Overview
- Kentucky’s budget negotiators restored the 50% state match for the Imagination Library in a reconciled two-year plan that now awaits final votes.
- The agreement adds targeted enrollment language for low-income and foster care children, though the exact text is not yet public.
- The change reverses an earlier draft that would have cut the match to one-third, which local chapters said would close more than 80% of them.
- The decision keeps free, age-appropriate books arriving each month for over 138,000 children from birth to age five.
- Negotiators also dropped a proposed 5% cap on Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan contributions.