Monday, March 17, 2008
Weekly Column From Kentucky Senator Ray S. Jones II
For the past two legislative sessions, the General Assembly has sought ways to deal with the Kentucky Retirement Systems' seriously under funded pension plan. This week, we passed the Senate Committee Substitute to House Bill 600 that makes a firm commitment to preserve the retirement plan for all current and retired employees. This does not make any changes to the current employees' plan. However, in order to protect those already in the system, all concerned agree -- there has to be changes in future employee benefits.
If no action is taken to reform our retirement systems within the decade, the retirement systems could be flat broke. This would create an enormous debt that state government could not overcome, thus creating an inability for the state to honor our obligations to Kentucky retirement fund members.
House Bill 600, as amended by the Senate, will now go back to the House of Representatives for their consideration. I will work in a bipartisan way to further improve this bill, which I suspect will end up in a conference committee where it will gain its final draft. I will keep you updated on our progress.
Besides the pension plan, we also addressed a host of other issues this week, including the safety of children. Senate Bill 120 would require children under the age of 7 and shorter than 50 inches to use a booster seat when riding in a car, or the driver would face a $30 fine. In lieu of paying a fine, violators could show proof they bought a booster seat. Our goal is not to punish parents. We just want to make sure all children are safe when out on our roads.
We also want children to feel safe at school. For many years, we have worked to make sure all school districts take adequate steps to prevent bullying in our schools. We were pleased that House Bill 91 passed the Senate and look forward to seeing the bill get stronger as it goes back to the House for further consideration.
We also want to protect innocent animals, and we took a step in that direction with Senate Bill 58. This bill would upgrade the punishment for torturing a dog or cat to a felony. Currently, the first offense is a misdemeanor, but research shows light punishment has not been effective against people who would treat our faithful companions so ruthlessly.
Senate Bill 182 would allow Kentuckians to list their emergency contact information when they renew their driver's license. The information would not be printed on the license, but it would be available to officials, including law enforcement, in case of an emergency such as a traffic accident.
Finally, in our ongoing efforts to show veterans our respect, we approved House Bill 227 to create a fund to pay for the burial of veterans whose families cannot afford a decent service. These brave men and women sacrificed a great deal for our freedom and human rights, and this is a small but important way to show that every last one of them are appreciated, right until the end.
If no action is taken to reform our retirement systems within the decade, the retirement systems could be flat broke. This would create an enormous debt that state government could not overcome, thus creating an inability for the state to honor our obligations to Kentucky retirement fund members.
House Bill 600, as amended by the Senate, will now go back to the House of Representatives for their consideration. I will work in a bipartisan way to further improve this bill, which I suspect will end up in a conference committee where it will gain its final draft. I will keep you updated on our progress.
Besides the pension plan, we also addressed a host of other issues this week, including the safety of children. Senate Bill 120 would require children under the age of 7 and shorter than 50 inches to use a booster seat when riding in a car, or the driver would face a $30 fine. In lieu of paying a fine, violators could show proof they bought a booster seat. Our goal is not to punish parents. We just want to make sure all children are safe when out on our roads.
We also want children to feel safe at school. For many years, we have worked to make sure all school districts take adequate steps to prevent bullying in our schools. We were pleased that House Bill 91 passed the Senate and look forward to seeing the bill get stronger as it goes back to the House for further consideration.
We also want to protect innocent animals, and we took a step in that direction with Senate Bill 58. This bill would upgrade the punishment for torturing a dog or cat to a felony. Currently, the first offense is a misdemeanor, but research shows light punishment has not been effective against people who would treat our faithful companions so ruthlessly.
Senate Bill 182 would allow Kentuckians to list their emergency contact information when they renew their driver's license. The information would not be printed on the license, but it would be available to officials, including law enforcement, in case of an emergency such as a traffic accident.
Finally, in our ongoing efforts to show veterans our respect, we approved House Bill 227 to create a fund to pay for the burial of veterans whose families cannot afford a decent service. These brave men and women sacrificed a great deal for our freedom and human rights, and this is a small but important way to show that every last one of them are appreciated, right until the end.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 9:03 PM 
