. The Ken-Ducky Derby is its annual rubber duck race fundraiser. This year’s event brought thousands of ducks and plenty of families out to support a good cause. I appreciate everyone who showed up, bought a duck, volunteered, sponsored the event, or helped make the day possible for an organization doing meaningful work in our community.

I also had the chance to attend the TKO Flight Club “Kentucky Bourby” event at Progress Park, which raises money for people living with Parkinson’s disease. TKO Flight Club is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s through therapeutic training, support programs, and local research. This year’s event was expected to bring together around 750 guests with a bourbon lineup that would outshine most tasting bars. It was another good example of Louisville people using Derby season to support a cause larger than themselves. Progress Park is a great local venue, and I meant what I said before: more people ought to visit it and see what it offers.

Those are the moments that make Derby season mean more than one race. The 152nd Kentucky Derby will be run Saturday at Churchill Downs. Today is Kentucky Oaks Day, with the long-standing pink tradition that brings attention to breast and ovarian cancer awareness. The weekend will bring the horses, hats, music, food, and visitors that people know Kentucky for. Here at home, it also brings neighborhoods together, helps local businesses, supports community groups, and gives families a reason to gather.

For those heading out this weekend, please plan ahead. Traffic will be heavy around Churchill Downs and across parts of Louisville. Road closures and no-parking areas are in place near the track, and vehicles parked in restricted areas may be towed. Give yourself extra time, know your route before you leave, and be patient with the workers and first responders helping manage the crowds. It is also expected to be a cooler Derby weekend, so bring an extra layer if you are going to be outside. That may not be exciting advice, but it is practical advice. Sometimes that is what keeps a good day from turning into a long one.

Most importantly, celebrate responsibly. Use a designated driver, rideshare, taxi, shuttle, or public transportation when needed. Look out for your family, your friends, and the people around you. Derby weekend should be a good time for our city, and that takes all of us doing our part.

Derby weekend spotlights Kentucky, but Louisville is more than a backdrop for a famous race. This is a working city, a union city, and a city of neighborhoods, families, churches, schools, small businesses, local restaurants, community organizations, and people who take pride in doing a job right. I am proud to represent part of that city in the Kentucky Senate, and I am thankful for the workers, families, local organizations, and community leaders who make this place what it is.

Whether you are at Churchill Downs, watching from home, working a long shift, volunteering at an event, or just trying to get through the traffic, I hope you have a safe and enjoyable Derby weekend. Take care of each other, be patient out there, support local businesses when you can, and enjoy one of Kentucky’s great traditions.

Happy Oaks Day, happy Derby weekend, and good luck picking your horse.

04/24/2026

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW
State Senator Gary Clemons
April 24, 2026

Now that the regular session has ended, the work does not stop. It just moves closer to home.

During the session, most of the work happens in Frankfort. Bills move through committees, votes are taken on the Senate floor, budgets are negotiated, and decisions are made that affect families, workers, schools, local governments, businesses, health care providers, and communities across Kentucky. Once we leave Frankfort, the responsibility shifts back to the district. We talk with the people we serve. We meet with local officials, organizations, workers, families, and community leaders. We attend events, recognize people who have served their neighbors well, and help explain how the decisions made at the Capitol may affect people where they live and work.

A bill should not just sit on a page once the session ends. It can mean a new road project, a change in health care policy, support for a local school, funding for a workforce program, or an investment that helps a community grow. People deserve to know what passed, what did not pass, and what it means for them. They also deserve a chance to tell us what is working, what is not, and what still needs to be fixed.

This is also the time of year when we see some of that work begin to take shape. Ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings, project unveilings, and local meetings are reminders that decisions made in Frankfort eventually become real projects in real communities. When done the right way, those projects create jobs, strengthen services, improve infrastructure, and help Kentucky families.

One of those projects is the new Health Sciences Building at the University of Louisville, where I was proud to attend the groundbreaking this week.

The University of Louisville officially broke ground on a new $280 million Health Sciences Building, the largest single-project funding package in the university’s history. The state has committed $260 million toward the project, with UofL contributing the remaining $20 million. This is a major investment in health care education, workforce development, and the long-term strength of Louisville and the Commonwealth.

The new six-story, 257,000-square-foot facility will bring together UofL’s Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health and Information Sciences. It will include medical simulation space, classrooms, research labs, workspaces, and areas designed for students and instructors to train in a hands-on, practical setting.

Kentucky needs more nurses, doctors, dentists, public health professionals, and trained health care workers. Families need access to care. Hospitals and clinics need qualified people. Students need facilities that prepare them for the real demands of the job. This project helps meet those needs.

