No cuts to government pensions; find other revenue
Q: What sacrifices should public employees and taxpayers expect to make to fix the state retirement system?
A: Our educators, first responders, city, state and county employees already sacrifice so much. They work their whole lives
to make Kentucky a better place to live. The last thing they should sacrifice is the pension they've earned. The best way to fix our state retirement system is to find new sources of revenue like closing tax loopholes for luxury items like private jets.
Source: Louisville Courier-Journal on 2019 Kentucky governor's race
, May 10, 2019
State gaming will cover $43B unfunded state pension plan
Attorney General Andy Beshear sent a letter to state lawmakers asking them to legalize casinos and sports betting as the way raise money to save Kentucky's ailing public pension system.
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has opposed legalizing casinos.
Bevin called the proposal "a tired tenet" of the Democratic Party.
Beshear's letter makes familiar arguments for expanding gambling--primarily that Kentuckians are already wagering big money at casinos in five neighboring states, including Indiana.
It does not estimate how much money legal casinos would generate for Kentucky, but he wrote, "Commercial gaming in Indiana last year alone netted over $600 million in direct tax revenue." He said legalized sports betting could
raise "an additional $30 million" in annual revenue.
Kentucky's eight pension plans recently reported having $42.7 billion in unfunded liabilities, including both pension and health plans.