New Pension Panel Formed by Kentucky Legislature

The 2019 General Assembly has kicked off and KRTA staff and volunteers were in Frankfort early last week meeting with newly elected legislators, legislative leadership, and veteran legislators.

Late Friday afternoon Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker David Osborne announced a panel to “conduct a review of the pension systems’ structures, costs, benefits and funding.” The first meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 14 in Room 154 of the Capitol Annex. KRTA will be in attendance and we will keep you posted.

Co-chairs of the panel are Sen. Wil Schroder, R-Wilder and Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville.
Other members are:

· Sen. Stivers, R-Manchester;
· Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown;
· Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon;
· Sen. Christian McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill;
· Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville;
· Senate Minority Caucus Chairman Johnny Ray Turner, D-Prestonsburg;
· House Minority Caucus Chairman Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort;
· Rep. R. Travis Brenda, R-Crab Orchard;
· Rep. Jim DuPlessis, R-Elizabethtown;
· Rep. Scott Lewis, R-Hartford;
· Rep. Diane St. Onge, R-Fort Wright
· Rep. Buddy Wheatley, D-Covington

It is our hope this panel will not revisit the rhetoric of 2018, and instead work with real numbers and include stakeholders in all conversations. KRTA intends reach out to panel members and convey this message.

Finally, I encourage you to read and share with legislators two new reports the National Institute on Retirement Security issued last week:

• Teacher Pensions vs. 401(k)s in Six States: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Texas. The study features Kentucky and finds that teacher pension plans play a critical role in retaining educators while also providing greater retirement security than 401(k)-style retirement accounts. Eight out of ten educators serving in the six states studied can expect to collect pension benefits that are greater in value than what they could receive under an idealized 401(k)-type plan. The study also finds that the typical teacher in these states that offer pensions will serve 25 years in the same state, while two out of three educators will teach for at least 20 years. Read the report here: https://www.nirsonline.org/reports/teacher-pensions-vs-401k/

• Pensionomics 2018: Measuring the Economic Impact of Defined Benefit Pension Expenditures reports the national economic impacts of public and private pension plans, as well as the impact of state and local plans on a state-by-state basis. The study finds that economic gains attributable to defined benefit pensions in the U.S. are substantial. Retiree spending of pension benefits in 2016 generated $1.2 trillion in total economic output, supporting some 7.5 million jobs across the U.S. Pension spending also added a total of $202.6 billion to government coffers, as taxes were paid at federal, state and local levels on retirees’ pension benefits and their spending in 2016. The full report is here: http://bit.ly/2SNmTa7
• The Kentucky state fact sheet is here: https://www.nirsonline.org/resources/pensionomics-state-data/

We appreciate your continued support and will keep you informed. Please let me know if you have questions or comments.

Kind regards,

Tim

Tim Abrams | KRTA Executive Director