Substantial Revenues Are Available for Both Recurring and One-Time Needs, Unless Lawmakers Budget for More Tax Cuts
The budget debate is well under way in Frankfort, but the discussion is clouded by confusion and misinformation about the...
Governor’s Budget Invests in Education and Infrastructure Using Dollars Otherwise Piling Up in Excessive Reserves
Governor Beshear’s 2024-2026 budget proposal expands investment in a variety of public services, with a focus on education and infrastructure, and pays for that expansion with billions of dollars otherwise...
The Money Is There and So Are the Needs: Preview of the 2024-2026 Budget of the Commonwealth
Introduction The General Assembly faces a critically important opportunity with the 2024-2026 Budget of the Commonwealth. A strong national economy has resulted in robust recent state revenue growth, but the...
Union Victories Could Spark New Blue Collar Power in the Bluegrass
Is it possible that blue collar Kentucky workers could finally be reaching a turning point in the long slide in their standard of living? If so, history may credit the...
Local Sales Tax Amendment Could Lead to Wider Inequality Without Better Funding Local Services
Under Kentucky’s constitution, there are limits on the types of taxes the General Assembly may authorize local governments to levy, and local sales taxes are not allowed. [efn_note]As currently interpreted,...
State Report Describes Growing Educator Shortage, and Lack of Funding Plays a Key Role
The growing shortage of teachers and other school personnel is becoming more severe, according to a new report by the Kentucky legislature’s Office of Education Accountability (OEA). Inadequate funding and...
Kentucky Is Excessively Stockpiling Needed Resources and Prioritizing Costly Tax Cuts
In recent years, the Kentucky General Assembly has prioritized an effort to reduce its single largest revenue source, the individual income tax. After decades with a graduated income tax and...
The UAW Strikes Are Working. And Now Kentuckians Are Joining In.
The United Auto Workers’ (UAW) Stand Up strikes came to Louisville last week when the 8,700 workers at the massive Ford Kentucky Truck Plant held a surprise walk out. They...
UAW Showdown Is a Pivotal Moment for Southern Auto Workers
In the classic Kentucky novel The Dollmaker, a tenant farm family leaves a hard life in the hills for a no less difficult existence in the roaring factories of Detroit....
The Funding Gap Between Kentucky’s Wealthy and Poor School Districts Is Now Worse Than Levels Declared Unconstitutional
The difference in per-pupil funding between the state’s poorest and wealthiest districts now exceeds the level deemed unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court more than three decades ago. In 1990,...