by Thomas Novelly, Louisville Courier JournalT
Gov. Matt Bevin’s special session? Not so special, after all.
The special legislative session Bevin called Monday evening to address the state’s pension crisis, one of his main campaign promises, ended barely 24 hours later with no action to fix the billions of dollars in debt.
Teachers cheered, Bevin jeered and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed mutual frustration that their time and energy was wasted on a moment’s notice where no meaningful debate or solution could even be discussed.
Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne, R-Prospect, said the more than $43 billion in pension debt could not be fixed “within the confines of a five-day session.”
While Kentucky’s pension legislation will now be delayed until the start of the 2019 legislative session, there are a couple of people and groups that can claim victory from the debacle.
Winner: House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins
House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins, a Sandy Hook Democrat, has run an unnoticeable campaign to take the governor’s office from Bevin in 2019.
But the rapid close of Tuesday’s session may have just given him the energy he needed.
The pension reform law, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court last week because it was passed so rapidly that lawmakers didn’t have time to properly consider or read the bill, was sneaked into an unrelated sewer bill last legislative session in an effort to replace teacher pensions with 401K-style plans.
That outraged teachers as well as Kentucky Democrats. Adkins capitalized on that energy Tuesday evening and called the special session “appalling”
“Neither I nor any member of the House Democratic Caucus was consulted or even given a courtesy call that this was happening, and many of our members are unable to make it tonight,” Adkins said. ” … this is nothing more than a continued mockery of the legislative process and an attempt to silence the public.”
While Republicans still hold the majority in the Kentucky House and Senate, they couldn’t reach a consensus Tuesday evening on a new pension bill. That’s a win for the opposition party.
It’s a political win for Adkins, who can now court the teacher vote and hammer home that he stood up against Bevin and won.
Loser: Gov. Matt Bevin
The back-to-back failures this month on pension reform are not a good look for Bevin.
The first-term Republicans governor has yet to deliver on one of his two main campaign promises: fixing Kentucky’s pension system.
And Bevin’s political flex of calling a special session angered more politicians in his party than rallied them.
The bills that Bevin offered lawmakers after they scrambled to Frankfort were similar to the bill the high court struck down. The main provision was the same — new teachers hired starting next year would no longer be put into the traditional pension plan, but instead into a cash-balance plan similar to a 401(k) retirement plan.
Republican Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne said it was part of the reason the Republicans couldn’t agree on a bill to bring to the floor.
“It caused a great deal of consternation to come in here yesterday, to see the bills last night when we finally got to see them, to see that they were not what they expected,” Osborne said.
By failing to deliver on campaign promises, Bevin has re-energized the campaigns of his Democratic challengers. Kentucky teachers return to fight pension bill in special session
The first was Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear, who had a told-you-so moment when the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled the Bevin-backed pension reform bill was unconstitutional. The Adkins, who gets to claim victory in the shutdown of the special session.
Both Beshear and Adkins have announced they are running against Bevin in 2019.
Bevin, however, claimed the pension battle isn’t a political issue but a financial one, and took aim at those who saw the failure of the special session as a victory.
“It honestly makes me sad when I hear people celebrate and dance upon their own financial graves,” he said Tuesday evening. “People cheer the fact that the system is now in worse condition than it ever was, and that the only effort that has been made in recent years to truly stop the future bleeding, the only significant effort, has been struck down and there wasn’t enough intestinal fortitude to carry it forward.”
Winner: Rep. Jeff Hoover
Rep. Jeff Hoover, a Jamestown Republican, is not free of scandal. But he was able to deliver a blow to Bevin, who became an adversary last year after he called for Hoover to resign as speaker of the house after the Courier Journal reported allegations of sexual misconduct with a legislative staff member.
Bevin not only fiercely advocated for Hoover’s removal, but consistently criticized his conduct.
Hoover fired back at Bevin during the special session.
“It’s typical Matt Bevin. He didn’t get his way. And his temper tantrum is disrespectful of the legislature,” Hoover said Monday evening.
That’s coming from a member of Bevin’s own party, which has a legislative supermajority that should allow it do do anything it wants.
Loser: Kentuckians
Bevin thought a special session was necessary, but at what cost?
Well, turns out there’s a price tag for that. A special session costs taxpayers an estimated $65,500 per day.
So taxpayers spent up to $130,000 for some closed-door debate that led to … well, nothing.
Also, Kentucky’s more than $43 billion in pension debt continues to grow daily, and with no solution that will make both parties happy anywhere in sight.
Winner: Kentucky teachers
Teachers didn’t show up in force for the special session like they did in the days before the pension bill passed earlier this year.
But they won nonetheless.
Small crowds of teachers filled the legislative chambers Monday and Tuesday evenings, singing, chanting and threatening to have a “sick out” where they wouldn’t show up for school.
The Kentucky Educator’s Association celebrated the win on social media.
Kentucky’s educators have been fighting the pension reform bill since it was sneaked into a sewer bill last year. KEA has consistently advocated for the legislature to fulfill the promise of the fully funded pension plan that they signed up for.
