An Equity-Focused Pandemic Policy Response Helps Us All
Acknowledging the disparate infection and death rates for Black Kentuckians from the COVID-19 pandemic, last week Governor Andy Beshear committed...
Covering All Uninsured Black Kentuckians Is Crucial to Achieving Universal Coverage
Black Kentuckians have had higher rates of infection and death from COVID-19 due to disparities in health caused by historical inequities in wages, the justice system, education, housing, health care...
Kentucky’s Largest Cities Spend a Quarter of Their Budgets on Police
Amid growing attention to harmful overpolicing of Black communities, many are calling on cities to begin shifting public resources away from policing toward social services, mental health, affordable housing and...
Black Kentucky Workers Have Been Disproportionately Laid Off During the COVID-19 Downturn
Black Kentuckians are experiencing job loss at a higher rate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic than white Kentuckians, according to new unemployment insurance data. A long history of...
COVID-19 Downturn Is Hitting Certain Industries and Regions of the State Especially Hard
Kentucky lost 15.5% of its jobs in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic with industries like hotels, restaurants and manufacturing especially hard hit. Because urban areas tend to have more...
What’s in the HEROES Act for Kentucky
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the HEROES Act, a bill that would provide the kind of substantial economic relief Kentucky and other states need in the face of...
Medicaid Has Responded Quickly to COVID-19, Congress Should Boost Support
In March and April, Medicaid enrollment in Kentucky grew by 67,216, largely in response to COVID-19. This sudden increase in participation is a good sign that Medicaid, as a health...
SNAP Participation Has Jumped Due to COVID-19 Economic Crisis, Helping Blunt the Harm
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation in Kentucky has increased by 110,292 people since social distancing began to reduce transmission of COVID-19. This dramatic 22.9% increase since February reflects the...
Nearly One in Three Kentucky Workers May Be Out of a Job
Although March’s official unemployment rate was 5.8%, once the unprecedentedly high volume of unemployment insurance claims made over the last 6 weeks is taken into account, Kentucky’s actual jobless rate...
Despite Some Progress, There Is Still an Urgent Need for Kentucky to Do More to Address the Potential Spread of COVID-19 in Jails and Prisons
Reducing the number of people in jails and prisons is increasingly a focus of state, local and also nationwide efforts to protect public health during the COVID-19 crisis. However, despite...