To Protect Kentuckians from COVID-19, State Needs to Build on Already Significant Declines in Incarceration
In recent weeks, important steps have been taken to address the public health crisis posed by incarceration in Kentucky’s jails...
New Forecast Shows Collapse in State Tax Revenues from COVID-19
Kentucky’s General Fund tax revenues will crater in the coming months due to the COVID-19 downturn, according to a new unofficial forecast released today by the Office of the State...
Three Steps to Passing a Better Budget for Kentucky
The budget passed by the House mostly avoids another round of damaging cuts to programs and services that have been common since the Great Recession (with a few important exceptions,...
Bipartisan Interest in Tax Break Accountability
The lack of revenue with which legislators are creating the next biennial budget is an urgent reminder of the need to clean up the tax breaks that limit the amount...
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...
House Bill 413 Creates Greater Accountability and Transparency for Tax Expenditures
HB 413, sponsored by Representative James Tipton, is a good government bill that establishes a structure for the General Assembly to know more about and better consider the purpose, cost...
Our Commonwealth: A Primer on the Kentucky State Budget
Click here for: A Primer on the Kentucky State Budget (PDF). Every two years, the Kentucky General Assembly passes a budget in the form of four separate bills for the...
Forecast Confirms Weak Revenue Growth for Next Budget
The official body charged with predicting revenues for the state budget met yesterday and confirmed a weak revenue forecast for the next two years — meaning more budget cuts are...
Slot Machines Multiplying Rapidly Across Kentucky While State Deeply Undertaxes Them
Betting using instant wagering machines, which resemble and operate similar to slot machines, has exploded across Kentucky and thousands more machines will come online in the near future. Yet the...
Why Are Many Kentucky Jails So Crowded?
Over the past few months, Kentucky’s severely overcrowded jails have been in the spotlight. While other states have enacted significant criminal justice reforms, reducing their prison and jail populations without...