The Kansas Senate waded into the world of high finance Tuesday with fiery debate primarily among Republicans on a bill issuing $500 million in bonds with proceeds invested under the premise earnings would help the bottom line of the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. The state in 2004 and again in 2015 approved similar maneuvers that involved a total of $1.5 billion in bonds for KPERS. … Sen. Tom Hawk, D-Manhattan, said the bond option was a wise strategy that took advantage of KPERS’ impressive record of sustained positive return on investment. … From another vantage point, however, Hutchinson Sen. Mark Steffen, bonding represented nothing more than legal gambling at the possible expense of taxpayers. He said bond debt would be an albatross if KPERS’ investment portfolio were hammered in an economic crash during the next 30 years.
Source: Kansas Reflector
