Bill Raising Dropout Age Moves To House Floor

Legislation raising Kentucky’s drop out age from 16 to 18 by 2016 has cleared another legislative hurdle.Last week, the bill won House Education Committee approval. Now, it has the House budget committee’s blessing. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday says any new costs associated with the bill will easily be covered in coming years.“The overwhelming savings of this bill over the long-term, and the taxes that you will recoup from high school graduates versus high school dropouts – the social costs, the incarceration costs, the Medicaid costs – they’re just enormous," he says.The committee also approved Governor Steve Beshear’s plan for balancing the state’s Medicaid budget and sent both measures to the House floor.