As angry teachers watch, legality of pension reform's passage argued
FRANKFORT In a courtroom crowded with teachers, how the General Assembly passed the new pension law got more attention than how it will change benefits during oral arguments on its legality Thursday.
Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd said a trend where the General Assembly has passed controversial bills, including the pension bill, in a single day raises serious question as to compliance with the Constitutions protections."
Attorney General Andy Beshear, who is challenging the new pension law, said the process used to pass the bill showed us the worst of the worst in state government.
An 11-page sewer bill became a 291-page pension bill and passed both chambers and was placed before the governor in just six hours without one public comment.
But Steve Pitt, the attorney representing Gov. Matt Bevin, noted many bills have been passed in the same speedy fashion in recent years and that the pension bill was at least the product of an active public debate stretching back to last summer.
Read more: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/07/kentucky-pension-bill-court-arguments-thursday/679294002/