THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2002
STATE NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9A
Stovall backs Amber Alert
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Kansas plans to launch a statewide Amber Alert system on Oct.1,to become one of a dozen states with a method for locating and recovering abducted children.
A 30-member task force formed by Attorney General Carla Stovall has been meeting since March to get the program operating. It is a partnership between the attorney general, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol, local law enforcement and the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.
Stovall said Kansas had been working on the system long before a spate of child abductions gained national media attention during the summer.
She cited the recent successful rescue of two California teenagers as proof that the system works.
"There's no question we have a lot media attention," Stovall said.
"Partnering with the media makes our job a lot easier."
Under the system, alerts will be broadcast much like severe weather alerts, using the Emergency Alert System that is activated when a tornado or other severe storm in imminent.
The decision to activate the alert will be made when authorities determine that a missing child has met the criteria established by the 30-member task force.
Amber Alert systems are already being used in Wichita, Topeka and the Kansas City metropolitan areas. Training for the statewide program will begin Sept. 6.
A series of news conferences is scheduled statewide on Oct. 1 to publicize the system.
Pension fund in peril for Kansas employees
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The long-term health of the pension fund for state government workers and public school employees is in jeopardy, legislators were told Wednesday.
Officials from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System said the state was not contributing enough money to KPERS to fully finance all benefits due retirees and current participants over the next 30 years.
A report from KPERS to the Joint Committee on Pensions. Investments and Benefits said it would cost $101.2 million to bring the state's contribution to
KPERS up in one year to where it needs to be to preserve the retirement system's long-term financial health.
It would then take an additional $33 million the following year, with annual increases of varying sizes after that.
KPERS officials stressed that retirees are not in danger of seeing their existing benefits reduced for years.
The issue is making sure the pension fund has enough money in the future.
The gap between what the pension system needs to raise over the next 30 years and what it would expect to raise under current Kansas law is about $1.8 billion.
In 2001, state and local governments contributed about $206 million to the pension system, most of it for the retirement plan for state and school employees.
The state's contribution is equal to 4.38 percent of its payroll.
Under a 1993 law, the state's contribution was to increase up to 0.2 percentage points per year until it was high enough to guarantee the fund's long-term health.
But KPERS officials told the committee that the contribution should have been increasing more.
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Kansas Union Renovation Schedule
$ \textcircled{1} $ New Stair Tower Opens Mid November
$ \textcircled{2} $ Bridge to Parking Garage Now Open
$ \textcircled{3} $ KU Bookstore Now Open
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$ \textcircled{5} $ Jaybowl/Hawks Nest Opens September 3rd
$ \textcircled{7} $ Great Clips & STA Travel Coming Soon
$ \textcircled{6} $ Organizations & Leadership Development Center Grand Opening October 26th
Project Completion Date: November 20, 2002
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