Legislature Wants to Take Power From the JCPS Board While Cutting Funding to Its Schools
Legislative leaders have been critical of Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in recent years on issues ranging from student performance...
Research
Here’s How Much the House Budget Would Cut SEEK Payments to Your School District
This analysis is based on the initial version of House Bill 500. See here for an updated analysis on the how the House budget would affect SEEK payments. As introduced,...
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 of 70,766 immigrants locked up in detention, and Immigration and...
How the Kentucky State Budget Works
The Kentucky state legislature has no more important job than passing a state budget. The budget allows us to come together to pay for schools, roads, state parks and many other programs and services that benefit us...
Initial House Budget Slashes Funding for Many Services, Prioritizes More Tax Cuts
As introduced, the House budget (HB 500) 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...
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...
A State Budget for an Affordable Kentucky: Preview of the 2026–2028 Budget of the Commonwealth
In the 2026 legislative session, the Kentucky General Assembly will perform its most important job — crafting a two-year state budget that funds education, health, social services and other critical...
Building a Kentucky Workers Can Afford
Hard work runs deep in Kentucky. Kentuckians dug the coal that powered the 20th century and raised the food that fed a nation. Now, workers are more likely to move...
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...