. >> smith: today, betty pendergrass sits on the board of krs.here was the kentucky retirement system sitting 1999? >> it was sitting at, at nearly 100% funded. >> smith: but th, in 2000, the dot-com bubble burst. krs lost $1.2 billion. >> i've served in the best of times, and now is the worst of times. >> smith: kentucky was p suffering, biticians were reluctant to raise taxes to pay the full cost of their bills, pension money. to divert >> what will kentucky do? that's wt you're assembled here in frankfort to decide. >> in kentucky, the pension was used basically as piggy bank. the problem was, once you started to short your state pensions to cover the budget shortfall, it's hard to just do it the one time. >> smith: one of the few local reporters ying attention was john cheves. >> i've been writingor 20 years now about the state's pension system and its been, you know, sort of a slow-motion car crash. >> smith: cheves watched as oner govefter another invested in roads, bridges, libraries,. and mo pension obligations were not met. >> as governo