From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeigh Kentucky lawmakers have met their goal of approving a pension reform bill in one week.The bill that cleared the House 98-0 on Wednesday, breezed through the Senate Friday by a vote of 35-1. Republican Senator Tom Buford of Nicholasville was the lone opponent."I expect under provisions of this bill, by 2025, we will still have an unfunded liability of over 33-billion dollars after what we vote on today. I know it’s been said this is a first step. I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to walk to the moon, but that’s a long trip," Buford said.Senate passage of the bill effectively ended the special session, which began Monday. The cost to taxpayers for the five-day session is around $300,000. Governor Beshear will sign the pension bill into law this afternoon.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.