A bill to make a large pay raise contained in the state budget for Kentucky State Police and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers a permanent part of state law was approved by the Kentucky House on Friday.

House Bill 259 is sponsored by Rep. Scott Lewis, R-Hartford, who described its contents on the House floor.

“It provides for a $15,000 pay increase for state troopers and commercial vehicle enforcement officers, who are below the rank of sergeant, and a 10% pay increase for those at or above the rank of sergeant,” he said. “According to the latest Department of Criminal Justice Training survey in 2021, this would increase the starting pay of troopers from the current $40,888 to $55,888 a year, making the KSP a top-five law enforcement agency in the state, when compared to other departments across our commonwealth.”

The bill was adopted on an 87-2 vote.  The no votes came from Democrats Attica Scott of Louisville and Kelly Flood of Lexington.

In other action, the House approved a measure, HB 101, that would allow the Freedom Flag to be flown on Patriots Day, Sept.11; HB 202, to allow personalized vehicle license plates to be issued to registered recreational vehicles; and HB 345, which would provide specified military members who are state employees, leave of absence up to six months without penalty, if they are physically disabled as a result of performing active or inactive duty training or entitled to incapacitation pay.