“Wall Street's volatility has hit state pension funds just as they were beginning to recover from the recession, turning what was merely a troubled forecast into a potentially stormy future for taxpayers who are on the hook for billions in unfunded liabilities for government retirees…….
And Kentucky, which has more than $20 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, has seen the value of its public pension fund decline $1.7 billion - or 15 percent - since July 1, falling to a total value of $9.7 billion.”
And Kentucky, which has more than $20 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, has seen the value of its public pension fund decline $1.7 billion - or 15 percent - since July 1, falling to a total value of $9.7 billion.”
Let me repeat this one more time. The problems facing the Kentucky Retirement Systems are not caused by:
1. The stock market
2. A Board of Trustees that does not oversee the KRS
3. Mismanagement and malfeasance by management.
I must admit that none of these three things have helped the situation. But the real reason for the unfunded liability lies directly on the shoulders of multiple sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly and multiple complicit Governors. These politicians have consistently underfunded the retirement systems.
So when politicians like David Williams, (I heard the words come out of his mouth myself), claim the underfunded pension liability is caused by the stock market they are just trying to get out of taking responsibility for their own actions.
The stock market is not helping, but the cause of the problem is the past actions of the legislature and a number of Governors.
