Rocky Adkins on Social Security

No new burdens on people who've paid into pensions

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.