Many Kentuckians Work in Bad Jobs
Anecdotal claims are often made that many good jobs are available across the state but Kentucky lacks a workforce skilled...
Research
What’s In the Criminal Justice Reform Bill, and What’s Not
Senate Bill 120, the bill coming out of the state’s Criminal Justice Policy Assessment Council (CJPAC), proposes some positive steps to address barriers to successful reentry often experienced by former...
Harsher Criminal Penalties Not a Proven Way to Address Heroin Problem
We all want to see Kentucky address its devastating drug problems. The issue touches individuals and families from all walks of life across Kentucky, and too many of us have...
Not Yet to Full Economic Recovery
The economy as a whole has been slowly improving and Kentucky’s unemployment rate has fallen from 10.9 percent in June 2009 to 4.8 percent now — the lowest rate since...
No Need to Overinflate Pension Liabilities
Lately the governor is saying Kentucky’s unfunded pension liabilities are not the $33 billion reported by the systems’ actuaries, but a much larger $82 billion. That estimate is based on...
Will More Revenue from Tax Reform Be Real and Sustaining?
Governor Bevin suggested in his State of the Commonwealth speech that his tax plan will generate more revenue to help Kentucky pay down its large unfunded pension liabilities. Kentucky needs more...
Low Wages at Bottom Demonstrate Need for Policies that Boost Earnings
Following meaningful wage growth in 2015, real wages dropped slightly for Kentucky workers in 2016 and are still below where they were back in 2001. With wages low for a...
Kentucky Should Reject Dangerous Call to Reopen Constitution
The Kentucky General Assembly may consider resolutions (versions introduced as HJR 54, HCR 13 and SCR 143) that are part of a well-funded national effort calling for a new convention to rewrite the rules of...
Would Charter School Proposal Negatively Impact Funding of Kentucky’s Existing Public Schools?
One of the key questions about how charter school legislation would change education in Kentucky is how it would affect funding for traditional public schools. Looking at what has occurred in...
Refugees, Immigrants Important to Kentucky and the Economy: An Overview of the Research
From the promise to build a wall paid for by tariffs on Mexican imports and uncertainty about what will happen to DACA (which allows undocumented immigrants whose parents brought them...