Tagged: kentucky state pensions

FRANKFORT—Kentucky legislative leaders say solutions on how to pay for Kentucky’s underfunded pensions won’t likely be addressed in the 2013 legislative session, which began Tuesday.

Both House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President Robert Stivers say there will likely be a bill to introduce changes to the pension systems. But they also agree that such a bill is unlikely to deal how to fund the changes.

Figuring out how to finance a plan to shore up Kentucky public employees' pensions will be the General Assembly's greatest task in 2013, two legislative leaders said.

A legislative task force has suggested several ways to brace  state employee pensions, but passing legislation and paying for it will be difficult. Lawmakers' proposals include relying on existing economic growth and raising taxes on Kentuckians with higher earnings.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo said he hasn't settled on a solution.

Kentucky's state pension plans have problems, and a bipartisan legislative task force has approved sweeping recommendations to overhaul them -- including putting new employees in a hybrid plans akin to 401Ks.

The task force -- with an 11-1 vote -- is recommending that the General Assembly start fully funding their pension contributions starting with the next budget in 2014. Lawmakers’ inability to do that is part of the pension plans problems. 

House Speaker Greg Stumbo is predicting a wide margin of victory for the only constitutional amendment on the ballot.

The amendment was proposed by Stumbo and sailed through the General Assembly easily in 2011.

It would put the right to hunt and fish as a permanent right in Kentucky’s Constitution. Stumbo told WHAS radio host Mandy Connell that Tennessee passed the bill by an overwhelming margin and predicts Kentucky to do the same.

“ (Tennessee passed) by about 90 percent, and we’re a lot like Tennessee when it comes to that issue," said Stumbo, a Democrat.