On Session’s Final Day, Lawmakers Pass New Tax Breaks for Already-Subsidized Industries
In the final hours of the 2026 legislative session, the General Assembly passed HB 869. This is the second voluminous...
Budget & Tax
Budget Agreement Cuts and Freezes Funding for Most Services, Continues to Underfund Medicaid
The legislative chambers have agreed to a new two-year state budget (HB 500, later amended by SB 197) that includes 7% cuts to many state agencies. The agreement falls $691...
Budget Cuts Will Harm Services That Benefit Children
In the final budget agreement, the legislature passed the deepest cuts in over a decade to the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), which primarily exists to serve Kentucky’s most...
Last-Minute Tax Breaks Allow Racetracks to Keep Sales Taxes
Update: Key parts of the bill highlighted in this analysis were changed in subsequent legislation explained here. As has become routine in recent budget cycles, the General Assembly added lucrative...
Senate Proposes to Ease Some House Reductions, but Austere Budget Reflects Recent Tax Cuts
The Senate’s version of the next two-year state budget eases some of the cuts included in the House budget, which passed in late February, by spending funds the House allocated...
It Can’t Be All About, Or In, the Base
As the 2027-2028 state budget continues through the legislative process, legislative leaders have repeatedly assured the public that key investments for programs like senior meals, childcare, salary increases, and increased...
Here’s How the House Budget Would Affect Seek Payments to Your School District
The House budget freezes school transportation funding and makes small increases in the guaranteed base funding level used to determine payments to school districts under the SEEK formula. Though the...
General Assembly Should Fix Underfunding of School Transportation This Session
School buses are essential to getting kids to and from school. In recognition, the General Assembly created a law as part of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) that...
House Proposes Still-Austere Budget That Freezes and Cuts Funding, Adds to Already Large Budget Reserves
The original HB 500, introduced late last month, was met with significant public criticism, including for its cap on employer health insurance contributions and cuts to Medicaid and education. The...
Understanding the Proposed Health Insurance Cut in HB 500, the Kentucky House Budget
As introduced, the House Budget (HB 500) inserts new and unprecedented language that caps the state’s contributions to employee health insurance, shifting costs to current and former state and school...