Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s pension reform for quasi-governmental agencies is now in the hands of the state Senate, after securing passage in the lower chamber.
House members gave the bill the OK Monday, following the House State Government Committee’s Saturday approval. The approval margin was slim for the House vote, 52-46.
The Senate is expected to approve the bill Wednesday.
The proposal would freeze the recently hiked contribution rates for regional universities, health departments, community violence centers, and other quasi-governmental agencies until April. It would also put future hires into a defined contribution plan and give the organizations the option to leave the Kentucky Retirement System, which is in charge of the pension assets for the quasis and other government workers.
Employer contributions for quasi-agencies dramatically increased July 1, to 83% of employee payroll from 49%.
The voting is part of a special session for the General Assembly—which Bevin had been calling for since the end of the year’s regular session— that began Friday. The regular session had again failed to get a pension reform passed to help prevent its badly funded retirement system from going insolvent.
Bevin called the session last week in order to get the bill passed. Both legislative houses are Republican, as is the governor.
The Kentucky Retirement System is 39.3% funded, according to its latest annual report.
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Tags: Kentucky, Kentucky Pension Crisis, Kentucky Pension Reform, Kentucky Retirement Systems, Matt Bevin, Pension, Quasi-governmental Agencies