Substantial Revenues Are Available for Both Recurring and One-Time Needs, Unless Lawmakers Budget for More Tax Cuts
The budget debate is well under way in Frankfort, but the discussion is clouded by confusion and misinformation about the...
Budget & Tax
This Year, the Legislature Has the Money to Pass a Budget that Delivers for Kentuckians
What would you do if you had billions of dollars to help meet the needs of your fellow Kentuckians? Would you use the money to address the teacher and bus...
Governor’s Budget Invests in Education and Infrastructure Using Dollars Otherwise Piling Up in Excessive Reserves
Governor Beshear’s 2024-2026 budget proposal expands investment in a variety of public services, with a focus on education and infrastructure, and pays for that expansion with billions of dollars otherwise...
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 has resulted in robust recent state revenue growth, but the...
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...