Amid Mounting Harms, Kentucky Is Ramping Up Anti-Immigrant Enforcement
More than a year in to the Trump presidency, the administration’s mass deportation effort has resulted in a historic high...
Analysis
Initial House Budget Slashes Funding for Many Services, Prioritizes More Tax Cuts
As introduced, the House budget severely cuts or freezes many parts of the state budget and underfunds essential public services, with the apparent goal of triggering more income tax cuts under the legislature’s formula. The filing of the budget is only...
Property Tax Is Vital to Funding Schools, Public Safety and Other Local Services
Kentucky’s property tax is a cornerstone of how we fund public services that keep our communities safe, educated and healthy — especially at the local level. Approximately $5 billion is collected in Kentucky annually from property taxes, which apply to real...
Governor Proposes Tight Budget for Ongoing Services, Using Reserve Funds to Help Household Affordability Needs
Governor Beshear's budget proposes using nearly $1 billion from the state’s $3.7 billion Budget Reserve Trust Fund (BRTF) to fill gaps in household affordability needs, address some of the fallout of H. R. 1, and for other infrastructure and education projects. The remainder of the budget contains a combination...
Affordability Is a Crisis for Kentuckians
Many Kentuckians are struggling to afford the cost of living. This problem is not new, but prices have spiked in recent years while many workers’ wages and household incomes have...
For Tens of Thousands of Kentuckians Participating in SNAP, the Shutdown Is Just Beginning
The recently ended shutdown of the federal government demonstrated just how essential the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is to over 560,000 Kentuckians. Over the last month, as the Trump...
State and Federal Tax Cuts of the Last Decade Are Giving an Enormous Windfall to the Wealthiest Kentuckians
The Kentucky General Assembly will create a new two-year budget in 2026 in the face of declining state revenues and substantial new costs passed down from Congress. Large recent state income tax cuts and a slowing national economy are already causing...
Kentuckians in Every County Will See Health Care Costs Soar Unless Congress Acts
In 2025, more than 90,000 Kentuckians were enrolled in a health insurance plan through kynect, the state’s health insurance marketplace. Most of these enrollees received subsidies that significantly reduced the...
ICE Arrests Are Surging in Kentucky as Local Law Enforcement Joins Troubling Mass Deportation Effort
Anti-immigration enforcement has ramped up since the inauguration in January, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arresting more than 1,000 people per day on average nationally and locking up nearly...
State Report Shows Educators in Most Kentucky School Districts Received Little or No Raise
The typical Kentucky school district increased salaries for teachers and other certified employees by only 2% this year, and 40 districts provided no raise at all, according to an annual...