The General Assembly is getting a lot of ink for suggesting they have worked out a deal to fully fund the public employee benefits accounts by 2025.

This doesn't mean the fringe benefit disaster will go away in 2025.

Far from it.

In fact, all this agreement does is state today's legislators hope that in 2025 the General Assembly will put in an amount to keep the system from going further into the hole in that year.

The state will be insolvent well before we get to that point. The numbers that really matter are 87 and 81. In 2025, Speaker Jody Richards will be 87 and Gov. Steve Beshear will be 81. They will likely not care how bankrupt the state is then.