‘We’re listening.’ House Republicans work to revise pension overhaul bill

House Republicans discussed possible changes to Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed overhaul of Kentucky’s ailing public pension systems in a closed-door meeting Friday, but offered few details of their discussion afterward.

“I think that we have a determination to make sure that we fix the crisis or address the crisis in a substantial way,” said House Majority Leader Jonathan Shell, R-Lancaster. “And that’s what we’re trying to do moving forward with this bill, to address the crisis that we’re in.”

Shell and House Speaker Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, have acknowledged the bill does not have enough support to pass the GOP-led House, with both men saying even they cannot support the measure as it is written.

In particular, some members have expressed their dislike of a provision that requires public employees to pay an additional 3 percent of their salary for retiree health insurance.

“The three percent thing is something that is extremely important to every state employee and teacher across the state,” Shell said. “As you educate yourself on that issue, there’s probably reasons why we probably shouldn’t do that moving forward, but at this time we’re still trying to determine what the best move forward is.”

Adding to the wayward status of the bill is a sexual harassment scandal surrounding Hoover. At least some portion of the caucus meeting was spent talking about a news report that Hoover secretly settled a sexual harassment claim with one of his staffers.

Shell said Hoover has the full support of the caucus and that the allegations would not derail the pension bill.

“This bill was in trouble before anything came out in the Courier-Journal, whenever you talk about the impact across the state,” Shell said. “We’re just trying to get something we can actually pass.”

Shell said House Republicans would gather again to discuss the pension bill, but would not say when.

Bevin has promised to call a special session this year to overhaul the state’s pension systems, but with the holidays approaching, time is running short.

A spokesperson for Bevin did not respond Friday to a request for comment.

Shell said he still thinks Republicans can reach consensus on a pension bill.

“We’re listening,” Shell said. “For all the people out there that are affected by this, that have contacted their representatives, that have contacted me, the people in my district. We’re listening to those concerns and we’re trying to adjust it.”

Other major points of contention in the bill include the loss of death benefits for some police officers and their families; the end of legally guaranteed sick days for teachers and other school district employees; and the elimination of cost-of-living adjustments for retired teachers for a five-year span.

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 5:56 PM with the headline "‘We’re listening.’ House Republicans work to revise pension overhaul bill."