The Kentucky state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday to honor the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk by naming a road after him.
The bill would rename part of Kentucky Route 18 in Boone County as the “Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway.”
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Sept. 2025. Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with murder. He’s due back in court on May 18.
Kirk’s death ignited nationwide outrage and fueled debate over political violence in the United States.
State Rep. T.J. Roberts (R-KY) originally introduced the bill in January to the transportation cabinet. It stalled in committee.
State Sens. Julie Raque Adams (R-KY) and Brandon Smith (R-KY) picked it up in their bill as part of a broader legislation to rename bridges and roads across the state, and introduced it in the Kentucky Senate on March 2.
The House Transportation committee approved the bill on March 24, but State Rep. Matthew Lehman (D-KY) sponsored House floor amendment one, which would take out that highway designation for Kirk entirely.
Lehman told the Washington Examiner about his proposed amendment. While Lehman acknowledged the tragedy of Kirk’s assassination, he argued that the legislation was made for honoring people from Kentucky who have made the commonwealth a better place, like soldiers who died in Iran.
“The simple fact is Mr. Kirk is not a Kentuckian,” Lehman said.
The state representative said he dug through years of files of bridge and road renaming in the state, and could only find three instances where the person named was not a Kentuckian.
“My argument here is not about the content that Mr. Kirk may or may not have talked about, it’s not a statement about how horrific his murder was, or his rights to speak as he did,” Lehman said. “Keep this as an honor strictly for Kentuckians.”
That amendment did not pass.
Both chambers signed the bill on April 1. The bill was delivered to Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) for his signature on April 2.
The original bill by Roberts talked about Kirk’s legacy as an activist and Christian.
“Charlie Kirk embodied the Christian heritage that undergirds American exceptionalism, publicly proclaiming his faith in Jesus Christ as a guiding force in the pursuit of justice, moral clarity, and defense of the unborn,” Roberts said in the bill.
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Roberts went on to say, “Charlie Kirk will be remembered for his many contributions to his family, community, and nation, and will be deeply missed by all whose lives were touched by his presence.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Adams, Smith, Roberts, and Beshear for comment.
