What’s in the CARES Act for Kentucky
Congress has passed and the President has signed a new COVID-19 economic relief bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security...
Legislature to Pass Austere 1-Year Budget with Major Uncertainty as to Revenues
The legislative leaders meeting on an executive branch budget finalized a Free Conference Committee Report (FCCR) that covers only one year of the biennium and continues current funding levels for...
Senate Budget Increases Rainy Day Fund Paid for by Reducing Spending, Withholds Teacher Pension Contributions Until Benefit Cuts Are Made
The Senate budget increases funding for the Rainy Day Fund by reducing funding for pension contributions for health departments and other areas proposed by the House in its budget. The...
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 to tap the state’s rainy day fund to deal with...
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...