Kentucky HB392 - Best Value Procurement
Summary
Kentucky Governor signed HB392 into law, amending KRS Chapter 45A procurement statutes for local public agencies. The law replaces 'lowest evaluated bid price' with 'best value' as the award criterion, raises the small purchase threshold from $40,000 to $60,000, and eliminates reciprocal preference requirements for resident bidders. The changes affect all Kentucky local government procurement processes.
What changed
HB392 makes comprehensive amendments to Kentucky's local public procurement statutes (KRS 45A.345 through 45A.460). The law defines 'best value' as the primary award criterion, replacing the lowest evaluated bid price standard. It removes reciprocal preference provisions for resident bidders, raises small purchase maximums from $40,000 to $60,000 with $10,000 indexing every five years beginning in 2030, and expands cooperative purchasing flexibility.
Local public agencies and their vendors must update procurement procedures to evaluate bids based on best value rather than price alone. Contractors bidding on Kentucky local government contracts will need to demonstrate value factors beyond cost. The elimination of reciprocal preference may benefit out-of-state vendors competing for Kentucky local contracts.
What to do next
- Update procurement policies to reflect best value award criteria
- Revise bid solicitation documents to remove lowest evaluated bid language
- Implement new $60,000 small purchase threshold and $10,000 escalation starting 2030
Archived snapshot
Apr 8, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
ChangeBridge / Kentucky / HB392 Signed by Governor HB392 House Bill Signed by Governor 2026-04-07
AN ACT relating to local public agency transactions.
Amend KRS 45A.345, relating to local procurement, to define "best value" and redefine "evaluated bid price" as "economic efficiency"; amend KRS 45A.365 to require invitations for bids to state that awards be made on the best value rather than the lowest evaluated bid price; delete requirement for the inclusion of a reciprocal preference for resident bidders; require awards to the best value bid rather than the bid that is lowest evaluated bid price remove reference to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.370 to allow purchases through competitive negotiation using the best value bid rather than the lowest evaluated bid; remove references to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.375, relating to competitive negotiation to allow awards to be made upon the best value rather than lowest evaluated bid, and remove reference to reciprocal preference; amend KRS 45A.385, relating to small purchase procedures, to increase the small purchase maximum amount to $60,000 from $40,000; index the maximum amount by $10,000 every 5 years beginning in 2030; require the Finance and Administration Cabinet to publicize the current amount; amend KRS 45A.420, relating to cooperative purchasing, to allow local public agencies to make agreements using an established discount, quote, formula, or other pricing method as established by the Commonwealth when an agreement does not establish a fixed unit price; amend KRS 82.083, relating to the disposition of property owned by a city, to amend the definition of "independent appraisal" as it relates to personal property for which there is no applicable nationally published valuation standard, to include a generally accepted method to determine a good-faith estimate; amend KRS 82.084 to add law enforcement vehicles and equipment to the exclusions from KRS 45A.345 to 45A.460 and 424.260; amend KRS 424.260 to increase the limit for making advertisements for purchases to $60,000 from $40,000; index the small purchase maximum amount by $10,000 every 5 years beginning in 2030; amend KRS 157.420 and 157.440 to conform; repeal KRS 65.027, relating to reciprocal preference to resident bidders.
Bill Details
State Kentucky
Session 2026 Regular Session
Chamber House
Official Source apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/hb392....
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Sponsors
Michael Meredith (Rep - R) George Brown (Rep - D)
Action History
2026-04-07 H signed by Governor 2026-03-26 H delivered to Governor 2026-03-26 H enrolled, signed by President of the Senate 2026-03-26 H enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House 2026-03-26 H received in House 2026-03-25 S 3rd reading, passed 38-0 2026-03-24 S posted for passage in the Consent Orders of the Day for Wednesday, March 25 2026 2026-03-20 S 2nd reading, to Rules as a consent bill 2026-03-19 S reported favorably, 1st reading, to Consent Calendar 2026-03-16 S to Economic Development, Tourism, & Labor (S) 2026-02-19 S to Committee on Committees (S) 2026-02-19 S received in Senate 2026-02-18 H 3rd reading, passed 97-0 with Committee Substitute (1) 2026-02-17 H posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Wednesday, February 18 2026 2026-02-13 H 2nd reading, to Rules 2026-02-12 H reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) 2026-01-23 H to Economic Development & Workforce Investment (H) 2026-01-15 H to Committee on Committees (H) 2026-01-15 H introduced in House
Votes
2026-02-18 House: Veto Override RCS# 106 Yea: 97 Nay: 0 2026-03-25 Senate: Third Reading RSN# 4003 Yea: 38 Nay: 0
Committee Referrals
2026-01-15 H Committee On Committees 2026-01-23 H Economic Development & Workforce Investment 2026-02-13 H Rules 2026-02-19 S Committee on Committees 2026-03-16 S Economic Development, Tourism, & Labor 2026-03-20 S Rules
Amendments
0000-00-00 House Committee Substitute 0000-00-00 House Committee Substitute
Bill Text Versions
0000-00-00 Introduced 0000-00-00 Engrossed
Subjects
Advertising Cities Counties Financial Responsibility Local Government Public Procurement State Agencies Local Mandate Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
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