FRANKFORT, Ky. — Less than a day after Gov. Matt Bevin signed it into law, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear this morning made good on his threat to file suit to stop the state’s new public employee pension law from taking effect.
Beshear is joined by the Kentucky Education Association and the Kentucky State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police in filing the complaint seeking a permanent injunction against Senate Bill 151, a one-time sewage bill that was amended in the closing days of the session and rushed to passage.
“Kentucky’s employees and the people they serve will suffer irreparable injury if SB 151 is allowed to take effect,” the complaint reads. “Already, the Governor’s threats to strip retirement benefits from public employees have led to record retirements of teachers, state troopers, and other public servants. If SB 151 is allowed to take effect, hundreds – and perhaps thousands – of additional public employees will retire, leading to both an education and public safety crisis. Indeed, the mere passage of SB 151 resulted in the closure of 27 school districts the very next day and the following Monday because teachers have begun to take their sick days as a direct consequence of SB 151’s elimination of their ability to use such days to calculate their retirement eligibility.”
In a statement following the filing, Beshear said the new pension law violates the Kentucky Constitution and numerous state laws. In particular, he said the bill broke the “inviolable” contract made with state employees to guarantee retirement benefits in exchange for their service.
The Bevin administration publicly responded to today’s filing, releasing a statement saying Beshear was following in the footsteps of his father, former Governor Steve Beshear, in trying to weaken the state’s pension system. The statement further accused Beshear of using the lawsuit to score political points with KEA.
A full copy of the complaint follows:
[su_document url=”https://ag.ky.gov/pdf_news/20180411_SB151Complaint.pdf”]