If pension agreement can be reached, Beshear will call special session

Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) wants an agreement on pension reform policy in three weeks and a special legislative session in late June, his office announced today.

"Democrats and Republicans, public employees and public employers, we all agree that the state's public pension problem is a real mess," said Governor Beshear in a press release dispatched today. "And, we all agree that the failure to pass meaningful pension reform during the last legislative session has made the problem worse. And, most significantly, we all agree that we must act now to stop the bleeding of taxpayer dollars."

Beshear has presented leaders in the state House and state Senate with "draft" legislation incorporating elements from the contrasting bills produced by each of those bodies during this year. According to Beshear's office, the draft legislation includes provisions on which there was "agreement" between the two previous bills.

Beshear also incorporated proposals from former Governor Ernie Fletcher's "Blue Ribbon Commission" into the draft, including a hike in the retirement age for future state hires, a 1.5 percent decrease in the cost of living adjustment, and  "reform" to "double-dipping" - or receiving a government salary while drawing a retirement pension.

If agreement on some sort of pensions package can be reached among legislative leaders, Beshear announced he will call a special session for June 23 to push legislation through.

Whether Beshear's push for reform will be successfully accomplished or not is another matter. With plummeting approval ratings and following a legislative session where his policy goals were largely ignored, the Governor faces an uphill battle. The state Senate - controlled by the Republican Party - offers one significant obstacle to Beshear, a first-year Democratic Governor.

Still, the Democratically-controlled state House has not been universally kind to Beshear either, as the Governor was unable to rally support their for his prized expanded casino gaming amendment earlier this year.