The Republican leader of the Kentucky House wants a study conducted on the under-funded Kentucky Teachers Retirement System before the 2016 legislature convenes.
House Republican Floor Leader Jeff Hoover sent a letter this week to Governor Beshear urging him to create a task force.
“I think every member of the General Assembly wants to do something to help resolve the Teachers’ Retirement Issue, and many us believe that we have to make some long-term structural changes, but we need some expert guidance," said Hoover.
KTRS has only about 54% of the funds it needs to pay benefits to retirees.
Representative Hoover of Jamestown opposed a measure in the House during this year’s session that would have borrowed more than $3 billion dollars to shore up the pension fund.
“There would be no other road projects, there would be no other schools, university projects, until those were paid down and it would put us at the highest rated debt state in the country," said Hoover. "It would have just been catastrophic to our financial situation in this state.”
Hoover said the state couldn’t afford to take on the additional debt, nor did the bill address the structural deficiencies in the KTRS. He hopes a task force will propose some reforms during the interim so that lawmakers will be ready to act in the 2016 session.
