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...
Tax and Budget
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...
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...
House Bill 1 Still Focuses on Punitive Measures that Take Assistance Away
The new version of House Bill 1 introduced in committee today, like the original proposal, contains a number of misguided and punitive measures that create barriers to assistance for Kentuckians...