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...
Fayette County Schools Debate Is Missing the Context of State Funding Cuts
For the last year, Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) has been in the middle of a heated public debate over the district's budget. FCPS reported a $16 million budget shortfall...
Kentucky Has Had No Net Job Growth Over the Last Two Years
Kentucky's job growth has stalled, with new federal data showing no net job increases in the state over the last two years. After a robust recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,...
Budget Agreement Cuts and Freezes Funding for Most Services, Continues to Underfund Medicaid
The legislative chambers have agreed to a new two-year state budget (HB 500, later amended by SB 197) that includes 7% cuts to many state agencies. The agreement falls $691...
Kentuckians Hit Hard by Rising Gas Prices
The United States war in Iran has caused a spike in gas prices that now costs Kentuckians $175 million a month, according to a new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That's an additional $46.69 each month for...
Senate Proposes to Ease Some House Reductions, but Austere Budget Reflects Recent Tax Cuts
The Senate’s version of the next two-year state budget eases some of the cuts included in the House budget, which passed in late February, by spending funds the House allocated...
Here’s How the House Budget Would Affect Seek Payments to Your School District
The House budget freezes school transportation funding and makes small increases in the guaranteed base funding level used to determine payments to school districts under the SEEK formula. Though the...
General Assembly Should Fix Underfunding of School Transportation This Session
School buses are essential to getting kids to and from school. In recognition, the General Assembly created a law as part of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) that...
House Proposes Still-Austere Budget That Freezes and Cuts Funding, Adds to Already Large Budget Reserves
The original HB 500, introduced late last month, was met with significant public criticism, including for its cap on employer health insurance contributions and cuts to Medicaid and education. The...
Understanding the Proposed Health Insurance Cut in HB 500, the Kentucky House Budget
As introduced, the House Budget (HB 500) inserts new and unprecedented language that caps the state’s contributions to employee health insurance, shifting costs to current and former state and school...