Kentucky Public Pensions Task Force will be held at 1 p.m. in Room 149 of the state Capitol Annex. A series of reports by the Bluegrass Institute entitled Future Shock have highlighted Kentucky’s dire crisis in its public pension system, which has an unfunded liability of more than $33 billion. The choices for solving this problem are…
One more voice can be added to chorus calling for public pension transparency in Kentucky. The Lexington Herald-Leader published an editorial which makes the case for opening up the books on public pensions to Kentucky’s taxpayers: Simply put, Kentucky’s pension systems should be as transparent as the rest of state government. But they’re not. At…
A letter by Ray Davis in today’s Lexington Herald-Leader effectively sums up the need for more transparency in Kentucky’s public pension system. Davis rightly refers to the lack of transparency in the Kentucky Retirement System as “the big, dark secret emanating from Frankfort.” “In Oregon, taxpayers forced their state to reveal pensions and found that…
Transparency is moving forward in Kentucky. Kentucky’s Auditor of Public Accounts Adam Edelen announced earlier this year that his office would conduct a fact-finding mission to bring accountability to special taxing districts in Kentucky, which involve entities from water and sewer districts to libraries. At a recent Governors Local Issues Conference, Edelen restated his strong commitment to this…
The severity of Kentucky’s pending pension disaster is finally getting attention in Kentucky’s largest newspaper. This week, Courier-Journal columnist John David Dyche delved into the effects of The Kentucky General Assembly’s 2005 House Bill 299. From Dyche’s article: HB 299 reduced the number of years legislators had to serve before drawing a penalty-free pension prior…
“Expertise becomes problematic when it is linked to power. First, it creates a problem for democratic governance. The elected officials who are accountable to voters lack the competence to make well-informed decisions. And, the experts to whom legislators cede authority are unelected. The citizens who are affected by the decisions of these experts have no…
“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” – Thomas Paine, Dissertation on First Principles of Government (July 1795)
Here’s a video from our Milton Friedman event in 2010. This video is of Pastor Jerry Stephenson sharing some inspiring words about school choice and the ideals Milton Friedman! Be sure to come this year to the event honoring Mr Friedman in Louisville at the University Club of U of L @ 08am on 07/31/12.…
The Courier-Journal added more information on line in the evening of July 5, 2012 about an earlier, mistaken article that said Governor Beshear had appointed David Karem to be chair of the Kentucky Board of Education. Apparently, the governor thought he had such authority and issued a proclamation on July 2, 2012 naming Karem not…
“Thorny” and “out of control” are the words that Lexington Mayor Jim Gray used to describe the city’s pension situation. Uh oh. In a recent interview with WUKY, Gray explains how the city’s annual required contribution to the pension system has increased by 400% over the past decade and describes this is as “unsustainable”. He…