House Bill 258, sponsored by Rep. C. Ed Massey, moved to the House floor on a 14-4 vote and cleared the lower chamber hours later on a 68-28 vote.

The Senate's version of the two-year spending plan would have withheld $1.1 billion from the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System, but House members on the panel balked at that proposal.

An amended version of House Bill 525, passed on a 12-5 vote with a single “pass” vote. The legislation prompted hundreds of teachers to call out sick so they could protest the measure.

A sponsor of a pension bill that would alter benefits for future teachers while keeping them in a defined-benefit retirement plan said Thursday that he believes support from educators will be pivotal for the measure.