From the Lexington Herald-Leader: 9 things Kentucky teachers should know about the educator-proposed pension plan
EDITOR'S NOTE: We are asking educators to comment on the bill. We received this from Marshall Ward, president of the Calloway County Retired Teachers Association: Underr the proposed bill, it will be a requirement to contribute to the supplemental fund. Now all educators have a choice to contribute to a 403b plan, a supplemental plan separate from the defined benefit plan which is required. The current bill also requires for the educator to work until 62 to be fully invested in the system. That might be ok if school districts gave pay raises on a regular basis. They seldom give raises at all. The retirement pay is also reduced in the 55 years of age to the 62 end point. The average retiree is getting a pension which is not a huge amount . Remember the KY teacher does not pay into or receive Social Security. This bill requires the teacher to pay in more and receive less in retirement. That’s a non starter for a profession that is underplayed and overworked to begin with. Again, some will say that this is another example of a manufactured crisis. Many economists will tell you that fully funding the system is the best way to make it work. What the legislators seem to ignore is the billions of tax giveaways in KY that would allow us to fully fund the Defined Benefit Pensions and the health care piece. I commend the two educators with an attempt to “fix” the system. They are Republican. Where are the Dems? See West Virginia.
From Brent McKim, president, Jefferson County Teachers Association: HB 504 is a much better approach than last year’s SB 151, because it will maintain a Defined Benefit plan for future educators, which helps Kentucky attract and keep the best educators.
By DANIEL DESROCHERS
FRANKFORT -- A new bill to overhaul the pension system for Kentucky teachers was filed late Wednesday by two freshman Republican lawmakers.
It’s not clear yet what chance the bill has in the last month of the 2019 legislative session, but it’s a plan written by educators with input from the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System and the Kentucky Education Association.
Rep. Scott Lewis, R-Hartford, and Rep. Travis Brenda, R-Cartersville, proposed a bill that would create a two-tier benefit system and allow future teachers to keep a defined-benefit pension. It also would save the state more money than last year’s pension law, which was struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court, Lewis said.