The Kiwanis Club of Hopkinsville got a visit from three local state legislators at Thursday’s meeting, where they talked about what took place during this year’s short session.
While topics such as sports wagering and medical marijuana were the big talking points this year, something that happened almost immediately upon arriving to Frankfort in January was decreasing the state income tax down to four percent in January of next year.
Representative Myron Dossett says the gradual lowering of the income tax—with the hope of someday reaching zero percent—will help make Kentucky more attractive and will draw more people to live here.
Senator Whitney Westerfield says they did broaden the tax base to include items and services that were not taxed previously.
There are questions about how the state will maintain the revenue necessary for it to remain fiscally sound, and Dossett says he is against increasing the sales tax on groceries or medicine.
Opponents call the move shortsighted, that the savings are minimal compared to the loss of revenue for the state.