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Bourbon industry fighting back on new tax
Bill Samuels’ speech to the Bluegrass Hospitality Association was a lot like the Maker’s Mark bourbon his company produces: smooth with a distinct flavor — and a kick. Samuels talked Wednesday about...
View ArticleKentucky can’t afford to ignore tax reform ideas
I sat through a long and painful presentation Thursday at a meeting of the General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue. It reminded me of a bad trip to a dentist, complete...
View ArticleIt never seems to be a good time for tax reform
Gov. Steve Beshear says this isn’t a good time for comprehensive tax reform. It wasn’t a good time in 2002, when economist William Fox’s report to the General Assembly showed how Kentucky’s tax...
View ArticleEconomists recommend directions for tax reform
FRANKFORT — This is the time each year when Kentucky lawmakers usually engage in their own version of insanity: doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. The situation has...
View ArticleOld bourbon industry innovating, growing
Bourbon is one of Kentucky’s oldest products, and distillers have always cloaked themselves in nostalgia. Even a century ago, distillers promoted their whiskey with images of log cabins and...
View ArticleTennessee tax system is hardly a perfect model
When discussing state tax reform, Kentucky executives and politicians often cite Tennessee as a model. But many people south of the state line would beg to differ. What some tax reform advocates like...
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Farmer’s tax plan changes: sales tax up, not down
When researching my column today, I missed an important change in the state tax reform proposal that Rep. Bill Farmer, a Lexington Republican, has made for each of the past several years. Previously,...
View ArticleI wish Kentucky governor had said more of this
Gatewood Galbraith, one of Kentucky’s most colorful politicians, died Wednesday, just hours before Gov. Steve Beshear delivered his fifth State of the Commonwealth Address. Many people didn’t take...
View ArticleTax reform group has some good ideas; will they go anywhere?
Tax reform in Kentucky has always reminded me of that old quip about the weather: Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it. After nearly a year of study, the Blue Ribbon Commission...
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