Debt Limit Could Increase Costs for Kentucky
A Senate committee approved legislation today to limit debt service (the annual payments made on debt the state owes) in...
State Tax and Budget
Administration Describes Bleak Outlook for Next Budget without More Revenue
In a presentation on the need for tax reform to the joint House and Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee today, Secretary Mary Lassiter laid out a bleak outlook for the...
State Can’t Pay Pension Debt from Natural Revenue Growth without Harming Services
One area of consensus on pensions is that the state should begin making the full annual required contribution to the retirement system, which will reduce the long-run costs of paying...
Penny Increase in Sales Tax Would Worsen Tax Fairness and Fail to Fix Long-Term Revenue Problem
A couple of legislators have floated the idea of raising the sales tax by one percentage point rather than taking action on a tax reform package. But such a plan...
Tax Commission Recommendations Raise Needed Revenue but Include Big Corporate Tax Cut
The new plan from the Governor's Blue Ribbon Tax Reform Commission rightly puts the first priority on raising needed revenue to address Kentucky's budget challenges. The commission finalized a package...
Arguments to Cut Income Tax Miss Context and Ignore Tax’s Benefits
Those arguing for a shift toward sales taxes and away from income taxes in Kentucky overstate the influence of income taxes on where people live. And they overlook the benefits...
What Would Kentucky Gain from More Business Tax Cuts?
For a state like Kentucky—with high levels of poverty, low wages and too few jobs—a perpetual issue is how government can do more to promote prosperity. For years, the state...
Taxing Groceries Not a Good Strategy for Kentucky
The recently released consultants’ report to the governor’s tax reform commission included the option of applying Kentucky’s sales tax to food for home consumption (i.e., groceries). While broadening the tax...
Pension Issue is Primarily a Revenue Challenge
Over the last several years, much of the focus given to Kentucky’s pension system has been on ways to shift new employees into some version of a 401k-style retirement plan....
State Cuts to Education Continue to Deepen
Kentucky is one of 35 states in which inflation-adjusted per student state funding for K-12 education is lower this school year than it was in 2008, according to a new...