Bevin right on shortfall

In a story about Moody’s credit rating agency downgrading Kentucky’s status, this newspaper reported the total pension shortfall at $37 billion. Moody’s own pension shortfall estimate is $70 billion. That’s how they determined the downgrade.

We know Gov. Matt Bevin has been using a number in the $80 billion range, and Democrats and the media have said that number is grossly overinflated. Well, it looks like Bevin has been right all along and the media has shown their true colors, at least in this newspaper, by continuing to use what we can now say is a grossly underestimated number.

Now why would Kentucky Democrats and the media keep using a grossly underinflated number? Perhaps that will come out during the expected special session Bevin intends to call and be accurately reported. Of course, the Democrats and the media getting it wrong again helps explain why we’re in this mess to begin with.

This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Bevin right on shortfall."