Governor Andy Beshear, on Friday, signed House Bill 1, lowering the state’s income tax to 4% for 2024.
In a video posted to Twitter, Beshear said that his preference would have been a lowering of the state’s sales tax, as that would have had an immediate effect on costs and would have mitigated some of the effects of inflation. He said that the Kentucky General Assembly “refused to go that route.”
To provide Kentuckians with relief, he signed the income tax reduction bill. The political reality is that the Republican supermajorities in both houses of the Assembly would have overridden a veto had he tried to stop the bill.
The state's income tax will drop by half of a point to 4% on January 1, 2024. Last year, the state’s income tax was lowered from 5% to 4.5%. Although that first cut was supposed to sunset, this new bill makes it permanent and adds to it.
Beshear is expected to face a tough reelection this year in the right-leaning state. However, with Republican supermajorities in both houses of the legislature, the GOP would have complete control of the state if they won the Governor's seat.
Billy Mosley, Lead Reporter for The Kentucky Daily