KyPolicy

Student Loan Interest Is Accruing Again for 1 in 5 Kentucky Borrowers  - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy At least 116,200 Kentuckians — or 19% of people in the state with student loans — will see their balances immediately start growing.

NEW: As inflation and rising costs make it harder for people to provide for their families, at least 116,200 Kentuckians will see their student loan balances immediately start growing today.

Reminder: The OBBBA gives tax breaks to the wealthy while raising costs and cutting services for everyone else.

Kentucky Minimum Wage Now Half its Previous Peak, and Below Poverty Line - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy As of this week, it has been 16 years since the minimum wage was increased. Failure to increase this threshold has left working Kentuckians with a wage floor less than half of what it once was and dri...

More: kypolicy.org/kentucky-min...

It's now been 16 years since Kentucky saw an increase in the minimum wage, which is officially below the poverty line for a full-time, year-round worker for the first time ever.

One Year Of House Bill 5: Hundreds of Unhoused Kentuckians Have Been Cited for 'Unlawful Camping' - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Kentucky has seen 425 unlawful camping charges in district court in the first 11 and a half months since House Bill 5 went into effect.

More here: kypolicy.org/house-bill-f...

Rather than providing a pathway to housing, criminalizing homelessness further destabilizes unhoused Kentuckians’ lives and disrupts access to services. Instead of arresting and jailing people for being unhoused, the state should pursue housing solutions that actually work.

NEW: Nearly one year after House Bill 5 went into effect, Kentucky has seen 425 "unlawful camping" charges across 30 counties.

That’s of more than one unhoused person cited or arrested for unlawful camping each day, on average.

The Hidden Web of Criminal Legal System Fines and Fees in Kentucky - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Thousands of provisions in Kentucky state law, and untold local ordinances, make up a vast, hidden web of criminal legal system fines and fees that trap many people in a cycle of long-term debt and in...

The report: kypolicy.org/the-hidden-w...

For our new report, we wanted to better understand the vast web of criminal fines and fees in Kentucky.

So we conducted a first-of-its-kind statute review and found more than 1,000 provisions in Kentucky law that impose criminal legal system fines and fees.

Examples include:

The federal budget and tax law that passed last week will worsen health and deepen hardship in Kentucky and provide more giveaways to the already wealthy. Harms include: 1/

KY’s web of criminal justice fines and fees upends lives, hurts state | Opinion Linda Blackford: Unpaid fines could total $91 million statewide. It’s a bad source of revenue, a bad way to run courts and jails, but a good way to hurt people caught in the net.

Really important new report from @kypolicy.bsky.social on a byzantine web of fines and fees in KY's criminal justice system
www.kentucky.com/opinion/lind...

The Hidden Web of Criminal Legal System Fines and Fees in Kentucky - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Thousands of provisions in Kentucky state law, and untold local ordinances, make up a vast, hidden web of criminal legal system fines and fees that trap many people in a cycle of long-term debt and in...

Read the full report here, including recommendations on how lawmakers can begin reforming criminal legal system fines and fees in Kentucky before more lives are harmed. kypolicy.org/the-hidden-w...

We also collected data from Kentucky’s jails and prisons to gain insight into burdensome incarceration fees.

The data we collected illustrates how incredibly burdensome these fees are for Kentuckians behind bars and their loved ones.

Fines and fees spreadsheet.xlsx

We sought to shine a light on this web by conducting a first-of-its-kind statute review that revealed more than 1,000 provisions in Kentucky state law that impose criminal legal system fines and fees.

You can see them here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

This web of legal financial obligations remains hidden because there is no centralized source of information on them. This vacuum is particularly concerning as lawmakers rely more on fines and fees in a misguided attempt to appear “tough on crime” and to fill financial holes.

Our new report reveals the astonishing reach of criminal legal system fines and fees in Kentucky.

Thousands of provisions in state law, and many local ordinances, make up a vast web of fines and fees that trap people in a cycle of debt and incarceration.

Don't miss Kentucky Tonight at 8 p.m.

Policy Director Dustin Pugel will join Renee Shaw to talk about Medicaid and new federal legislation that risks the closure of 35 hospitals and threatens to terminate coverage from an estimated 210,000 Kentuckians.

Will the coalfields 'get over' losing hospitals miners fought to create? • Kentucky Lantern Eastern Kentucky miners fought and died to create a health care system where the market never would have on its own. Now Congress threatens to take it away.

🧵Stellar op-ed by Jason Bailey at Kentucky Center for Economic Policy: kentuckylantern.com/2025/06/27/w...

For folks who care about the legacy of #CoalMiningHistory, protecting these #RuralHospitals that were initiated built by the #UMWA is important.

For those who care about the #health

Will the coalfields 'get over' losing hospitals miners fought to create? • Kentucky Lantern Eastern Kentucky miners fought and died to create a health care system where the market never would have on its own. Now Congress threatens to take it away.

Read @jbaileyky.bsky.social's latest op-ed in the @kentuckylantern.com: kentuckylantern.com/2025/06/27/w...

Eastern Kentucky miners fought and died to create a health care system in a region where the market never would have on its own. Now members of Congress threaten to take it away.

See that giant bar all the way to the left? That's how much rural Kentucky stands to lose under the proposed federal Medicaid cuts.

We wouldn't just lose more than any other state, we'd lose around twice as much as any other state.

Will the coalfields 'get over' losing hospitals miners fought to create? • Kentucky Lantern Eastern Kentucky miners fought and died to create a health care system where the market never would have on its own. Now Congress threatens to take it away.

Commentary by Jason Bailey @kypolicy.bsky.social

Will the coalfields ‘get over’ losing hospitals miners fought to create?

Which side will Congress be on?

kentuckylantern.com/2025/06/27/w...

All of this in a state where fatality and injury rates already exceed the national average.

Let this serve as your latest reminder to join a union when and if you can. When the laws won't protect workers, unions will.

For years, Kentucky has had workplace standards that go beyond federal requirements. Not anymore.

HB 398 also fosters a climate of fear and retaliation by making it harder for workers to speak out against unsafe conditions.

Kentucky workers clocked in today with fewer workplace protections than they've had in decades.

That's because HB 398, which prohibits Kentucky from having workplace safety rules that are more strict than federal rules, officially went into effect today.

Thousands of undocumented immigrants live in Kentucky, contribute millions to economy Changing policies and a federal push for increased immigration enforcement have created confusion and questions among Kentuckians.

Thousands of undocumented immigrants live in Kentucky, contribute millions to economy
www.lex18.com/news/coverin...

Tell your representatives you won't "get over" cuts to Medicaid: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Where are these hospitals located? We've got a map:

Read more: kypolicy.org/35-kentucky-...

To determine which hospitals are most at risk, researchers identified those in the top 10% for receiving payments from Medicaid and those that finished the past three years with a negative operating margin. The report identified 338 such hospitals, 35 of which are in Kentucky.