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Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Governor signs bill creating the Endow Kentucky program
Senate Bill 227 promotes rural philanthropy
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear yesterday ceremonially signed Senate Bill 227 creating the Endow Kentucky program. The measure was designed to provide incentives to and promote the ability of local communities to grow their own philanthropies.
“Community-based philanthropy is a critical piece of community and economic development,” said Gov. Beshear. “Under the current economic conditions, government has a decreasing ability to meet the demand for all services required by the people of Kentucky. We need communities to find ways to be more responsive to Kentucky families for the greater good of the Commonwealth. I would like to thank the General Assembly – particularly Sen. Brandon Smith and Rep. Fitz Steele – for recognizing the need to provide incentives to support community foundations and local endowment funds.”
“SB 227 will be an effective new tool to help break the cycle of poverty in Kentucky,” said Sen. Brandon Smith, sponsor of SB 227. “This legislation allows individual communities to help address some of their own needs through philanthropy which is an approach that has been extremely effective in other states.
When funded, the Endow Kentucky program, through capacity grants, challenge grants and tax credits, sets up the capacity and infrastructure for every county in Kentucky to have a permanent endowment for local philanthropic dollars.
“Over the next 10 years, Kentuckians will experience huge wealth transfers from one generation to the next,” said Gerry Roll, executive director of the Community Foundation of Hazard and Perry County. “This legislation creates a way to capture that wealth before it leaves the communities in which it was generated.”
“Most large foundation funds go to urban areas,” said Mike Hammons, executive director of the Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative, Inc. “By encouraging the establishment and capacity of local endowments, this is an important measure for the future of rural Kentucky and the vitality of communities across the state.”
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