The state’s public pension crisis takes center stage on statewide television tonight! Bluegrass Institute president Jim Waters will appear as part of a panel on KET’s Kentucky Tonight discussing how much, if any, progress was made toward repairing Kentucky’s damaged and woefully underfunded public pension system.

Joining Jim on the panel will be Bryan Sunderland, senior vice president of public affairs for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Sharron Oxendine, president of the state teachers union and a member of the Kentucky Public Pension Coalition, and Jason Bailey, director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

So, how can you help?

1 - Tune in and watch at 8 p.m. ET on KET

2 - Call in to the show 1.800.494.7605

3 - Tweet @KYTonightKET, @BIPPS, and use #KYpensiondebt to comment on the show on Twitter!

4 - Email the show for questions and comments: kytonight@ket.org

5 - Share this with your friends on Facebook and encourage them to watch!

It is important that our state legislators are exposed to the right solutions to address the $34 billion unfunded liability enabled by a neglectful General Assembly. This year, The Bluegrass Institute released Future Shock Solutions: 16 steps to treat Kentucky’s public pension ailment which lists specific actions the state legislature can take to get the system back on track.

For instance:

• Make the public pension system transparent

• Move state employees to a defined contribution

• Change the cost-of-living adjustment formula from a simple to a complex COLA

• Rollback 2005‘s HB 299 which greatly enhanced pension benefits for legislators

Read more solutions here.