Kansas budget | Pension360

Kansas Retirees Rally at Capitol Against Gov.’s Plan to Cut State Pension Contributions

Members of the Kansas Public Employee’s Retirement System (KPERS) gathered at the state capitol on Wednesday to rally against Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to cut state contributions to the pension system.

Kansas is facing a $340 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2014-15.

To address the shortfall, Brownback plans to slash state pension contributions by $58 million this year.

Additionally, the state would issue $1.5 billion in bonds, with money going to the pension system’s investment fund.

Pension officials have warned that the plan could have long-term consequences.

The Topeka Capital-Journal has more from the rally:

Dennis Phillips, chairman of the Kansas Coalition of Public Retirees, said lawmakers had a responsibility to deliver financial certainty to 280,000 Kansas teachers, judges, firefighters and others participating in the retirement program. Sidestepping state payments to KPERS doesn’t make sense, he said.

“We need your support,” Phillips told retirees. “The governor wants to remove $60 million from KPERS this year. It is real money.”

“How many more of these payments will be deferred?” said Rep. Ed Trimmer, D-Winfield.

House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, D-Kansas City, said actions undermining integrity of the system betrayed people who dedicated themselves to government service.

“Your pension plan, KPERS, was our commitment to you for standing up and taking these jobs,” he said.

Kansas PERS was 56.4 percent funded as of the end of 2013.

Photo credit: “Seal of Kansas” by [[User:Sagredo|Sagredo]][[User talk:Sagredo|⊙☿♀♁♂♃♄]] – http://www.governor.ks.gov/Facts/kansasseal.htm. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_Kansas.svg#mediaviewer/File:Seal_of_Kansas.svg

Kansas Treasurer Voices Support For Governor’s Pension Bond Plan

Kansas Treasurer Ron Estes is backing Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to issue $1.5 billion in bonds to go towards funding the state’s Public Employees Retirement System.

Pension officials told Kansas lawmakers last week that such a decision, coupled with Brownback’s plan to delay pension payments, could end up costing the state almost $4 billion.

From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

The gambit put forward by Gov. Sam Brownback carries risk, the state’s treasurer said in an interview, but the state government’s general budget needs infusion of $137 million that would be available over the next two years by adjusting the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. Kansas’ general operating deficit over the next 18 months has been estimated to be $700 million.

“The changes the governor suggests will help address the state’s budget shortfall while keeping KPERS in line with the pension reform plan passed by the 2012 Legislature,” Estes said.

Three years ago, legislators and Brownback committed the state to higher contributions to KPERS and other system reforms to chip away at a $9.8 billion funding gap on scheduled payouts to retirees through 2033.

Under the governor’s latest plan, the break-even point for the pension system would be pushed to 2043. The cost of delaying resolution of the deficit in KPERS could cost the state as much as $9 billion — nearly double the existing unfunded liability — when carried forward over three decades.

“You can lower your payments now, but if you add 10 years of payments, you’re going to pay more,” said Alan Conroy, executive director of KPERS.

“There are pros and cons to it,” said Estes, who is on the KPERS board of directors. “It’s a reasonable burden.”

Brownback also urged legislators to authorize issuance of $1.5 billion in bonds to infuse the pension system with capital that would be invested in the markets. The bonds might cost the state less than 5 percent, Estes said, while the average rate of return in the KPERS’ portfolio is about 8 percent.

“The bonding is a great idea,” he said. “We can take that $1.5 billion and invest it with other KPERS’ assets and start making money.”

Brownback is planning on delaying state payments to the pension system by $39 million in fiscal year 2015-16 and by $92 million in fiscal year 2016-17.

Kansas Pension Officials: State’s Plan to Delay Pension Payments Could Cost Billions in Long-Run

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback in December diverted a $58 million payment from the pension system and used the money to plug holes in the state’s general budget.

The governor is seeking to delay more state payments to the pension fund, and is also looking to offset some of the costs by issuing pension obligation bonds.

But pension officials told lawmakers Tuesday that such a decision could end up costing the state between $3.7 billion and $9 billion in the long run.

From the Kansas City Star:

Changes to the state’s pension system proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback could cost Kansas $3.7 billion in the long run, lawmakers learned Tuesday.

The governor seeks to delay payments intended to shore up the state’s pension system to save money in the short term.

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System faced an unfunded liability of $9.8 billion at the beginning of 2014. The state was on pace to pay it down to zero by 2033 because of reforms enacted during Brownback’s first term.

Instead, Brownback proposed Friday to pay down the unfunded liability more slowly, by 2043, to save money during the ongoing state budget crisis.

“It’s like the mortgage on your house. If you pay less, you’re going to pay longer and you’re going to pay more,” Alan Conroy, the executive director of KPERS, told the House Appropriations Committee.

The delay would increase costs overall by $9.1 billion. But Brownback proposes issuing $1.5 billion in bonds, and the profits from the interest on those bonds would partially offset that cost.

Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, a Kansas City, Kan., Democrat, said the state was undoing the progress it had made in reforming the pensions system.

“It costs us $9 billion with a B (to enact the governor’s plan). … So we’re doubling what we have now? We’re doubling our unfunded actuarial liability?” Wolfe Moore said. “We’re going in exactly the wrong direction as far as I can see.”

Kansas PERS was 56.4 percent as of the end of 2013.

Kansas Lawmakers React to Governor’s Plan to Cut State Pension Contribution

Earlier this month, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback announced his plan to cut the state’s annual pension payment by around $60 million and use the money to plug budget shortfalls elsewhere.

