Beech Tree News Network

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Top legislative leaders gave no details Wednesday as to the contents of their nearly completed pension reform plan, but House Speaker Jeff Hoover said the plan is likely to relieve the concerns of many people.

"There will be a big sigh of relief from folks all over Kentucky," when the plan is released, predicted Hoover, a Jamestown Republican.

Hoover and Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, spoke to reporters Wednesday following a meeting of the Legislative Research Commission.

They have been holding long, private working sessions with Gov. Matt Bevin for weeks in an effort to craft pension reform legislation to be considered at a special legislative session that Bevin has promised to call this year.

And their comments indicate that, while Bevin can call a special session to begin any date he wants, that session is still many weeks away.

Hoover said significant progress has been made in arriving at a framework for the reform package that two other Republican leaders said on Monday could be revealed as soon as this week.

But Hoover emphasized Wednesday, "We still have some unresolved issues." He said he hoped to be able to release a plan within the next two weeks.

And neither he nor Stivers suggested when they expected the session will begin. "We have plenty of time between now and January of 2018 to do this," Stivers said.

Bevin has said in several interviews within the past week that the plan will call for moving future public employees into new 401(k)-type plans. He also has said it will call for changing the way government pays its contributions to the pension funds — from contributions based on a percentage of the government's payroll to a "level dollar" amount set high enough to assure immediate progress in reducing Kentucky's massive pension debt.

The combined debt of all eight plans in Kentucky retirement systems is officially listed at about $40 billion. Bevin, however, says that number assumes the plans will earn far more on investment returns than is likely, and he puts the debt figure at greater than $64 billion.

House Democratic Leader Rocky Adkins, of Sandy Hook, said the main concern of the minority party is that any plan honors the so-called "inviolable contract" – wording in state law that protects benefits of retirees and existing workers hired prior to 2014.

Adkins also said he has serious doubts about moving toward 401(k)-type retirement plans because he said some other states have found that such a move can cost more money than it saves.

Adkins said he and other Democratic leaders got their first briefing on the developing reform plan earlier Wednesday. But he declined to reveal what he learned because he said he agreed with Republican leaders not to discuss it and because he said even Republicans agree the plan remains incomplete.

Adkins said he did not know when the session will be called, but he cautioned Bevin "not to call this special session until he has the votes."

A special session costs Kentucky taxpayers an estimated $65,500 per day. And, to move a bill through the legislative process into law, it takes a minimum of five days.

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Date: 10-05-2017

Kentucky Press News Service

By Tom Loftus

Courier-Journal

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at 502-875-5136 or [email protected].