An agreement between the state House and Senate on proposed reforms to the state’s pension system should pass without difficulty in a special General Assembly session, said Caldwell County’s state Rep. Mike Cherry, one of the proposal’s chief architects.
Gov. Steve Beshear, currently in Japan on state business, is expected to call legislators back to Frankfort for a special session, possibly as early as June 23.
Cherry sponsored a previous House version of the reform package and was the House’s lead negotiator in the compromise.
“The Senate and I have agreed, and I don’t see anything stopping us in the way of, in the shortest possible time, to enact this bill,” he said Thursday.
Five days is the least amount of time in which the legislation can pass through both houses, he noted.
The proposal, which primarily affects new hires, will “greatly reduce the current increases in the state’s unfunded liability in its major pension systems,” Cherry said.
The state’s retirement system covers more than 445,000 people and faces an unfunded liability of more than $26 billion, according to Associated Press reports.
Lawmakers were unable to pass a pension proposal in the legislature’s regular session earlier this year.
A committee of Senate and House leadership has met for the past two weeks in an effort to reconcile differences in each chamber’s reform package.
The plan will take effect Sept. 1 for most state and county employees. A reform plan for teachers will take effect July 1, pending the legislation’s approval.
Sen. Dorsey Ridley, who represents Caldwell County in the Senate, acknowleged the governor’s leadership for helping bring the House and Senate together.
“It was his leadership and foresight that brought us to the table to continue discussions on reform,” he said.
“The Senate and the House were close to a compromise when the regular session was adjourned, and the governor did not want to postpone this important issue any longer than necessary.”
The governor also plans to establish a working group to study other pension issues.
