Senate President Files Resolution Directing State Teaching Universities to Coordinate

Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) filed Senate Joint Resolution 116 on Feb. 26, 2026, a state-level measure that directs Kentucky’s public teaching universities — the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University — to coordinate. The filing puts a formal request from the Senate’s top officer on the record between Feb. 24 and Feb. 26, 2026.

The text of SJR 116, filed as a joint resolution in the state Senate, targets the three named institutions by designation: University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University. As written in the filing window of Feb. 24–26, 2026, the measure instructs those public teaching universities to coordinate, placing coordination itself at the center of the resolution’s intent.

The filing by Robert Stivers arrives with Stivers serving as Senate President, a role that sets legislative priorities in Frankfort. Directing the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University through a joint resolution signals an effort at the state level to align actions among the three public teaching universities, according to the language submitted during the Feb. 24–26 filing period.

SJR 116’s focus on coordination among the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University raises institutional questions for campus leaders and trustees. University chancellors and boards at the named institutions will face a recorded request from the Senate President to alter or synchronize aspects of their work, with the Feb. 26, 2026 filing marking the point at which the Senate formally sought that cooperation.

For Owsley County officials and local educators, the Feb. 26 filing of SJR 116 by Robert Stivers puts a statewide university coordination proposal into the legislative stream to watch. The University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University supply teaching candidates and program resources across Kentucky; the resolution’s appearance on the Senate docket between Feb. 24 and Feb. 26, 2026 creates a moment for school districts to track any changes that could flow from coordinated university actions.

SJR 116 now exists on the Senate record as of the Feb. 26 filing by Senate President Robert Stivers, and the measure’s directive to the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University will move forward according to the chamber’s rules and calendar. The Feb. 24–26, 2026 filing makes coordination among Kentucky’s public teaching universities an explicit item for legislative attention this session.