Growing Death Rate and International Immigration Are Driving Recent Kentucky Population Trends
Over the past five years, Kentucky’s population grew by 2.2% according to new Census data, ranking the commonwealth 23rd among...
The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Mass Deportation: What’s at Risk in Kentucky
More than 230,000 people in Kentucky, 4% of the state’s population, are immigrants. [efn_note]KyPolicy analysis of 2024 American Community Survey 1-year microdata estimates. Of the 230,000 immigrants in Kentucky, 81,000...
Budget Cuts Will Harm Services That Benefit Children
In the final budget agreement, the legislature passed the deepest cuts in over a decade to the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), which primarily exists to serve Kentucky’s most...
HB 732 Would Further Undermine Worker Protections and Job Quality
Kentucky already has a growing problem with worker misclassification, in which employers inaccurately and often unlawfully treat employees as independent contractors. These workers are deprived of their rights, protections and...
It Can’t Be All About, Or In, the Base
As the 2027-2028 state budget continues through the legislative process, legislative leaders have repeatedly assured the public that key investments for programs like senior meals, childcare, salary increases, and increased...
State Budget Cuts to Medicaid Are Unnecessary and Would Leave Kentucky Worse Off
As introduced, the upcoming biennial budget includes major cuts to large, state-funded programs as lawmakers contend with falling revenues from recent income tax cuts. Medicaid, as the second single largest...
Amid Mounting Harms, Kentucky Is Ramping Up Anti-Immigrant Enforcement
More than a year in to the Trump presidency, the administration’s mass deportation effort has resulted in a historic high of 70,766 immigrants locked up in detention, and Immigration and...
Initial House Budget Slashes Funding for Many Services, Prioritizes More Tax Cuts
As introduced, the House budget (HB 500) severely cuts or freezes many parts of the state budget and underfunds essential public services, with the apparent goal of triggering more income tax cuts under the legislature’s formula. The filing of the budget...
A State Budget for an Affordable Kentucky: Preview of the 2026–2028 Budget of the Commonwealth
In the 2026 legislative session, the Kentucky General Assembly will perform its most important job — crafting a two-year state budget that funds education, health, social services and other critical...
Kentuckians in Every County Will See Health Care Costs Soar Unless Congress Acts
In 2025, more than 90,000 Kentuckians were enrolled in a health insurance plan through kynect, the state’s health insurance marketplace. Most of these enrollees received subsidies that significantly reduced the...