Research that works for Kentucky
Local Sales Tax Amendment Could Lead to Wider Inequality Without Better Funding Local Services
Under Kentucky’s constitution, there are limits on the types of taxes the General Assembly may authorize local governments to levy, and local sales taxes are not allowed.
Budget & Tax
Kentucky Is Excessively Stockpiling Needed Resources and Prioritizing Costly Tax Cuts
In recent years, the Kentucky General Assembly has prioritized an effort to reduce its single largest revenue source, the individual income tax.
New Federal Laws Can Create Opportunities in Kentucky, If We Act on Job Quality and Community Access
In recent years, Congress has passed several sweeping federal policies that aim to create jobs,...
Drop in Income Tax Receipts Is a Glimpse of Future Trouble
Five months into Kentucky’s experiment in reducing the individual income tax rate, the verdict is...
State Budget Changes in 2023 Session Increase Future Risk
The General Assembly reduced future revenues substantially this session by passing House Bill (HB) 1,...
Criminal Justice
More Than 300,000 Kentuckians Have Been Charged for Cannabis Over the Past Two Decades
Over the past two decades, as states around the nation have moved to decriminalize and legalize cannabis, more than 300,000 people in Kentucky have been charged with a cannabis-related crime, according to analysis of Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) data.
Report: Criminal Fines and Fees Drive up Incarceration, Push Kentuckians Deeper Into Poverty
Excessive fines and fees imposed through the criminal legal system drive up incarceration and perpetuate...
Facts Don’t Support Economic Argument for Proposed Federal Prison in Letcher County
In the wake of last year’s devastating eastern Kentucky floods, the federal government reintroduced a...
Progress Made on Drug Policy in 2023, Though the Legislature Increased Other Criminal Penalties
If Kentucky were a country, it would be the seventh most incarcerated place in the...
Economic Security
Union Victories Could Spark New Blue Collar Power in the Bluegrass
Is it possible that blue collar Kentucky workers could finally be reaching a turning point in the long slide in their standard of living?
The UAW Strikes Are Working. And Now Kentuckians Are Joining In.
The United Auto Workers’ (UAW) Stand Up strikes came to Louisville last week when the...
New Federal Rule Extends Free School Meals to Nearly All Kentucky Students
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to expand free breakfast and lunch...
Tracking SNAP in Kentucky
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a vital source of assistance that helps put...
Education
State Report Describes Growing Educator Shortage, and Lack of Funding Plays a Key Role
The growing shortage of teachers and other school personnel is becoming more severe, according to a new report by the Kentucky legislature’s Office of Education Accountability (OEA).
The Funding Gap Between Kentucky’s Wealthy and Poor School Districts Is Now Worse Than Levels Declared Unconstitutional
The difference in per-pupil funding between the state’s poorest and wealthiest districts now exceeds the...
The Legislature’s Transportation Budget Cuts Contributed to the JCPS Bus Debacle
The first day of school in Jefferson County should have been joyous for kids and...
Public Schools Are Becoming a Lower State Budget Priority
Preschool through 12th grade public education has become less of a Kentucky budget priority in...
Health Care
Medicaid Renewal Process Underway for the First Time Since Start of Pandemic
Kentucky, like every other state, is re-starting its Medicaid renewals process after a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing downturn.
Nearly 250,000 Kentuckians Covered by Medicaid Will Need to Take Action to Stay Covered
For the past three years, 1.7 million Kentuckians on Medicaid have not had to take...
Kentucky Will Start Providing 10,000 More New Mothers with a Year of Postpartum Medicaid Coverage
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) just approved a plan to allow Kentuckians...
Coalition Letter: Kentucky General Assembly Must Use Special Session to Protect the Health of Kentuckians, Our Workforce and Our Children’s Education
A coalition of Kentucky organizations sent this letter to the Kentucky General Assembly on September...
Jobs & The Economy
Kentucky’s Inflation-Adjusted Minimum Wage Now at Its Lowest Since 1950
Today marks 14 years since the federal minimum wage increased from $6.55 an hour to $7.25.
Three Years of Kentucky’s Jobs Recovery in Four Charts
In April 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic bottomed out the economy, and Kentucky...
How Kentucky Can Combat the Growing Scourge of Child Labor
Nearly 100 years after President Franklin Roosevelt called child labor an “ancient atrocity” and took...
The State of Working Kentucky 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic downturn reshaped Kentucky’s economy in ways that are still...
