Pension bill takes an extra six years and $5 billion to pay Kentucky’s pension debt

The controversial pension plan rushed through the Kentucky legislature Thursday night would do at least one thing Republican lawmakers vowed to stop this year: It would kick the can down the road.

“We are finally going to stop kicking the can down the road and get to full funding in these systems,” state Sen. Joe Bowen, R-Owensboro, said in February as he argued for his pension overhaul efforts.

However, under Senate Bill 151, lawmakers give the state and local governments six additional years to pay off their estimated $27 billion pension shortfall at Kentucky Retirement Systems.