Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced on Tuesday the creation of a 23-person panel that will act as a pension funding “task force”.
The panel will study the state’s Teachers’ Retirement System and report back with recommendations for improving the system’s funding situation.
Many state lawmakers expressed support for the group, although there was some skepticism regarding the panel’s membership. From the Courier-Journal:
The 23-member panel will include officials from education and state government along with leaders from advocacy organizations who will make recommendations for improving the system’s finances by Dec. 1. Former state Board of Education Chairman David Karem has been selected to lead the group.
[Gov. Steve] Beshear is calling on his work group — created through executive order — to perform a comprehensive review of funding options and examine benefit practices in other states. The panel is also authorized to hire consultants.
[…]
House Republican Floor Leader Jeff Hoover, of Jamestown, released a statement Tuesday arguing that Beshear’s group should include more independent members with investment and actuarial expertise.
“Beshear had a real opportunity to create an independent, non-partisan panel to give a thorough review of KTRS in an effort to make substantive recommendations to solidify the system,” he said. “Instead, the governor chose to fill this task force with self-serving special interest groups that have been part of the problem, not part of the solution.”
A full list of the panel’s members can be found near the bottom of this news report.
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