SICK LEAVE MANDATE
HB 617 would have required employers to provide earned paid sick leave to employees in the
amount of one hour for every 30 hours worked.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that:
• 58% of workers in the South Central United States (which includes Kentucky) have
access to paid sick leave.
• There are 1.59 million non-farm, non-government workers in Kentucky.
• Workers earn an average of eight days of sick leave per year.
• Paid sick leave costs private employers 23 cents per hour worked for all employees.*
• The average employee in Kentucky works 33.4 hours per week.
Based on these estimates, 667,800 Kentucky workers do not have access to paid sick leave.
If the average private Kentucky employee works 33.4 hours per week for 50 weeks (1,670 hours
per year), the annual cost for providing sick leave to 667,800 Kentucky workers would be
$256.5 million per year (1,670 hours X 667,800 workers X $0.23 per hour = $256.5 million).
Legislation
Estimated Annual Savings
SB 210 & HB 553
Effort to repeal academic
standards blocked
$17.5 million
HB 551 & HB 240
Tax on oil and gas pipelines
defeated
$9.1 million
HB 342
Increase in sales and business
taxes defeated
HB 627
Mandatory maternity leave
rejected
*Source: Paid Sick Leave in the United States, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, March
2010
MAIL ORDER PHARMACIES
HB 458 would have prohibited insurance companies (including the state
employee health plan and Medicaid Managed Care companies) from requiring the
use of mail-order pharmacies. The bill also prohibits insurers from imposing different
cost-sharing amounts between retail and mail order pharmacies. Since mail-order pharmacies typically are less expensive than retail pharmacies, health insurance companies often
encourage their use to reduce costs and lower premiums. The Fiscal Note filed for HB
458 estimates that limiting the ability to use mail-order pharmacies would cost the state
as much as $11.2 million per year in additional General Funds due to increased costs to
Medicaid and the state employee health plan. (Kentucky businesses pay an estimated 40%
of all state taxes for an impact of approximately $4.5 million per year.) In addition, the Financial Impact Statement filed by the Department of Insurance states that the limitations
on mail-order pharmacies would increase costs for all private insurance policies in Kentucky by as much as $13 million per year. Since the Current Population Survey of the U.S.
Census reports that 46% of Kentuckians have employer-provided health coverage, HB 458
would have cost Kentucky businesses up to $5.9 million in additional health insurance
premiums (46% of $13 million = $5.9 million). The total impact on the business community of HB 458 would have been $10.4 million.
$135 million
$31.5 million
HB 617
Mandatory sick leave turned
down
$256.5 million
HB 458
Effort to prohibit insurers from
requiring the use of mail-order
pharmacies rejected
$10.4 million
TOTAL SAVINGS
$460 MILLION
THE STATE BUDGET: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The new two-year state budget includes:
$1.2 billion in funding for pensions
4.5% cuts to higher education
$125 million to a “permanent fund” designed to go toward pension funding in the
future
Performance-based funding criteria for
higher education
No cuts to K-12 education
$175 million going to the state’s “rainy day”
fund
$100 million bond for workforce
development
Funding for “Work Ready” scholarship
program starting in 2017