FRANKFORT, KY (AP) – Facing unpopular decisions on the state’s failing public pension systems, the Kentucky House of Representatives shut the public out of its first discussion of potential changes by holding a closed-door meeting Tuesday to discuss a state-funded report that recommends pay cuts for retirees and freezing benefits for current workers.
House Republicans campaigned on changing the pension system last fall, and voters gave them a super majority for the first time in state history. Since January, Republican leaders have vowed to pass legislation in a special session this year to fix the pension system, which is at least $33 billion short of paying the retirement benefits for state workers, police officers, firefighters and public school teachers over the next 30 years.
But Republicans have not said what those changes would be. Monday, a state-funded analysis recommended major changes, including taking away 16 years’ worth of cost-of-living raises for some retirees and freezing the benefits for current workers and moving them into a 401(k)-style plan. Tuesday, Republican House Speaker Jeff Hoover invited all 100 members to a closed-door meeting to discuss the report.
Additionally, Kentucky’s GOP House speaker says the state’s Republican governor and others need to tone down the rhetoric used when debating the future of the state’s troubled pension system.
House Speaker Jeff Hoover told reporters Tuesday he was disappointed with Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s recent comments about teachers. Bevin said some state workers were hoarding sick days to boost their retirement checks and said teachers who would retire rather than face changes in the pension system “probably should retire.”
Bevin declined to speak with reporters after an event in the state Capitol.
The governor has said he will call a special session of the state legislature to address the state’s pension system, which is facing a shortfall of at least $33 billion.