Severance Tax Dollars Need Stronger Overall Strategy
The House version of the new state budget takes $20 million of coal severance money the governor’s budget had allocated...
While Kentucky’s Budget Faces More Cuts, Profitable Fortune 500 Companies Avoid Paying State Corporate Income Taxes
As Kentucky and other states struggle with tough budget decisions about essential public services, profitable Fortune 500 companies including Kentucky-based Yum Brands and Humana pay little to nothing in state...
What Revenue Changes Are Moving in the General Assembly
Despite receiving a tax reform proposal from Governor Beshear back in January, there's been little discussion about the need for comprehensive reform in this year's General Assembly. In fact, the...
Where Dollars Moved in the House Version of the State Budget
The version of the state budget the House passed today is very similar to what the governor proposed in January. The main changes in budget allocations involve a little more...
House Proposes to Maintain Austere Budget, Shift Some Priorities
The House budget for 2013-2014 passed out of committee yesterday largely maintains the Governor’s proposed cuts of up to 8.4 percent to state services while making some shifts in priorities...
Budget’s Good News Not Enough for What Ails Kentucky
For a person who is chronically ill, a day of less pain provides welcome comfort but no promise of returning to long-term health. Kentucky finds itself in a similar position...
Expanded Federal Earned Income Tax Credit Would Be Big Benefit to Kentucky Workers
The President’s budget for 2015 includes several important improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) that, taken together, would help low-wage Kentucky workers and...
Diverting Lottery Revenues Makes College Less Affordable For Those Who Need It Most
The state is increasingly diverting lottery revenues from financial aid programs to help shore up the budget, as described in a Lexington Herald-Leader story today. Those dollars are coming from...
“Single Sales Factor” Would Cost Substantial Revenue Kentucky Needs for Investments that Work
A proposal included in Governor Beshear's tax reform plan that would change the way Kentucky calculates state corporate income taxes for big multistate corporations would wipe out one-third of the...
Top 1 Percent of Kentuckians Captured Nearly Half of State Income Growth over Last Few Decades
The top 1 percent of earners in Kentucky took home 48.8 percent of state income gains from 1979 to 2007—a share in line with the national average of 53.9 percent—according...