Teachers Last Week Lined the Sidewalk Between the State Capitol and Lawmakers’ Offices CREDIT STU JOHNSON
The Kentucky General Assembly will work this week to wrap up action on a number of issues. That may not include final votes on public pension reforms.
Kentucky educators have kept up a presence all over the capitol grounds as lawmakers wrestle with how to address systemic pension system problems. Brittany Miller was among those lining the sidewalk between the state capitol and annex offices of lawmakers last week. The Louisville teacher says changing the cost of living adjustment might take her out of the classroom. “I know I for one will be looking for a new job and there exactly people knocking down the doors trying to take my job,” said Miller.
Legislation proposing a change in cost of living increases is currently on the shelf. Bill Sponsor Joe Bowen says teachers’ plea to “find funding first” would likely mean raising taxes. “I just don’t think there is an appetite for raising taxes, willy nilly. I think we need to go through the exercise of tax reform,” noted Bowen.
Bowen says it’s almost a certainty that won’t happen in the remaining days of the current session.
