Year End Revenues Are Above Projections, But Concerns Remain for the Future
Kentucky ended the 2019 fiscal year with $194.5 million more in the General Fund than was expected based on the...
Analysis
Kentucky Public Universities and Community Colleges Serving More Low-Income Students and Students of Color Receive No Performance Funds in 2020
New information about the distribution of performance funds for Kentucky’s public postsecondary education institutions again raises concerns about the model, particularly given its implementation in the context of continued state...
Average Kentucky Worker’s Paycheck Not Yet Benefitting from Growing Economy
With all of the claims about how great the economy is right now, the data shows that the average Kentuckian’s wages remained flat in 2018, continuing the trend of nearly...
Manufacturing Job Growth Has Slowed in Kentucky Since Passage of “Right-To-Work”
Manufacturing job losses in recent decades have hurt Kentucky communities. Two recessions and trade policies that have encouraged outsourcing and made American goods more expensive relative to other countries’ have...
Further Shift from the Income Tax to the Sales Tax is Bad for Kentucky
In interviews leading up to the 2020 session, legislative leaders have expressed their desire to continue down the path of reducing income taxes and paying for the reductions by relying...
Change to Poverty Measure Would Mean Hardship for Many Kentuckians
The Official Poverty Measure is used to determine who can get medical, food, childcare and other forms of assistance. But the federal agency responsible for setting that measure is trying...
Record-Breaking Failure to Raise the Minimum Wage Is Holding Back Kentucky
This week marks the longest period in history the federal government has failed to increase the minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Because Kentucky...
Systemic Barriers Continue to Hold Back Wages and Employment for Kentuckians of Color
On the 154th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, barriers to thriving for black Kentuckians are still deeply entrenched. Data on wages and unemployment in Kentucky show that discrimination and...
Taxing Betting Uniformly Would Generate Much-Needed General Fund Revenue
The 145th running of the Kentucky Derby was over quickly, but the revenue losses from Kentucky’s failure to uniformly tax betting already happening in the state — and to dedicate...
Pension Proposal Steers Quasi-Governmental Organizations Toward Breaking Promise to Current Employees
A new pension proposal from the governor’s office pushes quasi-governmental organizations to leave the retirement system in ways that are still very expensive to them, and even less affordable if...