Kentucky Teachers Shut Down Schools After Public Pension Overhaul
Source: Huffington Post
Kentucky’s public pension system is among the worst funded in the nation. Gov. Matt Bevin (R) has prioritized reforming it since he was elected in 2015, and Republicans have taken up the issue since gaining control of both houses of the state legislature in 2016.
Teachers and public employees have fought the proposed changes, which have included transitioning new hires into a “hybrid” system that more closely resembles a 401(k). They argue that such changes would lead to steep cuts to their retirement systems and could violate their contracts with the state.
Educators have spent weeks protesting the proposed pension plans, and appeared to have derailed any potential reform earlier this week as Kentucky’s 2018 legislative session drew to a close.
But on Thursday afternoon, Republicans tucked many of their proposed changes into a piece of legislation relating to public sewage. And after mere hours of debate, both state legislative chambers approved the bill in late-night votes, with the state Senate voting around 10 p.m. to send the bill to Bevin’s desk.
Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kentucky-school-shutdown-pension_us_5abe4233e4b0f112dc9baeee
Once again, in a late-night stealth vote, Republicans vote to steal pensions from hard working people.
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over and over again that they have absolutely no idea how to "govern."
And yet, and yet, people still, STILL, keep voting them into office. WTF?!
Oklahoma and West Virginia are not too happy these days. I hope they go on a statewide strike to get the real money that is owed to them and their underpaid profession. Value teachers and not crooked, overpaid politicians. Vote the Republicans out! 
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/2/21/948224/-
Remember in November!
Fuck them!!!! 
Once kept secret, the Legislative Retirement Plan was made public in January, 2017. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Other retired lawmakers drawing high pensions include: former Rep. Jon Draud, of Edgewood, $158,123; former Sen. Dan Kelly, of Springfield, $122,231; and former Rep. J.R. Gray, of Benton, $117,740.
...Generally, pensions of legislators are based on a three-factor formula: the number of years served, times an average salary for the person’s three highest years of salary, times a percentage called the benefit factor. That percentage is 2.75 percent for most legislators.
...But a bill passed in 2005 significantly enriched the pensions of some lawmakers. It allowed lawmakers who have also worked in other branches of government to use the years of much higher salaries in an executive or judicial branch job for calculating a pension for a career that mostly involved low-paid years serving as a part-time legislator.
Seems to me that their own pension system is doing just fine, thank you!
