This Week In Frankfort - February 29, 2008

The Legislative Research Commission give an overview of the weeks activities. Below is the report of the highlights of this weeks activities.

FRANKFORT -- A major reform of the state's public-employee and teacher retirement systems -- systems beset with unfunded liabilities totaling billions of dollars -- passed the House unanimously this week, a week that also saw a constitutional amendment on casino gambling approved by a House committee.

The pension-reform measure -- House Bill 600 -- seeks to put the brakes on a growing $26-billion shortfall in the pension funds, which affect more than 445,000 current and retired state and local government workers and teachers. Actuaries say the system will go broke by 2022 if nothing is done.

Under the House bill, future state hires would have to contribute more to their retirement, and work longer to qualify for full benefits. Employee contributions would rise to 6 percent of their salary, as opposed to the current 5 percent. Future state and local employees would need 30 years of service to qualify for full benefits, up from the current 27. They would also have to be at least 55 years old. (There is no current age requirement for receiving full benefits, as long as a worker has 27 years of service). Hazardous-duty employees such as police and firefighters would have to work for at least 25 years instead of the current 20 to receive full benefits.

Another major change: The annual cost-of-living increase for retirees will be fixed at 1.5 percent. Currently, the pension system COLA is pegged to the rate of inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index, and has been running around 3 percent in recent years. The bill also eliminates so-called double dipping, a practice under which retired employees return to work in state government and establish a second pension plan.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Meanwhile this week, a House committee voted 7-2 to approve HB 550, a constitutional amendment that would authorize up to nine casinos in Kentucky. Committee debate on the measure centered on whether it should set aside up to five of the nine casino licenses for the state's horse tracks. Under the bill as finally approved and sent to the House, however, tracks could apply for licenses, but would have no assurance of getting them.

Although the casino bill has now cleared its first hurdle, the road ahead is a long one for this as for any constitutional amendment. It must pass both the full House and full Senate with 3/5ths majorities (60 yea votes in the House, 23 in the Senate) and then be ratified by Kentucky voters in a statewide referendum next fall.

Meanwhile, the Senate this week passed legislation to help address one of the gravest health threats facing Kentuckians: Cancer. More than 22,000 Kentuckians are diagnosed with cancer each year, and nearly 10,000 die. The two bills the Senate passed are aimed at giving Kentuckians increased access to screening and treatment for some of the most common and deadliest forms of cancer.

Senate Bill 96 requires health insurance plans to cover colorectal screenings for anyone over 50, as well as anyone considered at increased risk. Similar legislation, HB 162, has also been approved in the House. Kentucky men have the highest rate of colon cancer in the nation, and rates for Kentucky women are far above the national average.

Senate Bill 98, meanwhile, would ensure that all women in Kentucky have access to breast and cervical cancer treatment. The bill authorizes Medicaid to cover those treatments for uninsured Kentuckians, even those not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. This is already state policy because of an executive order, but the Senate bill would actually write it into law.

The Senate also voted this week to eliminate the position of state Treasurer as an elected office, and move its responsibilities to other executive branch agencies. In addition, SB 14 requires that the state's two elected watchdogs -- Auditor and Attorney General -- run for office on a non-partisan basis, with no party affiliation listed on the ballot.

The General Assembly has a number of ways for citizens to stay informed about legislative activities during the session. They can visit the Kentucky Legislature Home Page at www.lrc.ky.gov or call several toll-free numbers:

· The Bill Status Line: 866-840-2835.

· The Calendar Line (for meeting schedules): 800-633-9650.

· The Message Line (to leave a message for an individual legislator): 800-372-7181.