Kentucky Response to COVID-19: Inadequate Rainy Day Fund Heightens Need for Federal Aid and More State Revenue
States set aside rainy day funds to draw on when economic downturns or crises hit. Governor Beshear may well need...
A Move from Local Occupational Taxes to Sales Taxes Would Be a Regressive Tax Shift
Some proponents of HB 475, a constitutional amendment to expand revenue options for local governments, say it will result in localities moving away from occupational taxes and towards sales taxes...
House Budget Makes Adjustments Including to Employee Raises, Social Workers and Rainy Day Fund and Contains No New Revenue
The House budget plan includes many of the same priorities that the governor proposed, but contains a different emphasis in a variety of areas. Compared to the governor’s budget, the...
Revenue Options That Strengthen the Commonwealth
Currently, too many tax breaks drain money that is needed to shore up and sustain public schools, higher education and workforce development; teacher and state worker pension systems; preschool, child...
State Policy Decisions Hinder Kentucky’s Readiness for Coronavirus
As fears rise about coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States, state policy choices create a context that either limits or enables harm and disruption from its potential spread. In Kentucky,...
Tax Plan Would Fix Kentucky’s Budget Challenges by Addressing Upside Down Tax Code
A new bill would generate substantial new revenue for Kentucky’s budget by asking those at the top and corporations to chip in a portion of the enormous federal and state...
Understanding the Quasi Pension Funding Issue
Over the last few days, attention has turned to whether Governor Beshear's budget underfunds the main state worker pension system, the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS) non-hazardous plan, in the...
Governor’s Budget Makes Modest Increases to Education Funding and Selected Other Areas, Raises Small Amount of New Revenue
Governor Beshear’s budget proposal to the General Assembly contains small increases in spending for P-12 education and provides funding for other targeted areas including relief for quasi-governmental organizations facing spiking...
Another Year of Modest Job Growth in Kentucky
We outlined in a 2018 report how Kentucky's economic performance had fallen short of claims based on corporate announcements. Among other things, we noted that the pace of state job...
Tax Cuts Causing the Worst Revenue Projections Since Consensus Forecasting Began
Next week, Governor Beshear will present his state budget proposal to the General Assembly and the legislature will begin crafting a new budget for the next two years. Due in...