The director of one of Kentucky’s leading non-profit economic policy think tanks says the recently-passed state budget fails to address the state’s revenue problem.
Jason Bailey is the director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. He says the budget, which includes five percent cuts to more than a dozen state agencies, reflects the 14th round of harmful cuts since 2008, and doesn't do enough to generate new revenue.
“There are areas that have been time after time after time, so I think for higher education, for human services, for areas like environmental and public and worker protection, I think those systems will be frayed even further by the cuts that we’ve seen,” he said.
Bailey says that tax credits for the bourbon industry and beer and wine wholesalers aren’t worth the damage to vital state agencies, either, and the expected hikes in tuition to deal with those cuts will also be harmful.
