State Pension Talks To Continue

Kansas legislators won’t approve a bill this
year addressing the state pension system’s long-term funding
problems until the House and Senate agree on whether the state
should commit to starting a 401(k)-style retirement plan for
teachers and government workers.
Leaders of the House’s Republican majority want to create a
401(k)-style plan for public employees hired after June 2013.
Leaders of the Senate’s GOP majority are wary and want to establish
a commission to study the proposal.
Democrats and public employee groups loathe the idea.
For all the room to compromise, legislative negotiators
ultimately are bedeviled by one yes-or-no question. Either senators
must agree to commit the state to a 401(k)-style plan, or House
members must agree to delay the decision for at least another year.