Band-Aids and budget cuts: Kentucky’s cycle of crisis
In the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” a young girl named Dorothy tries desperately to get home. At the end, Glinda the Good Witch reveals that Dorothy always had the power — she just had to learn it for herself.
Watching the last few weeks unfold, I kept thinking: this isn’t the Kentucky I know. It feels like we’re in constant crisis mode — more public performance than progress, more finger-pointing than problem solving. For Kentuckians who depend on these services, it’s not a political debate but a matter of survival.
On June 4th, potential cuts were announced to the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP), the Nutrition Program for Elderly, also known as senior meals program, foster care, and Medicaid reimbursements. All due to budget shortfalls.
People worried and press releases hit the airwaves. A week later, the Governor announced he had found $30 million — and while not sure he had the authority, he redirected those funds from projects he described as “outdated or ineffective.”
Behind every press release, there’s someone living with the math.
KY gov announces foster care, Medicaid reimbursement, other program cuts
A grandmother named Kimberly shared in a Kentucky Lantern interview last fall that she worked full-time, earning $14.10 an hour while raising four grandchildren. Her monthly expenses included $1,400 in rent, plus utilities, and a car payment. She relied on KTAP, which was cut by $230 a month. That reduction remains, although the newest crisis was averted.
There are some seniors in Kentucky who live on one meal a day and it comes from the senior meals program. This program has been on the chopping block twice within the last year. The first time, $9.1 million was found and redirected from an unworked Medicaid study. This past week it received another reprieve. Crisis averted. Twice.
Foster care funding was also to be cut. And while funds were redirected to save it, children have been sleeping in office buildings and state parks for years. It’s a crisis that predates this moment and remains unresolved. Band-aids don’t replace real solutions.
These cyclical patterns need to stop. From where I sit, it feels like these programs have become political theater with reruns. The band-aid gets ripped off, a crisis declared. Someone hopefully rides in with a redirect — or doesn’t. Then a grandma raising grandchildren, a foster child, or a senior lives with the outcome. Media releases go out; celebration or condemnation, and we move on.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m grateful for every redirect that saves a program. But gratitude doesn’t fix the cycle. Kentuckians deserve solutions that prevent crises, not just responses that manage them.
So, let’s begin with some simple questions: Are all our leaders looking within their own programs before drawing entrenched budget lines?
The Governor said he would have the Finance Cabinet conduct a review on the senior meals program. Did it identify efficiencies, and were findings shared publicly?
Are audits of internal expenditures being used as lessons learned to implement efficiencies and reduce unnecessary spending?
In 2025, the Auditor identified $15.9 million tied to an unworked Medicaid study and recommended redirecting those funds to SB 151- Kentucky’s 2024 Kinship Law. What’s the status of those funds?
The Auditor identified approximately $800 million in unnecessary Medicaid expenditures over a four-year period. Is Kentucky pursuing recovery of these funds? Where will it go, and will we get a public report?
If $30 million in ‘outdated or ineffective’ projects can be identified in a short period of public pressure, what might a proactive, systematic review find — before the next crisis hits?
Are we maximizing federal funding streams? Kentucky gets approximately 71 cents on the dollar in some areas.
Has opioid abatement funding been pursued for these critical programs? If not, why?
Where are the legislative task forces, working groups, and public forums dedicated to solving these recurring problems? KTAP, foster care, kinship care, and senior nutrition programs did not become challenges overnight. They deserve undivided attention and should be top priority this session until all these problems are resolved.
Dorothy didn’t get home by focusing on the fear and chaos around her; she got home through perseverance and by using the resources she had all along.
Kentucky has that same power. We can keep recycling band-aids, budget cuts, and recurring crises, or we can do the harder work of solving the problems to make Kentucky a good place to call home.