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Newsmakers

If Pension Overturn Sticks, Kentucky GOP Plans to Pass a Reform Anyway

As the state Supreme Court mulls whether to reinstate the new Republican pension law, the party’s lawmakers look for a Plan B if they lose.

By Chris Butera

Should the Kentucky Supreme Court strike down a controversial pension reform bill, Republican leaders are saying they will simply pass another one.

The bill seeks to change state employee retirement benefits, denying newly hired teachers enrollment in the traditional defined benefit pension program, and pushing them into a hybrid 401(k)-style plan. The bill also caps the number of sick days public workers can use toward retirement and compels workers hired between 2003 and 2008 to pay healthcare premiums. The measure was originally passed in the spring, tucked into a sewage bill during the last days of the 2018 legislative’s session.

A lower court then negated the reform over the summer, ruling in favor of a lawsuit led by Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat. The Franklin Circuit Court overturned the law on procedural grounds since the bill was passed in a hurry and because it was an appropriations bill, and therefore needed a bigger majority than it gained.

Gov. Matt Bevin, the bill’s proponent and a Republican, appealed the court’s ruling to the state’s highest court.

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The Supreme Court’s decision regarding the appeal is expected to come as early as next week, but should the bill stay dead, the legislature should start working on getting a new measure passed.

“If it is something we have to revisit and can be based on procedure, I think we can do that and I think we should because it is a problem that has not gone away,” Senate President Robert Stivers said at a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce event, reported by WVXU.org.

One possible other method of shoring up the state’s underfunded ($37 billion short of meeting obligations) public pension system is to legalize gambling and generate more tax revenue. New Jersey, another badly underfunded state, has been doing something similar with lottery money.

However, Stivers is not impressed with this concept, as he doesn’t think gambling is the “silver bullet.”

“Even if it [gambling] were to pass, it’s still only a drop in the bucket,” he said.

David Osborne, the incoming state House speaker, also thinks the Republican-led legislature would push another reform bill ahead in the event of the appeal’s dismissal, although he is unsure “that we would be passing the exact same piece of legislation this time around.”

“Quite frankly I’m not sure how we’re going to deal with it if it does get overturned,” said Osborne.

The state of Kentucky’s pension is 31% funded.

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Home > News > Market Moves > Bristol-Myers Squibb Closes US Retirement Plan
Market Moves

Bristol-Myers Squibb Closes US Retirement Plan

Pharmaceutical firm to transfer $3.8 billion in US pension liabilities to annuity.

By Michael Katz

Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb is terminating its US Retirement Income Plan, and will transfer $3.8 billion of its US pension obligations through a combination of lump sums and a group annuity contract from Athene Annuity and Life Company.

The retirement plan has approximately 4,800 active employees, 1,400 retirees and their beneficiaries, and 18,000 prior Bristol-Myers Squibb employees who have not yet initiated their benefits. The company said current plan provisions, benefit payment options, and in-pay benefits will remain available for all participants.

“This transaction represents the largest full-plan termination to date that includes both retirees and non-retirees,” Sean Brennan, head of pension risk transfer at Athene, said in a release. “And we believe this approach may provide a blueprint for plan sponsors considering full plan terminations in the future.”

The transferring of pension obligations, which reduces Bristol-Myers Squibb’s future risk and administrative costs, continues the company’s pension de-risking activities, which began in 2009 when it froze its US retirement plan.

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There will be a special election window for active Bristol-Myers Squibb employees who are participants in the retirement plan, during which they can elect to begin their pension benefits while remaining employed with the company. The plan will terminate on Feb. 1, and lump sums will be distributed in July 2019, while the transfer to Athene is expected to occur in August 2019.

Under the terms of the transfer agreement, Athene’s life insurance subsidiary, Athene Annuity and Life Co., agreed in advance to provide an annuity contract covering all obligations of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s US Retirement Income Plan for which the plan participants do not elect to receive a lump-sum payment.

Bristol-Myers Squibb said it expects a non-cash pre-tax pension settlement charge of approximately $1.5 billion to$2 billion on closing of the transaction in Q3, which will be excluded from its non-GAAP results. The company also said that non-GAAP pension-related income contributing approximately $0.05 EPS in 2018 is not expected to be recognized in 2019.

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