It will also mean construction work, long-term jobs, and stronger training for the people who will take care of Kentucky families in the years ahead. That is the kind of state investment that makes sense to me because it supports education, strengthens our health care workforce, helps prepare students for good-paying careers, and puts public dollars into a project that will serve people well beyond one campus or one city.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2029, and once finished, this facility will be an important part of Louisville’s medical and education district. It will also sit near the Chestnut Street Improvement project, which is focused on walkability, safety, trees, green space, and a better connection through that part of the city.

I appreciated the opportunity to be there for the groundbreaking and to see another example of state dollars being put toward something that helps train workers, improve care, and strengthen a community.

I was also honored to present legislative citations to my co-workers at Michelin American Synthetic Rubber Company who serve on the plant’s emergency response team. These men and women are United Steelworkers members, and they stepped up to support our community after the tragic UPS plane crash at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

This team is trained to respond at the American Synthetic Rubber Company chemical plant, where preparedness, discipline, safety, and teamwork are part of the job. Our plant also has the second-lar gest foam storage capacity in the city, behind only the airport. So, when Louisville emergency responders called for support, our team was ready, and they answered that call.

These are working people who spend their days doing tough, skilled work. When our community needed them in a crisis, they brought their training, professionalism, and concern for others into a difficult and dangerous situation. They represented the very best of our district.

I was proud to recognize them on behalf of the Kentucky Senate. They were well deserving of this honor, and I hope they know how much their work is appreciated by their co-workers, their union brothers and sisters, their community, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A legislative citation is more than a piece of paper. It is one way for the Commonwealth to say that service, preparation, courage, and care for your neighbors are seen and appreciated.

I also had the privilege of joining the welcome home for the Bluegrass Honor Flight as 84 veterans returned to Louisville after a special day in Washington, D.C.

Most of the veterans on this flight served during the Vietnam War, along with veterans from the Korean and Cold War eras. They traveled to Washington to visit the national memorials built in honor of their service and sacrifice. For many Vietnam veterans, this kind of welcome was something they did not receive when they came home from war. That is what made this event so special.

You could feel what that moment meant in the room. Families, volunteers, community members, and supporters gathered at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport to cheer them home. It was a reminder that gratitude should not have an expiration date. These men and women served their country. They carried the weight of that service for many years. They deserved to be honored then, and they deserve to be honored now.

Honor Flight Bluegrass has now completed 39 missions and has flown more than 3,000 veterans since 2008. That work gives veterans a chance to visit the memorials built for them, share the day with others who understand their experience, and come home to the respect and appreciation they earned long ago. It was a very special event, and I was grateful to be there.

These events may look different from one another, but they all come back to people. Training the next generation of health care workers. Recognizing working men and women who stepped up when a community was in trouble. Welcoming home veterans with the respect they earned long ago.

That is the work I want to stay focused on during the interim. Listening to people, showing up in the district, recognizing good work when it deserves recognition, making sure state investments serve the people paying for them and carrying those conversations back with me when the next session begins. The votes may happen in Frankfort, but the reason for the work is back home. That is where I will keep showing up.

04/17/2026

SENATE WEEK IN REVIEW
State Senator Gary Clemons
April 17, 2026

That’s a wrap! The General Assembly adjourned sine die and the 2026 Regular Session has come to a close. The final two days were different from the rest of the session because we were no longer focused on moving a new round of bills through the process. Instead, we were back in Frankfort to review the governor’s vetoes and decide whether those vetoes should stand or be overridden.

That is an important part of the job. A veto is there for a reason. It gives the governor the chance to say a bill creates legal problems, goes beyond what it should, or puts new burdens on people who are already carrying enough. Then it comes back to the legislature, and we have to decide whether those concerns deserve weight. In many cases this year, I believed they did.

During the veto session, I voted to sustain nearly all of the governor’s vetoes. The one exception for me was HB 904, because I believed the charitable gaming provisions in that bill would help organizations in our communities continue supporting worthwhile local work. On the rest, I believed the better vote was to stand with working people, local communities, and common sense instead of backing measures that added more red tape, more instability, or more political overreach.

That was the question I kept coming back to in those final days, just like I did throughout the session: when these bills move off the page and into people’s lives, who ends up carrying the burden? Too often, it is the same folks who are already stretched thin. It is the family trying to keep health coverage. It is the parent who wants their child’s school to stay steady and focused on learning. It is the worker who needs public systems to function without getting tangled up in politics or bureaucracy. It is the local community getting told what is best for them by people who will never have to live with the consequences.

That is why I supported the governor’s veto of HB 2, and I still believe that was the right decision. I opposed that bill earlier in the session, and nothing in the final version changed the bigger problem. At its core, it still puts more barriers between Kentuckians and health care by creating more paperwork, more frequent eligibility checks, and more chances for people to lose coverage because they got caught in a process that was too rigid, too confusing, or too easy to fall out of.

