By Rick HowlettState Budget Director Mary Lassiter says Kentucky's General Fund receipts declined for the second straight year, the first time the state has seen a consecutive decline since the end of World War II.She says tax collections for the just-ended fiscal year hit their lowest point in five years.General Fund receipts for the period were just over $8.2 billion, a 2.4 percent decline from the previous year.Lassiter says on the positive side, revenues improved over the course of the fiscal year, with the final quarter growing by 0.4 percent. She says it's a hopeful sign that the economy has begun its turnaround.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.