Oh no! Say it ain’t so!
Sorry to say it is! According to the Lane report, Moody’s has joined Standard and Poor’s in downgrading Kentucky’s credit rating. The agency warned bond investors that the state does not collect enough revenue to resolve public pension shortfall amounting to billions of dollars.
There is no question that Kentucky should fulfill its promises to teachers and public service employees but not at the expense of children, elders, roads, and libraries. It has been said time and time again, the Commonwealth needs more revenue. Now a group of legislators say it is time to dust off the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform. This report was developed after hearing from people across the state in 2012. At that time recommendations were made to make the tax system fairer, more competitive and simpler.
At present low-and middle-income Kentuckians pay more of their income in taxes than high-income residents. The pre-filed bill (BR 15) based on the Blue Ribbon Commission hopes to remedy this situation by asking those at the top to chip in a little more. The bill will close tax loopholes. It also adds some new sources of revenue by expanding the sales tax to include luxury services. It’s a great start!
Let’s get Kentucky on a sound financial footing. Write or call your state representative and ask them to take a serious look at BR 15, not only for teachers and public employees but for our parents, our children and ourselves.
JoAnn R. Schwartz
Fort Thomas
There are many,many people living in Northern Kentucky who drive cars with Ohio state license plate on their cars. This is a big loss of revenue for the state of Kentucky. The police use to scan license plates in parking lots and at apartment complexes but do not see that anymore. This would bring a lot of money back to Kentucky. Maybe the state could get folks a part time job of checking plates while the law enforcement officers do the job of protecting our state population.
My email address is
vanderwerff50 @ gmail.com
It’s a fact that the state needs additional revenue to address its financial problems. The Blue Ribbon Commission report needs to be resurrected, And state legislators need the guts to find a fair way to raise revenue, namely a more progressive tax system.