Statement Concerning Passing of Senate Bill 151

We are still in process of analyzing the 291-page pension-reform amendment that yesterday was unexpectedly tacked-on to a sewage wastewater bill, which was passed by both chambers of the General Assembly late last night. Based on our initial review of the bill, it retains cost-of-living adjustments for all current and future retired teachers.

Our biggest challenge right now is analyzing and understanding the unintended consequences of this bill and how it will affect the overall health of the state public pension system and impact the future of the teaching profession in Kentucky.

It is very important that we also keep focus on the budget negotiations that are still taking place in the Legislature. Several provisions of the House and Senate versions of the budget bill could have a dramatic impact on our retired teachers. We must call 1-800-372-7181 and encourage our elected officials to:

• Protect health insurance funding for retired teachers under the age 65.
• Keep from placing administrators and management employees of the Teachers Retirement System into the state merit system. This move would effectively put TRS employees under the control and budget of the executive branch.
• SB66 (CERS phase in legislation) should be approved to allow cities, counties, and school districts sufficient time to absorb increased pension expenses. Failure to do so would likely result in devastating cuts to educational funding.