Kentucky Public Retirees

06/01/2026

Review of the Public Pension Oversight Board Meeting
June 1, 2026

Meeting called to order with Rep Walker Thomas presiding. Minutes of the February 13, 2026, meeting were approved. Meeting materials for this meeting can be found here: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/287/

Short agenda for this meeting beginning with discussion on the mandated LRC Actuarial Audit Process. Statutes require that an actuarial audit be done on all the retirement systems on behalf of LRC. These are required every five years and, with the last one being done in 2021, the requirement has cycled again. For these, LRC contracts with an auditing firm to review the work previously done by each system’s regular actuaries. (For those who might see these as being redundant, remember that this requirement was established in 2016 when most of the pensions were in a worse financial situation than they are today.) There are three levels of an actuarial audit and the PPOB will select from Level 1 (full scope) or Level 2 (limited scope) or Level 3 (basic). The 2021 audit was a Level 1 performed by Milliman Consulting at a cost of $195,000 split between KPPA, TRA, and JFRS. The timeline for this will require PPOB to decide on an auditing level this summer and LRC will begin the contracting process. The audit work itself will begin at the end of this year, covering FY 26, after the systems’ actuaries have completed their work. A preliminary report will be provided in the spring with a final report due next summer.

The other agenda item today provided Overviews of Reemployment after Retirement Provisions. These programs have long been supported as being beneficial to government units who can take advantage of a retiree’s experience and to the retirees themselves who may wish/need to continue working. Three requirements are common to this in both KPPA and TRS, and required by federal and Kentucky statutes:
• Employment must have ceased with all participating employers prior to retirement;
• No prearranged agreement to rehire; and
• There be a break in service between an employee’s last date of employment and the rehire as a retiree, which can vary within the pensions.

For TRS, there are differing requirements for the break in service and some limits on the amount in wages that can be earned or the number of days worked, based on full-time or part-time service, and critical need FT or PT service, all at the school district’s discretion. All rehired individuals come back into TRS as Tier 4 employees and can, under certain circumstances, be granted a waiver to use reemployed time to improve their original retirement benefits. Contributions for those returning to work are the same as for active employees, except for those rehired into critical shortage positions. TRS had 5,382 retirees that had been reemployed in the last school year, about 7% of active members. At least 94% of these were hired in as part-time or substitute teachers. In the critical shortage category, only 15% of school districts had hired retirees, numbering on 71 out of the statutorily allowed number of 5,697 (1.25%).

For KPPA, the bona fide separation of service is one month for retirements after January 1, 2024. Retirements after September 1, 2008, were prohibited from starting a separate retirement account (“double dipping”). As mentioned, there are different break in service rules for mayors/city council members, elected officials seeking reelection, and others. In FY 25, there were 5,022 retired reemployed individuals across CERS/KERS/SPRS which generated both employer contributions ($39 million +) and health insurance contributions ($22 million +) back to KPPA. There are also statutory minimum requirements for eligibility for county police or sheriff deputies (651), city police officers (503), school resource officers (271), and university police (17). (Numbers in parentheses are the number of those retired reemployed into those position as of June 30, 2025.) As of August 1, 2026, government bodies hiring into these positions can offer health insurance to these retired officers.

With no other business, the meeting was adjourned. LPT

05/30/2026

Review of the CERS Investment Committee Meeting
May 29, 2026

Committee Chair Dr. Merl Hackbart called the meeting to order via teleconference. Roll was called; four of five members were present. There were no public comments. Minutes of the February 25, 2026; March 25, 2026; and April 28, 2026; meetings were approved individually. Meeting materials can be found here:https://www.kyret.ky.gov/About/Meeting-Calendar/Materials/May%2029%202026%20CERS%20Investment%20Committee%20Meeting%20Material.pdf

The first agenda item was a Capital Markets Update provided by Wilshire. As part of the Investment Office Quarterly Update, Wilshire provides an extensive update on economic and market conditions that affect all KPPA investments. Some of the information is pretty clear while some is quite dense (unless you’re an investment geek). Nevertheless, the Market Commentary is a good read starting at page 15 of the Materials. So much of recent economic/investment news has been focused on the impacts of the Iranian conflict, the increase in oil prices, and the resulting inflation. Lots to absorb from the Materials but Wilshire’s outlook for the markets is murky until international issues are settled. Inflation, spurred by volatile oil process, is likely to remain high until then, possibly into 2027. There is also a >50% likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in response to the higher inflation level. Sadly, higher interest rates increase the amount that must be paid to finance the national debt, both of which are at record levels. Other slides show various aspects of the economy as well as information on the asset return “universe”.

Next up for presentation by CIO Steve Willer was the Investment Office Quarterly Update for the 3rd Qtr. of FY 26. And, as always, Wilshire provided extensive performance data for the CERS investments, available in the Materials. This information is CERS specific, starting on page 57 in the Materials. Negative returns for March erased gains made in January and February. The composite returns for both the pension and insurance plans were negative but did beat their benchmarks. Year-to-date numbers remain in the +%5 range across the pension and insurance plans. Looking forward, he reported April returns, which should be released next week, look to be in the 5.0% - 5.5% range and May numbers to-date show a possible 2% increase. For the fiscal year, CERS NH Pension stood at 11.64% and CERS H pension stood at 11.69%. On the insurance side, CERS NH was at 11.31% and CERS H was at 11.18%. He gave a detailed summary highlighting performance in each of the major asset classes in this period. Real Return investments have been the star so far this year with Public Equity running in second place. Staff discussed specific asset classes. A question as to what is the way forward – where to next invest – generated a lengthy discussion. All asset allocations were withing the allowed ranges with some being very close to their actual targets. There were no Compliance issues. Capital calls/distributions, asset holdings, and transaction details were listed.

