By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Legislation to reform Kentucky’s public pension plans has not yet been introduced and there’s no word on when it will happen.
The issue is something they talk about every day, according to House Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne.
“We’ve got a lot of information back from the retirement systems, we’ve met with the Senate about it now twice, and we’ve requested some additional information. It’s one of those things that it seems like every piece of information that you get, it creates more questions,” he said.
“When you try to hone in on a piece of legislation of such magnitude you just want to make sure we’re as solid as we can be on it.”
House Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne (LRC photo)
Osborne says the decision hasn’t been made yet on whether the bill will originate in the House or Senate.
As for when he expects it to be introduced, Osborne remains unsure.
“You know, every time I feel like I have an answer to that, we get delayed just a little bit more. So, I’m not ready to speculate yet.”
But he says there really isn’t a big hang-up with the bill.
“We’re just trying to make sure we consider every possible option and be as thorough as we possibly can in putting this together,” he said.
During his budget address Tuesday night, Gov. Matt Bevin said his budget aims to get the state’s finances in order and called for difficult choices to be made to deal with Kentucky’s massive pension liability, which he estimated at $60 billion.
Bevin said some of the spending cuts he proposed could be avoided if lawmakers pass meaningful pension reform during the current legislative session. Projections call for modest revenue growth of 2.7 percent or $287.5 million in 2019 and 2.6 percent or $284.1 million in 2020. Bevin’s proposal would provide $1 billion for the retirement fund of state employees and nearly $2.3 billion for teacher retirement over the two-year period. In all, about 14.5 percent of General Fund revenue would be dedicated to retirement.
“This year, they will be funded in their entirely for the first time in the history of the commonwealth of Kentucky,” Bevin said.
Osborne remains confident they will be able to act upon pension reform legislation sometime during the regular session that ends on April 13.
