The Bluegrass Institute's Jim Waters jumps on previous politicians for punting the ball on this and offers commonsense actions:
Irresponsible governance created the under-funded crisis in the first place. The system paid the price for self-serving politicians to fund local pork and win the next election instead of properly funding the retirement accounts.
Now lawmakers – particularly House and Senate leaders – must think beyond short-term political gains that come from doing nothing. If they don’t, we’re looking at either a massive tax increase or a bankrupt commonwealth.
The commission offered some worn ideas on how to shore up the under-funded accounts, including the credit-card approach of borrowing money. But it mentioned nothing about lengthening the time state employees must work before drawing cushy benefits or changing the benefits structure for future hires – two areas that legislators absolutely must address.
We didn’t need a commission to recommend a rope-a-dope approach – including more study, yes, more study! – in order to conclude that requiring employees to work only 27 years before they draw a Cadillac benefits package for life creates a bottomless pit of spending.
You can read the whole thing here. This is the problem that is consuming the Beshear administration right now. It should be.
