House approves portable benefit plans for self-employed workers March 24, 2026 Rep. Deanna Gordon, R-Richmond, listens to a question about House Bill 732 on the House floor on Tuesday. The legislation would allow portable benefit plans for self-employed workers in the commonwealth. A high-res v ersion is available here. FRANKFORT — A bill hoping to give self-employed workers more access to benefits advanced off the Kentucky House floor on Tuesday. House Bill 732 would allow portable benefit plans for self-employed workers. Rep. Deanna Gordon, R-Richmond, said Kentucky is home to more than 330,000 freelancers, contractors or self-employed professionals who contribute $18 billion annually to the state economy. “These workers value the flexibility and independence of contract work, but many lack access to benefits, like health coverage, retirement savings or paid leave,” she said. “Current law creates a barrier. House Bill 732 addresses this by allowing portable benefit accounts, which are worker-owned that follow the worker from job to job.” According to the bill, portable benefit plans would be provided by third-party insurance companies chosen by the self-employed worker and assigned to a beneficiary rather than to an employer or hiring party. The bill also defines a self-employed worker as “a person who earns his or her living from an independent pursuit of economic activities, rather than from a separate company or individual.” Companies can voluntarily contribute to portable benefit plans, and workers can use the funds for health expenses, retirement savings or paid-time off, Gordon said. “The bill creates no mandates and does not change existing employer obligations. It simply adds regulatory certainty,” Gordon added. House Minority Caucus Chair Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, believes HB 732 would create a “huge gray area.” “I would go as far as to argue that this bill incentivizes employers to misclassify their workers, undermining job quality for Kentuckians,” she said, adding it could leave self-employed workers underpaid and at-risk. Burke proposed two floor amendments: House Floor Amendment 3 and House Floor Amendment 4. House Floor Amendment 3 would limit the bill to marketplace contractors who earn at or below 80% of the state median income. Burke said the amendment would apply to app-based workers, like food delivery and rideshare services. House Floor Amendment 4 would require the state to collect data and track portable benefit plans. Neither amendment was adopted after Gordon spoke against the proposals. She said House Floor Amendment 3 would “create a narrow-scope of benefits, which does create misclassification and takes us out of alignment with federal law,” and House Floor Amendment 4 would violate the First Amendment. Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, also spoke on the House floor against HB 732. She said the legislation undermines Kentucky’s workforce. “As a member of a union, I do not see any way in which this builds benefits for workers in Kentucky,” she said. “As we continue to bring in more and more businesses and new industries, we want to be able to provide them with the strongest workforce possible, and this bill will actually undermine those efforts.” After hearing several colleagues speak against HB 732, Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, said he has “no idea how ensuring independent contractors have the ability to access health insurance, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and other benefits” is harmful to workers. “This is about ensuring that workers, no matter what their category is, no matter how they are working, no matter what their contract is, they are still able to receive these benefits,” he added. Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, also spoke in favor of the legislation. He said rural Kentucky is full of self-employed workers who would benefit from a portable benefit plan. “Self-employed people are the backbone of rural Kentucky, and they deserve the opportunity to grow and to be able to have these types of benefits,” Calloway said. The House voted 63-24 to send HB 732 to the Senate. The post House approves portable benefit plans for self-employed workers appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less