What’s In the Senate Pension Bill
The Senate’s pension legislation, introduced as SB 1, includes cutting teachers' cost of living adjustments, moving new employees into a less secure...
Tax and Budget
Switching to 401ks Is a Lose-Lose
It’s a bad idea for Kentucky to shut down its pension plans and move new teachers and public employees into less efficient 401k-type defined contribution (DC) plans. State and local...
Gang Bill Unproven and Costly Approach
House Bill 169 proposes to make charges and related sentences much harsher for some crimes committed by individuals identified as gang members. This is an unproven approach to addressing gang...
Kentucky Better Budget Builder
Kentucky has what it takes to restore essential investments our commonwealth -- revenue options to address our eroding General Fund as an alternative to more budget cuts. This interactive tool...
Significant Cuts Proposed for PVA Offices Will Harm Property Tax Revenues Statewide
Kentucky’s Property Valuation Administrators (PVAs) told a House Budget Review Subcommittee yesterday that the governor’s budget contains cuts of 23.5 percent to PVAs that would require layoffs of approximately 40...
Adequate Fund Balances are Crucial for Prudent School District Management and Should Not be Relied Upon to Make Up for State Funding Cuts
One of the ways the governor’s budget expects local school districts to make up for significant cuts he has proposed in state support for education, including transportation and teacher health...
Governor’s Budget Cuts Per-Student SEEK Funding
The Support for Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) formula is the primary source of funding for the state’s local school districts. Despite the perception that SEEK funding is not cut...
More Detail About 70 Programs Defunded in Governor’s Budget Proposal
This table provides information about the 70 programs for which Governor Bevin's 2018-2020 budget proposal would eliminate state funding. The proposal is available here. All programs identified as being eliminated...
School Voucher Tax Break Proposals Further Threaten Funding for Public Education
Bills have already been filed in both the Senate and the House this session that would further threaten resources for Kentucky’s already underfunded public schools and other services, allow high-income...
New 2018 Cuts Hit Some Departments Harder Than Others
Last week the governor announced mid-year budget cuts for fiscal year 2018 that represent an overall cut of 1.3 percent to all 3 branches of state government. However, it is...