Jason Bailey

House Proposes Still-Austere Budget That Freezes and Cuts Funding, Adds to Already Large Budget Reserves - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy The new version of HB 500 makes some improvements but remains an austere budget that reflects the harms of recent income tax cuts,

House A&R committee just passed a new version of the budget that removes the cap on health insurance but still contains substantial cuts and frozen funding while adding $604M to an already huge Budget Reserve Trust Fund. See the @KyPolicy analysis here: kypolicy.org/hb-500-state...

Who Is Hurt by the Health Insurance Cap in HB 500?  - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy There are a total of 312,925 people receiving benefits through the Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan. That’s 6.9% of Kentucky’s population.

kypolicy.org/who-is-hurt-...

Who is hurt by the health insurance cap in HB 500? Rural counties are more likely to have KEHP members in their community, in part because school systems and public employment make up a larger share of the jobs. Link to new analysis below

Those payments are what Congress is cutting now through HR 1, putting 35 rural hospitals at risk of closure. And kicking people off Medicaid expansion with paperwork barriers, which HR 1 does & HB 2 in the leg. session would make worse, mostly just denies federal money to KY. 2/2

State Budget Cuts to Medicaid Are Unnecessary and Would Leave Kentucky Worse Off - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy To justify Medicaid cuts, lawmakers say state spending is ballooning and unsustainable. But that's not what the data says.

State Medicaid costs in KY are not unusual & are not ballooning. Growth in spending comes from payments lawmakers have enacted to help hospitals with reimbursements--which don't come out of the General Fund. 1/2 kypolicy.org/state-budget...

‘Scrap the Cap’ campaign launched against possible insurance hike in Kentucky GOP budget Pressure is increasing in Frankfort for changes to be made to the current House GOP budget.

‘Scrap the Cap’ campaign launched against possible insurance hike in Kentucky GOP budget fox56news.com/news/kentuck...

State workers and retirees launch 'Scrap the Cap' campaign against proposed health insurance cost shifts Kentucky state employees and retirees are pushing back against a provision in the General Assembly's proposed state budget that would cap the state's contribution to workers' health insurance plans.

State workers and retirees launch 'Scrap the Cap' campaign against proposed health insurance cost shifts www.lex18.com/news/coverin...

kypolicy.org/35-kentucky-...

The award-winning Fort Logan hospital birthing center in Stanford is shuttering. Fort Logan is one of 35 Kentucky rural hospitals identified at risk of closure from the Medicaid cuts passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed Congress last summer.

Kentucky Must Not Join Dangerous Threat to Constitution - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy A legislative committee will consider “for discussion only” on Monday HJR 87, a deeply alarming resolution calling for a new constitutional convention to rewrite the rules of American government. It i...

A new federal Constitutional Convention, which the Governor of Florida is in Frankfort today telling Kentucky we need to call for, is a bizarre and dangerous idea: kypolicy.org/kentucky-mus...

Here’s How Much the House Budget Would Cut SEEK Payments to Your School District - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy If passed, this budget proposal would accelerate a 20-year trend of eroding state funding for public education.

kypolicy.org/heres-how-mu...

As introduced, the House budget bill doesn't just propose major cuts to the health care of school and state employees. It also includes over $100 million in cuts to the SEEK payments to school districts.

See the link below for the potential cut to your local schools.

x.com/jbaileyky/st...

Kentuckians want better pay, a voice on the job, and policies that make life more affordable.

What they don’t want is policies that make that harder—including tax cuts for the wealthy

Our episode this week is a good one! Want to know what’s in the draft of the budget? @jbaileyky.bsky.social is here to explain it!

myoldkentuckypodcast.podbean.com/e/jason-bail...

Here is the legislation in which these transfers were made:

If the General Assembly had not taken this money out to balance the state budget, it would stay in the fund to be used for its purpose identified above: "to pay medical claims"

In the most recent year, those employee premiums--money contributed by workers and retirees-- totaled $308 million auditor.ky.gov/Auditreports...

As that law also makes clear, the money in that fund comes in part from “employee premiums”:

The legislature has used KRS 18A.2254(3) to make these transfers. They’ve relied on its “unless authorized by the General Assembly” language to pull the funds out and away from their intended purpose: employee health care apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes...

This practice of taking money out of the employees’ health fund is no secret; here are news stories from the Herald-Leader and Courier-Journal.
kentucky.com/news/politic...
courier-journal.com/story/news/p...

Great to be on @myoldkypod.bsky.social last night to talk about the public employee health insurance debacle and the harm of state income tax cuts. Thanks @robertkahne.com and Jazmin myoldkentuckypodcast.podbean.com/e/jason-bail...

Here's an important issue related to the proposal to cut employee health insurance in the House budget. The legislature has taken $1.017 billion from the KY Employees Health Plan in recent years to balance the state budget. That money would otherwise be there to help cover costs.

KY teachers’ union, education groups raise alarms about House budget bill proposal The groups warned that ‘teachers (and) bus drivers will leave’ under proposed budget bill that would cut funding and cause state employees’ premiums to surge.

The groups warned that ‘teachers (and) bus drivers will leave’ under proposed budget bill that would cut funding and cause state employees’ premiums to surge.

A choice is hidden in the pages of Kentucky's next state budget • Kentucky Lantern Improving this budget will be necessary, because there are grave problems with it as filed. And hidden among its many words and numbers is a choice.

More here: kentuckylantern.com/2026/02/11/a...

The health insurance shortfall that the House budget creates and would shift to employees is $279M.

That same House budget leaves unspent *$1.1B*in tax revenue. Why?

The only reason is to trigger more of those income tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthy

The average KY teacher makes $59,855/year. They're getting ~$633/yr in income tax cuts (& paying ~$104/yr more in sales taxes). But under the House budget, their healthcare costs would soar ~$5,832/yr.

KY's richest 1%? They're getting $27,482/yr from state income tax cuts.

The average KY school bus driver makes $15,364/yr. At that income they've received *nothing* from reducing the state's income tax. But under the House budget, their healthcare costs would soar $6,422/yr.

KY's richest 1%? They're getting $27,482/yr from the state income tax cuts.

ICYMI: over 300,000 Kentuckians receive health care through this plan, would face "devastating" cuts

State worker health benefits would fall under proposed budget, cabinet says Legislature’s current budget plan would have a “devastating impact” on Kentucky Employee Health Plan members, retirees, official warns.

See @austin-horn.bsky.social Herald-Leader story here: www.kentucky.com/news/politic...