Home » State Early Childhood Policy Landscapes » Kentucky Early Childhood Policy Landscape

Kentucky

Kentucky, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a unique environment for advocacy.

State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and many others—who worked both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.

2025 State Early Childhood Policy Environment and Progress

Early Childhood Landscape:

Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.

Young Children in Low-Income Households: Slight Decline

Approximately 47% (222,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200% FPL (2022). This number represents a decrease from 47% (229,000) in 2017.¹

Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High

Black, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200% FPL than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.²

(NOTE: Selecting for age 0-8, state, and race can yield small cell sizes that can make percentages less accurate. Bars marked with S indicate data with extremely small cell sizes, which is not displayed. Bars marked with C should be interpreted with caution. Though the cell sizes are larger, they still fall below a threshold of reliability.)

Advocacy Landscape:

State General Fund Appropriations: Growing

In 2025, Kentucky’s legislative session was a non-budget year, meaning that the General Fund Appropriations for this year were set by the 2024 legislative session. In 2024, Governor Andy Beshear signed the state’s biennial budget for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, which included 23 line-item vetoes. The legislature overrode all but one of these vetoes.

For fiscal year 2025, the budget allocates $16.1 billion in General Fund appropriations, marking an 11.2 percent increase over revised fiscal 2024 figures. For fiscal 2026, the appropriations will rise to $16.9 billion, a 4.7 percent increase. The revenue forecast for the biennium estimates $15.6 billion in general fund revenues for fiscal 2025, a 0.2 percent growth rate over fiscal 2024, and $16.02 billion in fiscal 2026, a 2.8 percent growth rate over the prior year. The Budget Reserve Trust Fund, or rainy day fund, is projected to have a balance of $3.5 billion by the end of fiscal 2026, which is more than 21 percent of general fund revenues.⁸

Key Revenue Sources:⁴

- - - Personal Income Tax (5.0%)
    - State Sales Tax (6.0%)

State Budget Rules:⁴

Kentucky uses a biennial budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget, but it can carry a deficit over into the following year. A Kentucky budget rule also limits the amount of revenue the state can raise, and because it’s a binding rule, a legislative supermajority is required to override it. A supermajority is also required for any bill that raises taxes. There are limits on total debt service incurred by the state, but not on authorized debt.

Permanent State Funding Stream Dedicated to Early Childhood: Yes

In Kentucky, 25 percent of the annual settlement Tobacco Master Settlement funds are dedicated to early child care and education programs.The funds are earmarked for use by the Governors Office of Early Childhood.

Political Alignment: Divided

During the 2025 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was a Democrat.⁵

Types of Ballot Measures Available:⁶Two

- Legislature-Initiated Constitutional Amendments – A constitutional amendment that appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters.
- Legislature-Initiated State Statutes – Appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters.

Key State Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:⁸

2025 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:⁸

The 2025 legislative session was a non-budget year, but several bills related to early childhood were passed, including:

- House Bill 90 aims to eliminate obstacles to establishing freestanding birth centers in Kentucky, providing pregnant women with more options for prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care. By expanding access to safe and diverse perinatal options, the bill supports early childhood development, ensuring infants receive quality care from the start.

- Senate Bill requires each school district in Kentucky to establish a policy offering up to 30 days of paid maternity leave to teachers and employees who give birth. The bill also permits school districts to provide additional paid maternity leave or parental leave benefits. By supporting paid maternity leave, the bill ensures parents can take the time they need to support the healthy development of their newborn without financial stress.

- House Bill 240 calls for school districts to administer end-of-year reading assessments to all kindergarten and first-grade students. This promotes early literacy by identifying children who need additional support and reinforces the importance of strong early childhood education and kindergarten readiness for long-term academic success.

Ongoing Grantee Areas of Advocacy:

The Alliance’s key allies in Kentucky are the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and Kentucky Voices for Health. Prichard Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1983 to harness citizen voices to advocate for vastly improved schools across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Today, they focus on informing the public and policymakers, studying priority issues, and engaging business leaders, families, students, and other citizens to demand educational excellence and equity from the earliest years through postsecondary education. KVH has been a respected voice of consumer advocates and a catalyst in health policy decision-making since 2007. As a nonprofit and nonpartisan coalition, they bring together individuals, advocates, community organizations, state agencies, and policymakers to address the underlying causes of poor health by connecting Kentuckians with opportunities to make change through policy advocacy.

They are working to advance early childhood policies in several areas:

Early Care and Education

Preschool and Pre-K

K-3rd Grade

Child Care

Child Care Workforce

Child and
Maternal Health

Child Health

Child Welfare

Maternal Health

Family
Supports

Early Intervention (0-3)

Home Visiting

Family Economic Security

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Early Childhood Infrastructure

Data Systems

Early Childhood Finance and Cost Modeling

Early Childhood Governance

RECENT ADVOCACY SNAPSHOT:

Kentucky “Fragile Ecosystem” Report Helps Advocates Win Child Care Stabilization Funds

November 1, 2023

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prichard Committee and a team of statewide partners released data capturing the pandemic’s impact on Kentucky’s child care sector. The latest report on the survey results, “Fragile Ecosystem IV: “Will Kentucky Child Care Survive When The Dollars Run Out?,” played a big role in spurring the state to commit additional stabilization funding to the sector.

NOTES:

¹Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.

²National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.

³National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2025.

⁴Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, June 2024.

⁵National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, April 29, 2024.

⁶Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, retrieved July, 2024.

⁷Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.

⁸Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2024.