S&P Report Says Growing Inequality Harming State Budgets, Especially in States More Dependent on Sales Taxes
A new report from the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) says that growing income inequality is making it harder for...
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New Census Data Does Not Reflect Health Insurance Gains Made in 2014, But Shows How Much Kentuckians Needed Coverage
The Census data released today from the American Community Survey (ACS) shows that 616,000 Kentuckians or one in seven residents did not have health insurance in 2013, which is about...
Two Pillars of Making Work Pay: Minimum Wage Increase and a State Earned Income Tax Credit
Increasing the state minimum wage and instituting a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and are two policies that complement each other and can help working families better make ends...
Congressional Vote on Internet Tax Loopholes Could Help or Harm Kentucky’s Budget
The Senate is expected to vote soon on continuing a moratorium on state and local taxes of Internet access, and the specifics of what passes could mean hundreds of millions...
Increasing Accountability of For-Profit Colleges
In recent years, there has been a lot of debate over the value and role of for-profit colleges. Enrollment at these schools across the country has grown rapidly, but many...
New Health Cooperative Leading Way in Providing Exchange Coverage
Kentucky is continuing to gain national recognition for its success in expanding health insurance coverage, most recently in a Gallup poll showing Kentucky had the second-biggest drop of all states...
New Year-End Data Show Kentucky’s General Fund Continuing to Erode
In order to maintain investments in education, health, safety and other services that our citizens, businesses and communities rely on, Kentucky needs revenue growth that keeps pace with the economy....
Revenue Growth Will Need to Pick Up to Hit 2015 Forecast
State revenue is now expected to grow only 1.3 percent for the first three quarters of the new budget year that began in July, according to a just-released state interim...
Five Factors Behind Shrinking Revenue Growth in the Recovery
The rate of revenue growth in Kentucky’s General Fund has slowed down between 2011 and 2014, as seen in the graph below. That’s a big part of why Kentucky’s budget...
Kentucky Should Get Involved In Debate About New College Affordability Strategies
While recent discussion of the student debt crisis has focused largely on federal proposals to make student loan payments easier to manage, several states (not to mention Starbucks) are experimenting...