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Congressional health care fight is about making life affordable • Kentucky Lantern

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 6d

Op-Ed: Congressional health care fight is about making life affordable kentuckylantern.com/2025/10/02/c...

Health care costs keep many working families awake at night. Americans want their government to solve that problem, not make it worse.

kentuckylantern.com

Teachers in 40 Kentucky school districts got no raise this year, report says

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 6d

As state funding falls behind, teachers in 40 Kentucky school districts got no raise this year www.kentucky.com/news/politic...

Ahead of the 2026 legislative budget cycle, teachers and advocates reup their calls for Kentucky to invest in education.

www.kentucky.com

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 8d

kypolicy.org/aca-marketpl...

Costs on Kentucky’s Health Insurance Marketplace Will Explode Without Quick Action From Congress - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

For the nearly 100,000 Kentuckians who signed up for plans on kynect this year, premium costs are on track to skyrocket.

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 8d

If Congress doesn't extend expiring healthcare aid, costs will skyrocket for Kentuckians buying health insurance on kynect:

State Report Shows Educators in Most Kentucky School Districts Received Little or No Raise - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 14d

Find out more in @kypolicy.bsky.social
analysis of a new Kentucky Department of Education report here: kypolicy.org/state-report...

The typical Kentucky school district increased pay for teachers and other certified employees by 2% this year, with 40 districts giving no raise.

Thousands of senior Kentuckians likely to go back on the waitlist for meal support

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 14d

The typical KY school district increased teacher pay by only 2% this year, with 40 districts providing no raise at all. Inadequate state funding kept districts from gaining ground on eroding teacher salaries, which are 20% below inflation-adjusted 2008 levels 1/2

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 15d

New $300 million budget shortfall, caused in large part by state income tax cuts, causing thousands of seniors to go on waiting list for meals
www.lpm.org/news/2025-09...

Kentucky officials told agencies that provide senior nutrition programs that they will no longer receive a higher level of support that allowed them to eliminate waitlists.

www.lpm.org

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 22d

Now the fallout from that choice--and from federal policies on tariffs, immigration and budget cuts that are weakening the economy--is starting to appear. 4/

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 22d

It was always a losing bet to enact large, permanent cuts to Kentucky's largest revenue source--the individual income tax--based on temporary good times caused by federal COVID stimulus. 3/

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 22d

Their initial forecast for the upcoming budget shows expected revenue next year being almost equal to revenue last year. That's bad news in an environment where inflation is rising and HR 1 shifts huge new costs to the Kentucky state budget. 2/

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 22d

Today the state's forecasting body reduced the official revenue estimate for this year by $305 million in the face of a weakening economy and another reduction in the state individual income tax rate to 3.5% to take effect Jan. 2026. 1/

Don’t listen to politicians who say Big Beautiful Bill will save Medicaid | Opinion

Reposted by Jason Bailey

National Health Law Program @nhelp.bsky.social · Sep 8

👏 Shoutout to @KyVoices4Health & @kypolicy for pushing back and making sure people know what’s at stake: our health care, our hospitals, and our communities. ✍️ Emily Beauregard @KyVoices4Health & Dustin Pugel @kypolicy.bsky.social

Read more ➡️ www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-e...

OpEd: The Big Beautiful Bill weakens Medicaid, straining our healthcare infrastructure, reducing access, and driving up costs for everyone.

www.kentucky.com

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Reposted by Jason Bailey

Joe Sonka 😐 @joesonka.lpm.org · 23d

Very thorough(bred?) report on how Kentucky is now a big casino state, which are taxed very small.

Kentucky Is Now a Casino State: Slot Machine Gambling Surpasses $10 Billion Annually, But at What Cost? - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Kentucky has rapidly become a casino state as legalized slot machine gambling has proliferated across the bluegrass in recent years. With 13 facilities now operating thousands of slot machines, the am...

Kentucky Is Now a Casino State: Slot Machine Gambling Surpasses $10 Billion Annually, But at What Cost? - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 23d

Our new report on the backdoor process by which Kentucky became a casino state, its low tax rate on slots, and growing challenges facing Kentucky as legalized gambling becomes increasingly accessible: kypolicy.org/kentucky-is-...

Kentucky has rapidly become a casino state as legalized slot machine gambling has proliferated across the bluegrass in recent years. With 13 facilities now operating thousands of slot machines, the am...

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · 23d

Kentucky is now a "casino state" with gambling on slot machines surpassing $10 billion this year, more betting per capita than neighboring Ohio. But tax revenue from slots in KY falls far below comparable states even as the problems with gambling addiction grow dramatically. 1/2

Education Funding in Kentucky Remains Inadequate, Inequitable and Uncertain as Kids Head Back to School - Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Aug 13

Find out more in the @kypolicy.bsky.social back-to-school analysis here: 2/2 kypolicy.org/education-fu...

As Kentucky students head back to school this month, state funding for K-12 education continues to fall well below past efforts, preventing overdue investments to shrink class size, increase student s...

BlueOval SK Union Drive Echoes Workers’ Historic Safety Fight at Ford

Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Aug 13

As Kentucky kids head back to school, the funding gap between wealthy and poor school districts grew again last year to $4,247 per student. Adjusted for inflation, that's a 13.6% bigger gap than it was in 1990 when the state passed KERA to address insufficient school funding. 1/2

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Aug 12

BlueOval SK Union Drive Echoes Workers’ Historic Safety Fight at Ford youtu.be/vK5JCibudmM?... via @YouTube

YouTube video by UAW

youtu.be

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Jul 24

Kentucky Minimum Wage Now Half its Previous Peak, and Below Poverty Line kypolicy.org/kentucky-min...

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...

With federal education funding frozen, Appalachian learning centers are in peril

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Jul 18

Biggest 20 per student district wide, though impacts are much larger for students in need specifically served by most of these programs

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Jul 18

"The funds had been approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in the March federal spending stopgap. Now, the Trump administration says they need to investigate whether any of the money has been used to fund a “radical leftwing agenda.”" www.lpm.org/news/2025-07...

Six 21st century learning centers run by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Appalachia will close permanently if the Trump administration doesn’t restore $87 million in frozen federal education funding to Kent...

www.lpm.org

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Jul 18

Spencer County, Mayfield Independent and Monroe County are the Kentucky school districts where the programs the Trump administration is now withholding funds for--totaling $87 million across the state--made up the largest share of their 2024 federal funds.
Here are the top 20:

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Jason Bailey @jbaileyky.bsky.social · Jul 17

Both plans give to the already wealthy and powerful and take from things Kentucky workers and their families need to thrive. Both will increase hardship, worsen health and weaken our economy. It's the same big, ugly idea 4/