Despite the rhetoric from this past legislative session, Kentucky does not have a revenue crisis. However, we learned that it does have a problem with big government and finding ways to fund it.

How do we know this?

Consider some of the cuts made in the state budget: $5.7 million for prisoner education programs; $48,000 for the lieutenant governor’s chef; and $11 million in "rewards" money to pay schools for what they are already supposed to be doing. Clearly, there is a trend. What is less revealing is that much of the burden to support bureaucracy falls squarely on the backs of families.

State Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, and chairman of the House budget committee, said, "You can’t separate money from policy. Members of the General Assembly view the budget as the chief policymaking instrument." Moberly is right. Budgetary allocations are a reflection of what the state thinks is important.

The current budget gives the trucking industry a $3 million tax break, while Keeneland and Churchill Downs both enjoy a tax break on pari-mutuel betting. But what about the Commonwealth’s most neglected special-interest: families?

Surely families are worthy of the same support garnered by the trucking and horse racing industry. Families effectively provide services that the state is incapable of rendering. For starters, families serve as the exclusive conduit through which the next generation comes into existence--at least as long as cloning remains out of reach.

Moms and dads nurture youngsters in a safe and loving environment and form relationships tempered by strong emotional bonds, unmatched by anything else. Values and traditions are passed on. In fact, family serves as a child’s first school, church and government--and it’s all funded at a bargain price.

Because of the unique and crucial role that families play in society, the state ought to be in the business of making it easier for families to prosper and succeed. Relieving the tax burden for working families would be a great first step.

Families of four with incomes at the poverty line ($18,104) pay more in state income taxes than families in such other states according to a report released in 2002 by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan public policy organization. A family of four with incomes at 125 percent of the poverty line ($22,630) pay more in taxes than families in the 42 states with income taxes. Families of three with incomes at 125 percent of the poverty line ($17,661) also pay more than their counterparts in other states. These are number one rankings that Kentucky should not want to have.

Currently, Kentucky’s tax code penalizes stay-at-home moms by denying them a tax break. Their counterparts, who choose to work outside the home, are awarded with a $280 deduction. The code also does little for families who raise children. Kentucky’s exemption for dependents (child tax credit) is only $20, while surrounding states have at least a $1000 or greater exemption for dependents. Tennessee, the only exception, has no exemption because they don’t have a state income tax.

According to the Tax Foundation, a non-profit public policy organization, Kentuckian’s paid 10.8 percent of their total income in state and local taxes in 2002--ranking Kentucky 18th highest in the nation. With federal taxes factored in, Kentuckians pay 30.2 percent of their income in taxes.

Kentucky’s income tax standard deduction of $1800 pales compared to the $7800 federal deduction. However, two working spouses can double the deduction to $3600. Since the state doesn’t consider stay-at-home moms to be really working, they are again denied the same deduction.

In fiscal years 2002-2004, the state government will spend $36.8 billion on various agencies, programs, and initiatives in the commonwealth. Perhaps our leaders could find room for a tax cut for stay-at-home moms and the working families who pay the bills--not just their own, but the government’s as well.

After all, families don’t exist to serve the state, but rather the state exists to protect families.