FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – – Kentucky’s Republican House speaker says it is highly unlikely lawmakers would approve a pay cut for retirees as part of a proposal to rescue the state’s troubled public pension plan.
Speaker Jeff Hoover said he has not seen any support among lawmakers for eliminating 16 years’ worth of cost-of-living adjustments for state retirees. Last week, a state-funded analysis of the pension system recommended eliminating the raises as a way to keep the system solvent.
Kentucky taxpayers are at least $33 billion short of the money required to pay pension benefits over the next 30 years to state workers, police officers, firefighters, public school teachers and other local government workers. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has promised to call a special session of the state legislature later this year.