Kentucky’s Largest Cities Spend a Quarter of Their Budgets on Police
Amid growing attention to harmful overpolicing of Black communities, many are calling on cities to begin shifting public resources away...
Tax and Budget
What’s in the HEROES Act for Kentucky
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the HEROES Act, a bill that would provide the kind of substantial economic relief Kentucky and other states need in the face of...
Cities and Counties Need Federal Relief to Continue Providing Crucial Services
As with states, local governments in Kentucky and nationwide need significant federal relief if they are to continue providing crucial front line and community services through the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures...
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...
Kentucky’s Budget Faces Trouble Without More Federal Aid
The severe economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spells trouble for Kentucky's budget. The state’s resources were already tight before the virus, but the resulting economic collapse will be...
Kentucky Not Prepared for Next Recession
Amid the spread of COVID-19 and resulting business closures and layoffs, a recession is under way and could be particularly harmful in Kentucky due to the state’s failure to adequately...
SB 1 Would Harm Kentucky Kids, Economy
After receiving a second reading on the House floor yesterday, Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) continues to advance in the House, despite the harms to Kentucky kids and our economy...
Kentucky Response to COVID-19: Inadequate Rainy Day Fund Heightens Need for Federal Aid and More State Revenue
States set aside rainy day funds to draw on when economic downturns or crises hit. Governor Beshear may well need to tap the state’s rainy day fund to deal with...
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,...
A Move from Local Occupational Taxes to Sales Taxes Would Be a Regressive Tax Shift
Some proponents of HB 475, a constitutional amendment to expand revenue options for local governments, say it will result in localities moving away from occupational taxes and towards sales taxes...