Lowell Reese, the author of the Bluegrass Institute’s public pension exposé series Future Shock, talked about Kentucky’s pension crisis with Joe Elliott on 970 WGTK this week. The discussion took place during the Hour 2 segment. You can read the Future Shock reports here.
Public pension transparency legislation finally lands in Frankfort Legislation filed by Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, requires the state’s public pension systems to finally open their books. Currently, information specific to individual Kentucky Retirement System members, including names and actual or projected payments, are confidential. The proposed policy in SB 57 would require the public…
By Jim Waters Though there always are those fighting for – and against – liberty throughout Kentucky, these two candidates finish on top of the latest edition of the Bluegrass Beacon’s “Liberty Lovers and Losers.” Liberty Lover: Louisville entrepreneur Denis Frankenberger While downtown Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center is popular with sports fans who pile in…
The subject of Kentucky’s Persistently Low-Achieving Schools (PLAs) – which have been euphemistically renamed “Priority Schools” – came up in yesterday’s meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education. I am still sifting through a large amount of information that was presented, but the overall summation of this expensive program is disappointing. Kentucky Department of Education…
The Kentucky Board of Education took a break from its governance duties today to honor eight Kentucky school districts that posted top performance in the 2011-12 school year on the new Unbridled Learning accountability system. The eight districts are listed here along with their eligibility rates for the federal free and reduced cost lunch program,…
A statement from Bluegrass Institute president and CEO Jim Waters: I recently wrote a Bluegrass Beacon column praising state Auditor Adam Edelen’s initiative to hold accountable more than 1,200 special taxing districts strung out across the commonwealth that handle $2.7 billion per year. (Remember what happened when groups like the Kentucky Association of Counties and Lexington’s…
So how does Kentucky’s public pension system transparency stack up against other states? Glad you asked. The folks at Sunshine Review have put together a great chart tracking the transparency of pension systems in each state. Two categories of information (names and dollar amounts) are the focus of the chart. Obviously, because Kentucky does not…
It has been said time and time again: transparency is the first step toward accountability. Kentucky’s public pension system is broken and to truly reform it we need it to be transparent. Contact your legislator and tell them: I want to see a transparent public pension system in Kentucky.
A recent editorial by the Lexington Herald-Leader hits on something that the Bluegrass Institute has been championing for years now: public pension transparency. Most of the piece focuses on funding the pension system’s substantial shortfall but at the end this point is made: Both systems lack transparency. Even though every taxpayer in Kentucky will contribute…
Here’s some media coverage of a news conference held today to call a foul on the KFC Yum! Center operations. Click here for more information from the Bluegrass Institute on a new report recently that shows the arena is $800 million in debt and losing $1 million a month.