I do not see that as reform. I see it as a system that makes it harder for people to stay covered even when they are doing everything they can to keep up. The people most likely to get hurt by that are not the ones writing the policy. They are the working parent trying to balance a job and child care, the senior living on a fixed income, and the person dealing with an illness who now has to spend more time proving they deserve care than actually receiving it. When government builds that kind of maze around health care, the burden lands on the people least able to take one more hit, and that is exactly why I agreed with the governor’s veto.

I also supported the governor’s vetoes of SB 1 and SB 4, which made major changes to school board governance in Jefferson County. I do not believe Frankfort should be in the habit of reaching into local school systems and rewriting the rules whenever politics gets heated. Our public schools already face enough pressure without adding more top-down instability. Parents, teachers, and students need support, consistency, and serious investment. They do not need another political fight that pulls attention away from the classroom.

That same concern carried into other education bills, including SB 263, HB 379, HB 490, and HB 619, because each of them raised questions about how much freedom schools and colleges will have to do their jobs without political interference. I especially agreed with the governor’s concerns about HB 490, because weakening tenure protections and making academic independence more fragile does not strengthen higher education. It makes it harder for institutions to attract and keep strong faculty, and it sends the wrong message about what kind of public colleges and universities we want in Kentucky.

Several other vetoes came down to something even more basic, which is the need for government to respect its own boundaries and not create more dysfunction than people already deal with. I supported the vetoes of SB 65, SB 173, and HB 10 because those bills pushed too far in shifting power around and invited more conflict into how government operates. Kentuckians do not benefit when one branch keeps trying to take more authority from another. They benefit when laws are clear, when responsibilities are understood, and when the services they count on are not dragged into constant legal and political fights.

That was also my concern with SB 59. If legislation is written so broadly that agencies are left guessing about what they are allowed to do, what they can spend, or what might trigger a dispute, then that is not accountability in any real sense. That is confusion. When government gets jammed up by confusion, regular people are the ones who wait longer, get less help, or end up paying for problems that should have been avoided in the first place.

I felt the same way about HB 652, which dealt with school safety. Everyone agrees that protecting students and staff is serious work, but if the state puts a new mandate on school districts without making sure the money is there to carry it out, those costs do not disappear. They get pushed somewhere else. That usually means another need gets delayed, another service gets cut back, or another burden falls on people who are already trying to do more with less. That is not the right way to handle something as important as school safety.

I also supported the governor’s vetoes of HB 78 and HB 312 because I do not believe families should have fewer paths to accountability through the courts when harm has been done, and I do not believe lowering the age for concealed carry moves Kentucky in the right direction. Those are not abstract policy questions. They affect real communities, real households, and real families that will be living with the consequences long after the floor debate is over.

On some bills, the problem was that politics was being put ahead of expertise and sound judgment. That was true for HB 142 on wildlife management, HB 355 on appraiser oversight, and HB 387 on veterinary standards. It was also true for SB 100, which created another energy commission even though state agencies are already doing work in that area, and for SB 291, which used an emergency clause where there was no real emergency to justify it. We ought to be careful about passing legislation just to say we acted, especially when the result is more bureaucracy, weaker standards, or an effort to rush something through faster than it deserves.

In the end, all of the governor’s vetoes were overridden. That was not surprising given the political dynamics of the executive branch and legislature. Even so, I believe these votes still matter because my job is not to look at the scoreboard and decide that settles it. My job is to vote the way I believe best serves the people of District 37 and to be honest about why I cast those votes the way I did.

From where I sit, too many of these bills would have asked working people to take on more risk, more cost, or more instability while giving very little back in return. That showed up in health care, in education, in local control, and the way government is supposed to function. I could not support that just because it was moving, and I was not sent to Frankfort to go along with something I believe will make life harder for the people I represent.

As we move into the interim, the work is far from over. Most new laws will take effect about 90 days after adjournment unless they carry an emergency clause or a different effective date, which means much of the real impact of this session is still ahead of us. We will see how these laws affect schools, health care, local governments, and family budgets. We will see who ends up carrying the cost when policy choices made in Frankfort meet real life back home. I will be watching closely, and I will keep speaking up whenever I believe working families are being asked to shoulder too much for decisions they did not make.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who called, emailed, stopped me in the district, or followed these updates throughout the session. Thank you to the people who agreed with me and to the people who challenged me, because that kind of engagement matters. Public service works better when people stay involved, keep asking questions, and expect accountability from the people they send to Frankfort.

For all the bills, veto overrides, or any information on the 2026 session, visit the Legislative Record here: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/record.html

Serving District 37 in my first session in the Kentucky State Senate has been a real honor, and I do not take that responsibility lightly. I am proud to carry your voice in this work, and I came here with a clear purpose: to stand up for working people, for families trying to make it, and for communities that know what it means to stretch a dollar and still show up for one another. That is what guided me through this session, and it is what will keep guiding me in the work ahead.

State Senator Gary Clemons

05/24/2026

05/11/2026

05/02/2026

04/24/2026

04/17/2026

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