Bill Thielen

Spurred by a contract extension and hefty raise for Kentucky Retirement Systems' director, two state lawmakers are introducing a bill to make the state’s public pension agencies more transparent.

State retirees and a member of the state Senate leadership are voicing sharp displeasure with a 25 percent raise given last Friday to the top official of the financially struggling Kentucky Retirement Systems.

In response to the Kentucky state pension plan’s willingness to pay hefty fees for billions of dollars in investments it can’t publicly disclose, one state representative said Thursday he is introducing a bill to make pensions subject to state open-access laws.

Kentucky Retirement Systems, which runs the $16 billion pension and health care funds for state, city and county workers and retirees, will be providing more detail about the fees it pays to the managers of its so-called “alternative” investments.

A look into the secretive Kentucky Retirement Systems and the $15.7 billion under its control. For the roughly 340,000 state, city and county workers and retirees, there are more questions about their investments than answers.