Kentucky Remains Long Way from Employment Recovery
New estimates show that Kentucky has added on average 1,500 net new jobs a month for the last six months...
Revenue Recovery from Great Recession is Slow
The debate over pensions in Frankfort hinges in part on whether the state should raise additional revenue to help make the pension payment or dig into the rest of the...
Kentucky’s Disinvestment in Higher Education Part of a Harmful National Trend
New Report: “Recent Deep State Higher Education Cuts May Harm Students and the Economy for Years to Come” Kentucky’s Disinvestment in Higher Education Part of a Harmful National Trend Report...
Not Paying Pension Bills Adds Up
A major contributor to Kentucky's pension funding problem is the legislature's failure to make the full required contribution to the retirement system in recent years. Shortfalls in payments started as...
Retirement System’s Investment Return Assumption is Reasonable
One concern being raised in Frankfort about the existing defined benefit pension plan is that if the retirement system does not meet its expected rate of return of 7.75 percent...
Pension Bill Focuses on Wrong Issues
To hear some in Frankfort these days, Kentucky needs pension reform now, now, now to avoid our own fiscal cliff, sequester, Greek economic meltdown or you name the financial calamity....
New Projections Say Senate Pension Bill Is $206 Million More Expensive than House Plan
The Senate version of pension legislation will cost $206 million more than the House version over the next 20 years according to analysis of the new actuarial projections for Senate...
Gambling Revenues Are No Substitute for Tax Reform
The House has proposed generating new revenues for the state pension system by expanding the lottery and utilizing revenues from instant racing. However, the plan generates only a portion of...
Debt Limit Could Increase Costs for Kentucky
A Senate committee approved legislation today to limit debt service (the annual payments made on debt the state owes) in future years to six percent of the state's revenue. Yet...
Cash Balance Plan Likely to Increase Costs, Impact the Quality of Public Services and Reduce Retirement Security
While the primary pension challenge Kentucky faces is how to find the revenue to pay back the existing unfunded liability, much of the attention has instead focused on moving new...