In short, Kentucky finds itself well-positioned for continued economic growth and prosperity into the heart of the 21st century.
In long, House Appropriations Chairman and Representative Jason Petrie — serving Todd and Christian counties — delivered a 30-minute breakdown on the marriage between state and local supports, during Thursday morning’s Christian County Chamber of Commerce Eyeopener Economic Update Breakfast in Hopkinsville
Elaborating on “Policy In Progress,” Petrie said the last eight years of planning and budgeting has done nothing but change the trajectory of the Commonwealth.
He noted that everything that has been happening — be that job growth, a lower income tax rate, or some other boon — hasn’t come because “the state did it,” but because local and regional leaders have been seeking it and promoting it, affording legislators the opportunity to pursue it.
And in 2017, Petrie said legislators came in prepared and ready for change.
Frankfort and its allies, he said, were looking to deflate the cost of state capital projects, and incite a bull market — especially following the lull between 2000 and 2016, where the Cabinet for Economic Development reported an average annual economic investment was valued at $2.3 billion.
In 2017 alone, Petrie said Kentucky’s average annual economic investment was valued at $7.4 billion, and it has since stayed at, or near, that price — meaning the Commonwealth has hit, and surpassed, “another level” of growth.
This, he said, was anchored partially to income tax reform, where in 2018 the state flattened the slightly-progressive tax at 6% and then cut it a point.
Then, when COVID-19 changed the world in 2020, Petrie said legislators cloistered the annual budget for two years — flatlining spending as opposed to setting a two-year outlook.
And it worked.
In 2021, he acknowledged that federal ARPA funding helped shoehorn large sums into state infrastructure for things like roads, water, wastewater and broadband — while being able to deftly respond to state emergencies with severe weather and flooding.
From 2000 until 2016, Petrie said there were three years in which the state had a negative savings account.
Petrie said as of 2024, Kentucky now has one of the nation’s 10 best reserves — boasting $5.5 billion on ice — and last year, for the first time ever, House Bill 1 provided a one-time investment of $3 billion for more water, wastewater, roads, river, rail and other similar infrastructure capital projects.
Petrie on budget concerns in 2021 and 2022:
FULL DISCUSSION:
