TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Legislation authorizing $1.5 billion in bonds to bolster the Kansas pension system for teachers and government workers has stalled in the state Senate, and one advocate said Wednesday that the bill is "dead in the water."

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Ty Masterson said he doesn't want to issue the bonds without creating a 401(k)-style pension plan for new public employees. The Andover Republican said the state shouldn't be "taking on one debt to cover another" unless it reforms its retirement system.

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System operates traditional pension plans guaranteeing benefits upfront, based on an employee's salary and years of service. KPERS projects a $9.3 billion gap between anticipated revenues and promised benefits through 2033.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.