The next item was the Quarterly Investment Budget Update. This report tallies the expenses from Consulting Services, Legal & Auditing Services, and Contractual Services directly affecting investments. Due to the length of the meeting, and the fact that this information had been discussed at the recent CERS Finance Committee meeting, there was no discussion on this topic today. For information, only 42% of the projected budget had been spent during this nine-month period. This budget is expected to be reduced for FY 27, as litigations wind down.

The last item for this meeting was a proposed amendment to the CERS Investment Policy Statement. Since the meeting was running long, the Committee Chair postponed this discussion until the next meeting of this Committee. (If anyone wishes to see what might have been discussed, it is in the Materials beginning on page 148.)

With no other items on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned.

LPT

05/29/2026

A second article from the National Public Pension Coalition on market volatility and pensions.

Market volatility shows why pensions matter: they provide stable lifetime income, protect workers from risk, and support local economies.

05/29/2026

An update on efforts in Alaska to re-establish a defined benefit plan for their public employees. Sadly, the bill that would have restored this benefit was sunk by a quid-pro-quo demanded of the Alaska Legislature by their Governor.

HB 78 made historic progress toward restoring pensions, but after a veto, public workers still face retirement insecurity without a pension

05/28/2026

I've attached a link to the May edition of the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission Ethics Reporter. In it, you can see the expenditures for the 20 top spending lobbying groups during the recently concluded 2026 General Assembly. Elsewhere, I've read that two individuals earned over $1 million each as lobbyists. I guess it's good work if you can get it.

On page 2 is a list of those groups which no longer are registered to lobby. Also on this page is a listing of advertising expenditures made by lobbying groups ("employers"). Should we choose to do some of this ourselves, especially for the 2028 Session, we will have to report this and may even show up on this list two years from now.

05/28/2026

At the regular monthly meeting of the Lincoln Trail Chapter in May, Guest speaker Travel Agent Leigh Taylor with MainStreet Travel Agency spoke with the group about travel opportunities and interests, including bus tours, day trips, and cruises.

The next meeting will be June 8, 2026, 11:30 AM, at the Golden Corral, 1835 N Dixie Ave, Elizabethtown KY. Guest speaker will be Tim Carpenter, who will speak about Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity.

Guest Speaker Leigh Taylor (seated, center) with KPR/LT Chapter Members: Tootie Paulsen, Sue Reynolds, Sandy Allen, Leslie Humphrey, Sharon Bush, Linda Marcum, Gaby Hunter, Marlena
Brown, Linda Funk, Dave and Donna Hart, Kenny and Sheila Gibson, Patsy Pruitt, and Theresa Wickersham.

05/27/2026

The Cumberland Valley Chapter of the Kentucky Public Retirees (KPR) met Tuesday May 26, 2026 at David's Steak House in Corbin Kentucky. The guest speaker was Larry Totten, KPR President and KERS Board Trustee.

05/27/2026

While this was written from a trade union perspective, the same can be said for public retirees and active public employees.

Kentucky’s working people deserve a government that works for them. And if we want that kind of government, we’re going to have to demand it.

05/24/2026

We are a week out of doing the annual purge of our membership list due to past members not renewing for 2026. Earlier this month, I sent out about 250 emails to those members who had not paid through the end of April. We got a fair response, but I was surprised at the number of emails that bounced due to bad email addresses.

If someone isn't going to renew, I guess it doesn't make any difference. However, I will use this opportunity to ask, if your email address has changed, to please let us know.

We've also had an issue with some annual renewals via credit card not going through for both 2025 and 2026. Often, this was a simple case of an expiration date no longer being valid. We are putting credit card updating information on our website in the "Pay Dues Now" section, but you can do the following now to verify that your card information is still valid. (I checked mine and noticed that my card would have not been valid in January 2027 due to the expiration date. I fixed it.)

How to Update Your Card and Pay Your Balance

The most common problem with credit card payments to all vendors is an expired “Valid thru” date. For payments to KPR, the existing card itself cannot be updated so you must add a new card to continue credit card payments. You can use the same card, just now with a new expiration date. Clicking “Update Credit Card” will guide you through the process. Your new card entry will become the default automatically.

We’ve been told that adding a new card should automatically pay past dues amounts which will update your KPR membership. You can verify this, once the new card is saved, by going to your "Invoices" or "Billing History" section. Find any unpaid invoices and click the "Pay Now" button. Clicking "Pay Now" tells the system to use your new card to settle your balance immediately.

And, if you haven't yet renewed, please consider doing so. We have a lot of work to do over the next two years and we need your participation. Thank you for being a KPR member.

05/22/2026

Glenn Hawkins visitation/services will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2026, at the Hall & Taylor Funeral Home, 1185 Main St, Shelbyville KY 40065. Visitation will be from 1:00p, - 3:00pm Eastern, with Services 3:00pm - 4:00pm.

Hall-Taylor Funeral Home, Inc., of Shelbyville and Taylorsville proudly serves the families of Shelby and Spencer Counties and surrounding areas in Kentucky.