FRANKFORT, Ky. – “Even though I have personally led the charge the past two years to address the crisis with the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System through an outside, comprehensive review, I am extremely disappointed Governor Beshear has chosen this response to such a serious situation.
Governor Beshear had a real opportunity to create an independent, non-partisan panel to give a thorough review of KTRS in an effort to make substantive recommendations to solidify the system. Instead the Governor chose to fill this task force with self-serving special interest groups that have been part of the problem, not part of the solution. During the last session House Democrats proposed $3.3 billion in pension obligation bonds for KTRS, which would have handed taxpayers the bill and crushed Kentucky’s economy for decades to come. Meanwhile an outside group recently advised investors to exercise caution in purchasing bonds in Kentucky because of our tremendous pension debt and sluggish economy in the Commonwealth.
I once again call for an independent panel with the foremost experts in areas like investments and actuarial audits to be appointed so we can deliver on our promise to teachers that they will have a stable retirement system for years to come. “
