Budget Should Move Forward on Early Childhood, Not Back
Quality early childhood education, through child care and preschool, has been shown to have multiple layers of value: It helps...
Budget & Tax
Kentucky’s Past Shows Public Investment Is Essential to Progress
Kentucky faces a difficult budget challenge, but Governor Bevin's proposal is based on a false assumption: that deeply cutting funding for public investments will make it easier to pay down...
Criminal Justice Reform Bill Would Save State Money and Reduce Recidivism
While our state has taken some important steps in passing criminal justice reform legislation in 2011, additional reforms are needed. HB 412, a bill sponsored by Representative Yonts, would further...
Cuts to Adult Education Would Decrease Access to GED Credential
The cuts in the governor’s budget proposal would hit Kentucky Adult Education (KYAE) hard — reducing Kentuckians’ access to the supports needed to prepare for and pass the GED test....
Three Steps to a Better Budget this Session
The General Assembly has less than two months to finalize the next two-year state budget. Although the governor’s budget rightly takes a big step toward fully funding our pension liabilities,...
Coal County Services Harmed by Severance Tax Collapse at Time of Transition
A steep decline in the production of coal in recent years has reduced severance tax dollars going to Kentucky’s General Fund and back to coal counties, stretching already tight state...
Cuts to Property Valuation Administrators Counterproductive
Kentucky’s Property Valuation Administrators (PVAs) testified to a House budget review subcommittee yesterday that proposed budget cuts could compromise the state’s ability to generate property tax revenue. Such cuts may...
Undocumented Immigrants in Kentucky Pay $37 million in State and Local Taxes, Would Increase with Legal Status
Undocumented immigrants contribute to the Kentucky communities in which they live and work in a number of ways, including through taxes. Because immigration reform would provide a pathway for full...
Fact Sheet: Need-Based Financial Aid Dollars Being Diverted to General Fund
For years millions of scholarship dollars have been diverted away from Kentucky’s need-based financial aid programs to the General Fund. Studies have shown that need-based financial aid: • Increases college...
Unanswered Questions about the Cost and Feasibility of Shutting Down Kynect
The governor has notified the federal government that he intends to shut down Kynect and shift Kentucky to the federal health insurance exchange for the next open enrollment period that...