Several prominent lawmakers have now given their reactions to the proposal. From Salina.com:

[Steven] Johnson, R-Assaria, who is chairman of the House Pensions and Benefits Committee, was “not happy” with Tuesday’s proposal by Gov. Sam Brownback to cut the state’s pension contribution this year by $40 million as part of a plan to close a $280 million shortfall in the state budget.

And he’s not alone, even among Republicans.

“There’s no easy solution,” Johnson said Wednesday, “but I’m not happy with what they’re doing with KPERS.”

[…]

Late Wednesday afternoon, Kansas Treasurer Ron Estes, who campaigned with Brownback across the state just before the November election, released a statement critical of the planned KPERS cuts.

“While I understand the need to re-balance the budget in light of unexpected shortfalls, the decision to delay state contributions to our underfunded pension system is disappointing,” Estes wrote in the statement. “By delaying action now, we run the risk of KPERS consuming an even larger amount of our state’s budget at the expense of other vital state services to Kansans in the future.”

Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, who led KPERS reform in the Senate, said, “Over the last four years, Kansas has become the model for responsible pension reform. We inherited a pension system that was going broke and returned it to fiscal health. By raiding the KPERS fund instead of continuing prudent reform, Gov. Brownback is threatening to undo all of the hard-fought gains that we have made.”

The state’s Senate Minority Leader also weighed in. From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, rejected the idea Brownback is protecting education funding by cutting KPERS instead. The governor has previously counted KPERS contributions when touting a high level of education spending under his administration. During the campaign, Brownback highlighted an overall increase of $270 million in education funding since 2011, a figure that included KPERS contributions.

“I would argue then, using his logic, that he’s actually cutting education,” Hensley said. “It’s so inconsistent, or downright contradictory, to make that kind of argument.”

Kansas PERS manages over $14 billion in assets.

Photo credit: “Seal of Kansas” by [[User:Sagredo| – http://www.governor.ks.gov/Facts/kansasseal.htm. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Kansas Governor Proposes $40 Million Cut In State Contribution To Pension System

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed a plan that would cut the state’s annual contribution to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System by $40 million this fiscal year.

The money would be used to plug budget shortfalls elsewhere.

From the Topeka Capital-Journal:

Gov. Sam Brownback defended cutting contributions to state worker retirement plans Wednesday — a necessary step, he argued, to protect education spending — as he called for an overhaul of the state’s school finance formula.

Facing opposition from some quarters of his own party, the governor acknowledged cuts to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) will slow progress made on the system over the past few years. But he pushed back against critics who had previously predicted financial trouble for the state.

[…]

As part of $280 million in cuts and fund transfers announced Tuesday, Brownback will reduce the KPERS employer contribution level to 9.5 percent, from its current level of more than 12 percent. The administration expects to save $40 million through the reduction.

Several lawmakers expressed their disappointment with the proposal. From Salina.com:

[Steven] Johnson, R-Assaria, who is chairman of the House Pensions and Benefits Committee, was “not happy” with Tuesday’s proposal by Gov. Sam Brownback to cut the state’s pension contribution this year by $40 million as part of a plan to close a $280 million shortfall in the state budget.

And he’s not alone, even among Republicans.

“There’s no easy solution,” Johnson said Wednesday, “but I’m not happy with what they’re doing with KPERS.”

[…]

Late Wednesday afternoon, Kansas Treasurer Ron Estes, who campaigned with Brownback across the state just before the November election, released a statement critical of the planned KPERS cuts.

“While I understand the need to re-balance the budget in light of unexpected shortfalls, the decision to delay state contributions to our underfunded pension system is disappointing,” Estes wrote in the statement. “By delaying action now, we run the risk of KPERS consuming an even larger amount of our state’s budget at the expense of other vital state services to Kansans in the future.”

Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, who led KPERS reform in the Senate, said, “Over the last four years, Kansas has become the model for responsible pension reform. We inherited a pension system that was going broke and returned it to fiscal health. By raiding the KPERS fund instead of continuing prudent reform, Gov. Brownback is threatening to undo all of the hard-fought gains that we have made.”

Kansas PERS manages over $14 billion in assets.

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In Kansas, Pension System Prepares To Be Target of Spending Cuts

Kansas lawmakers will need to cut almost $300 million in spending to balance the 2014 budget, and even steeper cuts are being predicted for 2015.

History shows that states consistently look to one place for “easy” cuts: annual payments to pension systems.

Kansas pension officials are now being asked by lawmakers how decreased state payments would alter the system’s liabilities.

From the Lawrence Journal-World:

New concerns were raised Monday that those gains could come undone if Kansas lawmakers decide to cut back on the state’s contributions to the pension system to address a looming $715 million revenue shortfall.

Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, asked KPERS officials Monday to come up with projections about what that would do to the system’s unfunded liability.

“Those of us who have been around here long enough know that when tough times come, we have either reduced or eliminated our KPERS contributions,” Kelly said during a meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Pensions and Investments.

Last week, state budget officials released new revenue projections showing lawmakers will need to cut $279 million in spending to balance this year’s budget. And for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, they will need to carry those cuts forward and make another $435.7 million in spending cuts.

Some lawmakers vocally opposed cutting payments to the pension system:

Republican leaders on the panel said there is little chance of cutting back on KPERS contributions to make up for the revenue shortfalls, although they left open the possibility that the funding may have to come from money other than the state general fund.

“We need to keep those commitments,” said Sen. Jeff King, R-Independence, who chairs the panel. “I am always open to suggestions — what we’ve seen from other states; new proposals to more efficiently make those commitments we’ve made — but keeping the commitment to paying down the unfunded liability is vital.”

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System manages $14.4 billion in assets.

Photo by TaxRebate.org.uk