Three Years of Kentucky’s Jobs Recovery in Four Charts
In April 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic bottomed out the economy, and Kentucky lost 294,900 jobs – or...
Analysis
Medicaid Renewal Process Underway for the First Time Since Start of Pandemic
Kentucky, like every other state, is re-starting its Medicaid renewals process after a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing downturn. During this year-long process, the state must...
More Than 17,000 Kentuckians Could Lose Food Aid With Return of SNAP Work Reporting Requirements
An estimated 17,300 Kentuckians will soon be at risk of losing much-needed grocery money due to newly reinstated requirements that tie food aid to reporting employment hours. Unless these Kentuckians...
How Kentucky Can Combat the Growing Scourge of Child Labor
Nearly 100 years after President Franklin Roosevelt called child labor an “ancient atrocity” and took action to abolish it, the scourge of child exploitation through work is back. Corporate violations...
Public Schools Are Becoming a Lower State Budget Priority
Preschool through 12th grade public education has become less of a Kentucky budget priority in recent years, according to the official analyses of enacted budgets published by the Office of...
Kentucky’s Basic Cash Assistance Program Just Got a Much-Needed Update
Kentucky’s basic cash assistance program for families with young children was recently overhauled to make long-overdue and badly needed improvements benefitting children and families across the commonwealth. These changes in...
Progress Made on Drug Policy in 2023, Though the Legislature Increased Other Criminal Penalties
If Kentucky were a country, it would be the seventh most incarcerated place in the world – with more than 21,000 people held in county jails, 65% of which are...
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...
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...