Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Jody Richards Caught Pants-Down On Public Pensions, Whining About Senate's Desire For Action

The state Senate sent an open letter to Speaker Jody Richards asking for a dialogue on the public pension funding crisis.

Here is an exerpt:

House Leadership has now had HB 418 in its possession for fifteen (15) days since its Senate passage on Tuesday, March 6, 2007. I am hopeful that you and your staff have been doing your due diligence and have reviewed in detail the Senate Plan, along with the accompanying actuarial analyses prepared by the KERS's own actuary which has been in your possession since Friday, March 2, 2007 . Therefore, Senator Ed Worley and myself are offering to make ourselves available Friday afternoon, March 23, 2007, to discuss the Senate Plan with you and the entire membership of the Chamber. As Members of the General Assembly are already compensated at their regular rate during the Veto Recess, I believe this informal informational meeting will be a productive use of Member's time.


Unless Richards has secretly worked up some silly "There is no crisis" groups, he is going to have to provide some kind of answer to this. The Senate has left the door wide-open for the House to come back with a plan to fix the real problem -- the state health plan.

Public comments suggest the House is content to run out the clock on this ticking time bomb.

From the letter again:

Although our Leadership teams have not spoken publicly or privately regarding this matter since the General Assembly adjourned for the veto recess, I have determined through your remarks on the floor of the House and in the press and Representative Adkins' comments on KET Monday, March 19, 2007 that House Leadership continues to criticize the "timing" and "process" by which the bi-partisan Senate Plan was created. It is not however clear to me if you, or any Member of the House, have substantive questions pertaining to any of the policies contained in the bi-partisan Senate Pension Plan.


Come on, Speaker Richards. You are being handed a golden opportunity. Take it and revamp the health plan. The pension stuff can wait if you take that on, but we all pay if you sit on your hands complaining about how the Senate does business.