2019 KY Governor's race: on Social Security
Adam Edelen:
Fully fund government pensions; reform state system
Q: What sacrifices should public employees and taxpayers expect to make to fix the state retirement system?A: Why do we always ask working people to make sacrifices when it was Frankfort lawmakers, Wall Street lobbyists and retirement system board
members who put us in this position today? This system will not work until it is fully funded, but the system will never be able to fulfill its goal of providing a stable retirement for hardworking government employees until it is cleaned up.
For too long, Frankfort has been run by those who are more focused on helping out the good old boys or giving contracts out for kickbacks than on Kentucky's working families. I think that every Kentuckian should be asking why the legislators'
pension system is nearly fully funded. When I'm governor, no one who donated a dime to my campaign will be given a say in where working people's pensions are invested as some kind of shady political favor.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Andy Beshear:
No cuts to government pensions; find other revenue
Q: What sacrifices should public employees and taxpayers expect to make to fix the state retirement system?A: Our educators, first responders, city, state and county employees already sacrifice so much. They work their whole lives
to make Kentucky a better place to live. The last thing they should sacrifice is the pension they've earned. The best way to fix our state retirement system is to find new sources of revenue like closing tax loopholes for luxury items like private jets.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Robert Goforth:
Fulfill state pensions--they're inviolable contracts
Q: What sacrifices should public employees and taxpayers expect to make to fix the state retirement system?
A: Retired and current state employees should not have to make any "sacrifices" regarding legal as well as moral obligations that were made to them through inviolable contracts when it comes to their retirements.
I do not believe that any "sacrifices" must be inordinately applied to Kentucky's taxpayers when it comes to raising taxes either.
We can solve these problems without harming our retired and current state employees or asking more from the taxpayers of Kentucky.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Rocky Adkins:
No new burdens on people who've paid into pensions
Q: What sacrifices should public employees and taxpayers expect to make to fix the state retirement system?A: Public employees and teachers should not be further burdened with fixing their promised pension; these employees have paid their share into
the system. Teachers have already been contributing more each paycheck since 2010 because of reforms that the legislature passed to strengthen their retiree health insurance. We must keep the 2013 reforms in place and continue to fully fund the ARC.
Teachers do not receive Social Security and they are especially dependent on their pensions. Removing them from a defined benefit plan would also make it tougher to lure the best and brightest to Kentucky classrooms.
We need to also look at closing loopholes in our current tax code. Closing just 10% would generate $1.3 billion to shore up our pension system.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
May 10, 2019
Andy Beshear:
State gaming will cover $43B unfunded state pension plan
Attorney General Andy Beshear sent a letter to state lawmakers asking them to legalize casinos and sports betting as the way raise money to save Kentucky's ailing public pension system. Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has opposed legalizing casinos.
Bevin called the proposal "a tired tenet" of the Democratic Party.
Beshear's letter makes familiar arguments for expanding gambling--primarily that Kentuckians are already wagering big money at casinos in five neighboring states, including Indiana.
It does not estimate how much money legal casinos would generate for Kentucky, but he wrote, "Commercial gaming in Indiana last year alone netted over $600 million in direct tax revenue." He said legalized sports betting could
raise "an additional $30 million" in annual revenue.
Kentucky's eight pension plans recently reported having $42.7 billion in unfunded liabilities, including both pension and health plans.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor race
Nov 26, 2018
Matt Bevin:
More state contribution to $43B unfunded state pension plan
Kentucky's eight pension plans recently reported having $42.7 billion in unfunded liabilities, including both pension and health plans. That figure is a slight improvement over a year ago due largely to big increases during the Bevin administration in
the state's contribution to the funds. But the financial condition of the main pension plan covering most state government workers got worse last year and now has only 12.9% of the funds it will need to pay future benefits.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor race
Nov 26, 2018
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021
Beshear(D)
vs.