State-Journal.com - Private talks over pensions going well, agreement may be near

Top Kentucky lawmakers meeting in private Monday neared a possible agreement that has eluded them in the past to begin shoring up the state's financially troubled pension system for public employees.

House Speaker Jody Richards said House and Senate legislators made "great progress" during negotiations spanning much of the day at the state Capitol. He said a plan could be unveiled Tuesday after rank-and-file lawmakers are briefed.

Gov. Steve Beshear has said he would consider calling a special General Assembly session if lawmakers agree beforehand on a plan to strengthen the pension system.

"We've made some tentative agreements, but we want to talk with as many members as possible," Richards, D-Bowling Green, said after the last formal negotiating session ended early Monday evening. "We want to see a proposal in writing."

Richards and other lawmakers offered no specifics on a possible plan.

The state's retirement system " which covers benefits for more than 445,000 people, including state and county employees and public school teachers " faces an unfunded liability of more than $26 billion.

Without action, lawmakers have said, the system faces eventual financial collapse.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said the recommendations discussed by the negotiators fall "far short" of the pension overhaul plan that won Senate support but died in the past two regular legislative sessions.

Still, Williams said the proposed recommendations would provide some long-term relief for the pension system and should garner widespread support from lawmakers.

"It could very well be that this recommendation is as much as we can get done now, and we don't want to lose the opportunity to do that," he said.

Williams also said that resistance might linger among some interest groups.

"Some groups want benefit levels that are unsustainable, and their answer is huge tax increases to sustain a level of benefits that is not comparable to anything that's available in the private sector," he said. "And that's not going to be the future of the retirement systems in this commonwealth."

One influential group weighed in on the issue Monday. The Kentucky Association of Counties said its executive committee had voted to support a special session to deal with the shortfall in the pension system.

David Jenkins, the Spencer County judge-executive and current KACo president, praised lawmakers and Beshear for taking a bipartisan look at the issue. Jenkins said a special session would be a "good starting point" for comprehensive overhaul.

Beshear has called on lawmakers to pass legislation this summer to tweak the pension system. He says the plan could save hundreds of millions of dollars and preserve the state's bond rating.

The governor also set up a panel to study the complex pension issue.

4.	Posted by terrell1963 June 12, 2008
	ema - reread #2. I said pt/ft non merit employees can not participate. I was one in 1998-1999 when I moved back to Frankfort. No I am not a retiree, but I am a current employee. The difference is I spent the first 25 years of my working life in private sector and the last 9 with state. There is a real entitlement mentality in KY. Of course it is fostered by the myopic legislature. You are only entitled to exactly what you have put in. You are NOT entitled to take from those still working. This is called wealth redistribution and is a cornerstone of socialism/communism. I will not be a slave to the nanny state government and waiting every month for my handout. My family and I have chosen not to live like everyone else today so we will not have to live like everyone else tomorrow. To simplify it - we save, invest and live within our means today in order to not have to worry about money in our "golden years".