The Money Is There and So Are the Needs: Preview of the 2024-2026 Budget of the Commonwealth
Introduction The General Assembly faces a critically important opportunity with the 2024-2026 Budget of the Commonwealth. A strong national economy...
Budget & Tax
Local Sales Tax Amendment Could Lead to Wider Inequality Without Better Funding Local Services
Under Kentucky’s constitution, there are limits on the types of taxes the General Assembly may authorize local governments to levy, and local sales taxes are not allowed. [efn_note]As currently interpreted,...
Kentucky Is Excessively Stockpiling Needed Resources and Prioritizing Costly Tax Cuts
In recent years, the Kentucky General Assembly has prioritized an effort to reduce its single largest revenue source, the individual income tax. After decades with a graduated income tax and...
New Federal Laws Can Create Opportunities in Kentucky, If We Act on Job Quality and Community Access
In recent years, Congress has passed several sweeping federal policies that aim to create jobs, modernize the economy and boost key industries. Early returns are promising in Kentucky, which is...
Drop in Income Tax Receipts Is a Glimpse of Future Trouble
Five months into Kentucky’s experiment in reducing the individual income tax rate, the verdict is unsurprising. Cutting the rate is causing income tax receipts to fall despite low unemployment and...
State Budget Changes in 2023 Session Increase Future Risk
The General Assembly reduced future revenues substantially this session by passing House Bill (HB) 1, a law that will further shrink Kentucky’s largest revenue source by cutting the state income...
Shorting State Workers’ Pay Hurts Us All
Last year, the General Assembly provided the first meaningful raise to workers in state government in 14 years by providing an 8% cost of living adjustment. Though that increase was...
HB 444 Leaves $110 Million On the Table for State Worker Pay
Last year, the General Assembly provided a badly-needed 8% raise for state workers in fiscal year 2023, reversing a 14-year trend of low or no cost-of-living increases. At the same...
‘Transplant’ Bill Would Give Large Windfall to Companies Recruiting Remote Workers
A bill aimed at relocating higher-income remote workers to Kentucky could cost the state up to $200 million and widen inequality without necessarily drawing many people to Kentucky who aren’t...
Cutting Bourbon Industry Taxes Harms the Communities That Sustain It
Kentucky’s bourbon and spirits industry had a banner year in 2022, with announcements of a record $2.1 billion in new investments. According to the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA), 2.4 million...