TIF Creep Means Growing Costs, Less Accountability
Click to view as a PDF Tax increment financing (TIF) is a common method for financing economic development that uses...
Budget & Tax
Troubling Hints About Direction for Tax Reform
We don’t know yet the specifics of a tax reform plan the governor wants the General Assembly to consider in a 2017 special session. But this week, in a letter...
Kansas’ Experiment Yields Valuable Lessons for Kentucky
By Heidi Holliday You’re welcome, America. Our state, Kansas, just wrapped up a 5-year long experiment in governance from which the other 49 states can now glean some important lessons....
Pension Benefits Inject $3.4 Billion into the Economies of Kentucky Counties
As the governor and General Assembly consider additional cuts to pension benefits for employees, it’s important to understand the role such benefits play in local economies. In 2016, public retirees...
The Health Care Repeal Bill Would Double What Kentucky Must Pay for Medicaid Expansion
The American Health Care Act (AHCA) ends extra federal funding for states that expanded Medicaid eligibility, meaning Kentucky would have to increase its Medicaid expansion funding 111 percent to make...
Trump Budget Makes It Harder for Low-Income Kentuckians to Climb Economic Ladder
In President Trump’s budget proposal, cuts to critical programs that help low-income Kentuckians are primarily justified as a way to move more people into the workforce. However, the budget proposal...
Food Assistance Cuts in Trump Budget Would Have a Devastating Impact on Kentucky
The deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) in President Trump’s budget proposal would be devastating to Kentucky — particularly in rural parts of the...
What Trump Budget Proposal Would Mean for Kentucky
President Trump’s full budget proposal released today includes harsh, devastating cuts to critical poverty-reducing programs that provide health, nutrition and financial assistance to many Kentuckians. The budget also includes drastic...
Angel Investor Tax Credit Program is an Overly-Generous Subsidy for Wealthy Investors
Kentucky’s angel investor tax credit program is touted as a way to encourage investment in start-up companies. But because it is overly generous to investors, fails to target start-ups exclusively...
Report on County Jails Shows Why We Need Additional Criminal Justice Reforms
A recently released report from the state Legislative Research Commission (LRC) raises the alarm around the growing number of state inmates housed in county jails. This trend underscores the need...