Pension talks need consultant 'without preconceived notions,' McGarvey says

FRANKFORT — The minority leader of the Kentucky Senate says he'll ask that a consultant "without preconceived notions" be brought in to help advise the legislature's new Public Pension Working Group.

Sen. Morgan McGarvey, a Louisville Democrat, said he plans to send the leaders of the General Assembly's Republican majority a letter recommending consultants who have experience with public pensions "but do not have a well-established ideological agenda."

McGarvey's concern is over the revelation earlier this week that the new 14-member group assigned with crafting a new pension reform plan is being advised by the libertarian Reason Foundation.

McGarvey and leaders of the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the advocacy group Kentucky Government Retirees complained Wednesday that the California-based Reason Foundation has argued for reform approaches that they think are counterproductive — such as moving public employees from traditional pensions into 401(k)-like plans.

Read more: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/17/kentucky-pension-reform-meetings-could-get-other-consultant-besides-reason-foundation/2601830002/