UPDATE: 2:35 p.m.
After today’s Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that struck down Senate Bill 151, a law that made changes to Kentucky’s pension system, the Kentucky Education Association’s President Stephanie Winkler, Attorney General Andy Beshear and FOP Representative Jerry Powell took to Facebook for a live feed to discuss what this decision meant for public servants.
Beshear said this was a “landmark win for all public servants” because Senate Bill 151 violated the Constitution. He believes the law that was struck down cut retirement for all who leave their families to serve others.
“We sued and we won,” Beshear said, adding that the decision makes the government treat public servants “with dignity and respect.”
Beshear believes it is a win for transparency, an issue many Kentuckians had with Senate Bill 151, which became known as the “Sewage Bill” since it was originally an 11-page document concerning sewage that legislators added 291 pages to regarding pension reform. The Sewage Bill was passed in six hours, something that the pension bill was unable to do originally.
“It was passed in the dark of night,” said Winkler.
Winkler is pleased with the decision and is thankful for the Fraternal Order of Police and Beshear, saying this decision provides hope to restore what Kentucky expects and desires from elected officials.
Beshear spoke of the “fear mongering” by Bevin, saying that it doesn’t make Bevin’s assertions factual.
When asked how he would like to see the pension funded, since state lawmakers have had to take money from other areas to fund it, Beshear said possibly gaming, providing examples of poker and fantasy sports. He said that over $500 million in tax revenue is going to other states that could go into the Kentucky pension system.
Beshear said this is not about politics but about right versus wrong at the end of the day.
“The Supreme Court justices did their job,” Beshear said, adding that all seven ruled against the law. “It wasn’t even close.”
Bevin spoke on a Facebook live feed on his official page approximately an hour after KEA. He began by saying he would like to see a bill that would save the pension system.
“I put more into the pension system than any past governor,” Bevin said, adding that at least a half a billion dollars went into the “worst funded pension bill in America.”
He repeatedly called this a “sad, sad day” for retirees and said Kentuckians should not be celebrating the worst possible outcome we could have had.
Senator-elect Matt Castlen, who won the 8th district seat in November’s election, is concerned for all those in the retirement system.
“We want to protect the retirement people have worked for,” Castlen said, “and Senate Bill 151 was the bill that was going to help save the pension system and would sustain the system for the longterm. This is an overreach of the judicial branch.”
“The fact that anyone would care about the politics misses the point that this is bad for Kentucky,” Bevin said.
Bevin said the Supreme Court ripped the Band-Aid off, so now we will see hemorrhaging, an analogy he repeated two more times during his remarks.
According to Bevin, he is the only governor to fully fund the pension, but said it has come at the expense of “everything else.”
“There is only so much money,” Bevin said. “We are not stopping the bleeding.”
Bevin also discussed Social Security and its underfunding, saying that three people pay in for every one receiving benefits, and people know that system is broken “and going to collapse.”
“And we have less than one paying into what one person is taking out,” Bevin said about Kentucky’s retirement system.
Bevin said this should be an impartial bipartisan effort to solve the problems with the system, adding that far more democrats than republicans are affected by this.
UPDATE: 10:30 a.m.
Gov. Matt Bevin will hold a press conference in Frankfort at 12:30 p.m. EST to discuss the state Supreme Court’s ruling today on Senate Bill 151.
This event will be live streamed on Gov. Bevin’s official Facebook page. Bevin also posted the following message on his Facebook page.
UPDATE: 10:00 a.m.
The Kentucky Education Association posted the following on their Facebook page:
The Kentucky Supreme Court has voted unanimously to strike down SB 151, and ruled the “pension” bill unconstitutional. Stay tuned and watch our press conference with Attorney General Andy Beshear and KEA President Stephanie Winkler at approximately 11:00 a.m. this morning on Facebook live.
ORIGINAL: 9:41 a.m.
For over a year, teachers and state employees have been protesting the state’s new public pension law. On Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the bill that drastically changed the state pension system was unconstitutional.
This Kentucky Supreme Court ruling is a victory for teacher’s unions and state employees that have rallied throughout the year.
The Kentucky Education Association posted the following on their Facebook page:
The Kentucky Supreme Court has voted unanimously to strike down SB 151, and ruled the “pension” bill unconstitutional. Stay tuned and watch our press conference with Attorney General Andy Beshear and KEA President Stephanie Winkler at approximately 11:00 a.m. [EST] this morning on Facebook live.
