KFTC Blog

By the end of the first day of classes yesterday, KFTC members had registered 164 students to vote at nine events at Northern Kentucky University, Jefferson County and Technical College, Thomas More University, and Gateway Community and Technical College.

Most people don’t realize it, but students have the right to be registered to vote at school where they live and that’s an especially good idea if their parents live far away.  Tuesday, November 5th is Election Day, but it’s also a school day, so we want voting to be as accessible as possible for students. 

On August 6, Dayton became the 12th city in Kentucky to pass a fairness ordinance!

Mayor Ben Baker, who helped found the Northern Kentucky KFTC Chapter and served as its Steering Committee representative for several years, led a process that resulted in 5-0 vote in support of extending non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ Kentuckians living and working in the city! (You can watch the video here!)

It was 38 years ago today – August 17, 1981 – that a group of 26 people from 12 counties meeting in Hazard agreed to officially form a new organization: KFTC, then known as the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition. 

"People, especially in eastern Kentucky, were getting to know each other. All around the region there was a loose network of people who had worked together with each other in various ways over the past 15 years or so. What we didn't have in those days was a structured connection between us. There was a no interlocking of these community-level efforts, until KFTC."  –  Herb E. Smith, Letcher County

According to the book Making History: The First Ten Years of KFTC:

"We just knew that it made sense to work together across county lines because the problems we faced were similar and needed to be addressed on the state or national level," said Gladys Maynard, who was representing the Concerned Citizens of Martin County and became KFTC's first chairperson.

Late this spring, KFTC began a Racial Justice Assessment and Visioning process. This update is the first of what will likely be an ongoing series where we’ll share updates on what we’re learning, activities we’re engaging in, and potential next steps as we go through this process. 

In June 2018, the KFTC Steering Committee held a racial justice workshop for its summer retreat. Coming out of the workshop were three ideas the Steering Committee wanted to explore: 1) a racial justice audit or assessment of KFTC’s overall work; 2) a People of Color Caucus for members and staff; and 3) a Racial Justice Advisory Committee. 

After further discussion, the People of Color Caucus has gotten underway and the Steering Committee put on hold the Racial Justice Advisory Committee until after we go through the assessment process.