Our Commonwealth: A Primer on the Kentucky State Budget
Click here for: A Primer on the Kentucky State Budget (PDF). Every two years, the Kentucky General Assembly passes a...
Budget & Tax
Harsh Measure Threatens Kentucky’s Families and Finances
A new harmful and costly immigration proposal – Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) – would create an impractical mandate for most public agencies in Kentucky to participate in federal immigration...
What Does Kentucky Value? A Preview of the 2020-2022 Budget of the Commonwealth
PDF of the full report. Kentucky’s state budget is the primary policy document of the commonwealth, establishing how the state lives out shared values. Through investments ranging from schools to...
What the Finally-Released Actuarial Analysis Tells Us About So-Called Pension Reform
Today Governor Beshear released the actuarial analysis of the 2017 "Keeping the Promise" pension proposal that had been suppressed for the last two years. As expected and as we noted...
Less to Sweep from Health Fund in Next Budget
A fund for employees' health insurance that Kentucky has drained of increasingly large amounts of money in order to balance the state budget is very unlikely to be able to...
Forecast Confirms Weak Revenue Growth for Next Budget
The official body charged with predicting revenues for the state budget met yesterday and confirmed a weak revenue forecast for the next two years — meaning more budget cuts are...
Will the 2020 Budget Session Be Like Watching Groundhog Day?
Groundhog Day in 2020 is less than a week after Governor-Elect Beshear is due to lay out his budget proposal to the General Assembly. Shortly after, the legislature will begin...
Slot Machines Multiplying Rapidly Across Kentucky While State Deeply Undertaxes Them
Betting using instant wagering machines, which resemble and operate similar to slot machines, has exploded across Kentucky and thousands more machines will come online in the near future. Yet the...
Increased Funding Is Improving Kentucky’s Pension Plans
The General Assembly’s return to making full contributions to Kentucky’s pension systems in recent years is improving the systems’ health, as shown in newly available year-end reports. The challenges that...
Kentucky’s Budget Outlook
In January, the governor will propose and the General Assembly will begin deliberation about a new two-year state budget. The pieces are starting to come together around what the budget...