Kentucky's House Budget Chairman Harry Moberly may survive the upcoming shakeup in House leadership, but insiders suggest that eventually he will be replaced by Rep. Don Pasley.
Given the ignorance Pasley displayed in his latest Winchester Sun column, though, that change won't necessarily be an upgrade. Speaking about the General Assembly's special session and passage of HB 1, Pasley seems squarely in the middle of the "we solved the problem" camp Gov. Steve Beshear edged away from this past week.
Pasley makes the most of a vague term to make a case for the efficacy of HB 1, stating it would "get the unfunded liability in check by the year 2025." If by getting it "in check" he means for the $27 billion hole to grow much larger, then I guess he is right. But his constituents surely won't take it that way.
Pasley also repeated the canard that HB 1 will save the locals $56 million.
"Finally, this law does have one added bonus for our local governments and school boards: It will save them nearly $56 million over the next year because of a one-time reduction in their contribution rate. This was made possible because of their system’s better funding levels."
This is exactly the same as saying the state government has "saved" $27 billion by underfunding its benefits plans all these years. The local governments aren't being saved a penny. They are merely deferring $56 million in required contributions which will be no easier to make next year than they would be this year. So they may need to get deferred again. That's how we got in this mess in the first place.
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