Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

There's an update on Kentucky's state pension crisis and there's a little bit of good news and bad news.  The good news is that Gov. Bevin and legislative leaders have come up with a proposal to keep the state's promise to its workers. This is good news for a pension that is so severely underfunded that it has caused the state's credit rating to drop. The bad news? It's going to be painful all around according to Gov. Bevin. This means that state workers are going to contribute three percent of their salaries for retiree health care benefits. And new hires who started after 2014 will join a defined-contribution 401(K) plan. It's also going to cost taxpayers more. While the changes might be painful, its welcomed news that our government is doing something to keep its promises to state workers.