FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Supreme Court has struck down the pension reform bill.

• Justice Venter says SB 151 didn't comply with reading requirements
• Kentucky Public Pension Coalition praises court decision
• Republican Party of Kentucky calls it 'Supreme Court overeach'

The high court ruled unanimously to uphold a Franklin Circuit Court ruling that the process in which the bill was passed was unconstitutional and therefore void. 

In the opinion Justice Daniel Venter wrote, SB 151 did not comply with the three reading requirements established in the constitution. Since the process in which the measure was passed was ruled unconstitutional, the high court did not rule on the contents on the bill. 

"Based upon this disposition, we do not address the arguments challenging the substantive provisions of SB 151," Justice Venter wrote. "Our disposition renders moot the question of whether SB 151 constitutes an appropriation or created a debt subjecting to the 51-vote majority provision." 

The opinion went on to say, when considering if a reading can be satisfied by "title only" can only be done when the title is germane to the contents of the bill. 

"As we have noted, requiring every bill to be read aloud in its entirety in each legislative chamber would be an absurd construction of section 46; reading the bill by title only is sufficient. But, it is equally absurd to suggest that section 46 is satisfied by reading the title of a bill that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter of the bill," Justice Venter wrote. 

Gov. Bevin and Republicans say this ruling will start a domino effect of voiding hundreds of bills that have passed in similar manners, but Democrats say that simply isn't true. 

Attorney General Andy Beshear, D-Kentucky, praised the decision of the justices as a win for transparency. 

"Today's decision is landmark win for all of Kentucky's families because it makes our government treat them with dignity and respect," Beshear told reporters after the ruling came down. "Our government should never lock the people out of this capitol, or the legislative process. Our governor should never call our public servants names, and our elected leaders should never put themselves above the people they serve. Today's ruling is finally a landmark ruling on transparency."

But Gov. Bevin says this is a "sad day" in Kentucky and the nail in the coffin of the pension system. 

"It was going to give us a chance to save the pension system, that has now been thrown out by people who were not elected to pass laws for this state, but have chosen to assume that responsibility for themselves," Bevin told reporters shortly after the ruling. "This is a poke in the eye, a kick in the teeth, and a stab in the back to our legislature."

Reactions quickly came rolling in after the ruling. 

The Kentucky Public Pension Coalition released a statement praising the Supreme Court's decision. 

"Today, the Supreme Court made the right decision," said Brian O'Neill, spokesman for KPPC in a statement. "For the last two years, KPPC and our affiliate organizations have pushed back on lawmakers' attempts to harm public employees. This decision upholds the values we place in our constitution that make sure all Kentuckians have a voice. Attacks on police officers, firefighters, teachers, and all other public employees will not be tolerated.  A pension is not a bonus. With each and every paycheck, public employees have paid their fair share into the pension fund, and with each and every day of service to our Commonwealth, they earn their pensions.” 

The Kentucky Democratic Party also praised the decision of the high court to strike down the pension bill, but says the battle is far from over.

“A unanimous decision from the Kentucky Supreme Court that Senate Bill 151 is unconstitutional sends a clear message to Matt Bevin and Republican lawmakers: you can’t change a sewer bill in the middle of the night and use it to flush the retirement benefits of our teachers, police, firefighters and other state workers at the last minute with no public input.

"But make no mistake, Matt Bevin and the Republicans will continue the attacks on hardworking Kentuckians and try to pass even more benefit cuts in this coming legislative session. The Kentucky Democratic Party intends to hold him accountable in 2019 and make him a one-term governor," said Ben Self, Chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party.

The Republican Party of Kentucky says this will put hundreds of legislation in the state at risk.

"The chaos the Supreme Court’s overreach into the legislative branch has brought upon the legislative process will have ramifications far beyond SB 151, imperiling hundreds of bills passed using the same process and bringing a grinding halt to the ability of the General Assembly to pass compromise legislation late in session," said Chairman Mac Brown

"That said, at no point in this court challenge have the contents of the bill been called into question, he said. "Republicans in the General Assembly took on a difficult issue and did what’s right for taxpayers and state employees to save our pension systems.  We look forward to continuing to work to handle the crippling pension crisis 90 years of Democrat rule left behind."

House Democratic Leader Rocky Adkins also praised the unanimous decision of the supreme court. 

“This ruling is a huge victory, and it re-affirms what I and other caucus members said in committee and on the floor when we called the House Republicans out of order and said they were breaking the law for the way they handled Senate Bill 151, the ‘sewer’ pension bill.   We said that the legislative rules and processes should not be ignored, because that shuts out the very public we serve.  This ruling also properly protects our teachers, public employees and their retirees throughout the commonwealth.  Going forward, our caucus remains firm in believing two things: That we should maintain the bipartisan pension reforms passed in 2013 and fund them.”  he said in a statement.

Republicans leaders had similar responses to the RPK. House Repubican leadership said the consequences of this ruling will be far-reaching. 

“The process deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court has been utilized for at least a half-century by both parties to pass critical legislation, and has never been challenged until now. The consequences of today’s unwise decision will be far-reaching – particularly for the separation of powers that lie at the heart of our system of government.

While the legislature would never presume to judge the manner in which the Court conducts judicial business, we are nonetheless bound by its decision, no matter how ill-advised. This unfortunate decision now subjects decades of good legislation to potential legal challenges, while revealing a complete and total lack of understanding for the separation of powers. It disrespects the hard work done by the people’s elected representatives and ignores the constitutional foundations of the three branches of government.

Further, Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure recognizes the General Assembly’s action on SB 151 as a constitutional action in every state, having been developed by the nation’s 99 legislative bodies and their legal counsel.

Because of this disappointing ruling, state employee retirement will continue to be the most insolvent pension system in America, and will serve as a drag on Kentucky’s entire economy. Senate Bill 151 was the first step in moving our pension systems toward a new day of solvency and health. Today’s decision puts retirement checks for hardworking public employees at risk, and is a major setback to the difficult work undertaken to reverse the indecision and inaction of the past two decades. Despite this, we are committed to leading in the effort to enact a solution for the critical situation that once again faces our Commonwealth.”

Senate President Robert Stivers said the ruling was extremely disappointing. 

“We are deeply disappointed and strongly disagree with today’s Supreme Court ruling on the pension reform passed during the 2018 Legislative Session.  It has been well established that there are substantial defects within our pension system, and it is unsustainable in its current form. 

This ruling also places in jeopardy years of excellent legislation that could now fall under potential legal challenge.  The Court’s decision opens up a ‘Pandora’s box’ of problems for the Commonwealth.

The General Assembly enacted major pension reforms, which committed unprecedented amounts of additional funding to shore up the systems and provide retirement security for teachers and government workers. In 2007, the Senate understood the dire consequences of not acting to fix our pension problems and thereafter worked to construct a remedy, with no help from then Governor Steve Beshear and the Democratic House.  Today’s ruling further exacerbates the issues with the pension systems and places all of them at risk of complete collapse.

The legislature will revisit this issue in the future, because the problem is not going away and is only getting worse.  Funding alone cannot fix the problems that face our pension system; structural changes are necessary unless Kentuckians are to face massive tax increases.  The people of the Commonwealth deserve a solution to the pension crisis which sustains current pension promises and makes the systems for future hires affordable and fiscally responsible.  Without action to repair these issues our system will fall further into disarray.”