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What's next for Kentucky's pension reform?

The Kentucky Supreme Court overturned the pension reform law passed last spring on the basis that it was rushed through the process without giving lawmakers enough time.

Less than 24 hours after the special session was called, it was over. Lawmakers who arrived to Frankfort on Monday, called to work on Kentucky's public retirement and benefits program, left one day later with no approved legislation on the books.

"This was a terrible plan," State Rep. Rocky Adkins, D.-District 99, said. "This was irresponsible of this governor to call this on short notice."

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The Legislative Research Commission reported in 2017 that each day of a special legislative session cost taxpayers $65,504.63, which meant the two-day session could cost taxpayers around $131,000. The figure includes salaries for state representatives and senators and also for other important personnel including pages, who get paid $35 a day, and chamber clerks, who earn $120 each day.

The LRC said they only received the estimate request for this session on Monday so it is still working on getting this year's numbers.

Some lawmakers, including Adkins, who also serves as the minority floor leader, called the session a waste of time and resources, but Governor Matt Bevin, R.-Kentucky, said he would "do it again in a heartbeat."

"It is worth every bit of effort, every dollar spent, every hour spent," he said. "It's worth every bit of that to try and do the right thing. It is always worth it to do the right thing."

Lawmakers, including Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne, R.-District 59, said one of the issues they encountered was that the legislation proposed on Monday was very different from Senate Bill 151, which passed in the spring. The new legislation would also put new teachers into a cash balance plan similar to a 401(k) retirement plan instead of the traditional pension plan. But the new legislation took out cuts in certain benefits and removed "level dollar funding," which would have required the state to front-load its payments on the pension shortfall.

"It was a lesser version," Bevin said. "It was removing components that they had been sued on or were still contentious."

"Well I think you're going to continue to see if it's the same piece of legislation, legislation that in my opinion that is not needed," Adkins said. "It's bad legislation. It's unconstitutional legislation."

Last week, the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned the pension reform law passed last spring on the basis that it was rushed through the process without giving lawmakers enough time. The Court did not rule on whether or not the content itself was constitutional. Many lawmakers say they were expecting the legislation presented during the special session to reflect SB151, and were surprised to see things changed.

"All of these are questions that I think do have a responsible answer to them," Osborne said. "I think that there are clearly answers that cannot be delivered within the constraints of a five-day special session."

The lawmakers will reconvene in January for the regular session.

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