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GOP Gov Candidates Want Kentucky To Be Like Texas

Maitree Laipitaksin, 123rf Stock Photo

Leading candidates for the Republican nomination in this year’s gubernatorial race say they all want to make Kentucky’s business climate more like the one in Texas. 

During speeches last week, candidates Matt Bevin, James Comer, Hall Heiner and Will T. Scott all promised to carry out plans aimed at reducing state taxes and regulations on businesses. 
They also said they are hoping to model the Commonwealth after Texas, which has been leading the nation for economic growth. Janet Kelly is with the Urban Affairs Institute at the University of Louisville. She says these plans—in practice—might not pan-out like the candidates hope. 

“Kentucky can’t be like Texas. Texas produces more oil than Venezuela.” 

She says the two states shouldn’t be compared since Texas has other variables like revenue from oil and more immigration. 

“It might well be that if we adopted the very same kinds of policies we might see very different results.” 

The GOP candidates also claim Kentucky’s tax structure is a job creation-killer, which Kelly says is not true. 
The four candidates will square off in the May primary. 

Ashley Lopez is a reporter forWGCUNews. A native of Miami, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism degree.
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