In the COVID Recovery and Beyond, Kentuckians Need a Strong Safety Net
The past two years have been hard on Kentuckians. In April 2020, nearly 1 in 7 lost their job and...
A Decade Without Raises and Weakened Benefits Have Created a State Workforce Crisis. Addressing it Adequately Should Be a Top Priority in the New Budget
Updated on Feb. 2, 2022 Fundamental to providing services like P-12 education, legal defense and child welfare is the state workforce that delivers them. Despite these workers’ critical roles, Kentucky’s...
A Time To Invest: Preview of the 2022–2024 Budget of the Commonwealth
The General Assembly faces a critically important opportunity with the 2022–2024 Budget of the Commonwealth. The state has a historic budget surplus and unspent federal aid that provide the resources...
In Decade Since Major Criminal Justice Reform, the Kentucky General Assembly Has Passed Six Times as Many Laws Increasing Incarceration as Decreasing It
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of 2011’s House Bill (HB) 463, “The Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act.”[efn_note]2011 Ky. Acts, ch. 2, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/11RS/documents/0002.pdf.[/efn_note] HB 463 was...
Child Care in Kentucky Is Crucial and in Dire Need of Public Investment
Kentucky families need high-quality early child care and education to provide a safe learning environment for children at a critical age of development. Child care also makes parents’ and other...
The Golden Key: How State-Local Financial Incentives to Lock Up Kentuckians Are Perpetuating Mass Incarceration
Incarceration is harmful to individuals, families and communities, yet Kentucky incarcerates 40% more people per capita than the United States average, which is more than 5 times larger than other...
How Kentuckians Would Benefit from the Build Back Better Act
Kentuckians’ economic future and family well-being hinge on passage of the Build Back Better Act (BBB) now in front of Congress. The legislation contains landmark policies that will create millions...
Federal Relief Programs Cut Poverty in Kentucky by Two-Thirds This Year
Thanks to many programs enacted through COVID-related federal relief legislation, an estimated 707,000 fewer Kentuckians are living in poverty in 2021 than they would have otherwise — a reduction of...
Medicaid Filled the COVID Coverage Gap
Last year when COVID-19 cases were escalating and the bottom fell out of the economy, hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians lost work. For many, this meant losing their health insurance...
$300 Weekly Jobless Benefit Is Good for Kentucky’s Economy
The expanded $300 a week in federally-funded jobless benefits known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) is providing a necessary bridge for families and the economy as we begin to...