 Aloha, I'm Kili Akeena, President of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and I have some good news for you. The good news is that Hawaii legislators are eager to solve our pension crisis. The better news is that we have the solutions they need. This week, the Grassroot Institute was able to sit in on the Legislative Fiscal Academy. The event was sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, and it featured national experts on economic issues. Its purpose was to provide Hawaii legislators with insight on a number of fiscal issues, as well as to review best practices and what's happening in other states. Now, because we spent most of our time reviewing and reporting on this information, there wasn't much to surprise Grassroot staff at the conference. However, the session on unfunded pension liability and reforms was both interesting and gratifying. No one was surprised that Hawaii's unfunded pension liability and funding ratio consistently ranked near the bottom among all states. The director of S&P Global's US Public Finance, State and Local Government Pensions Division hammered the lessons home with the presentation on how OPEB liabilities affect our S&P rating. He made it clear that without reform results in meaningful funding progress or benefit reductions, those liabilities are likely to grow even larger than they are now. The response from Hawaii's policymakers was encouraging. They wanted to know what they could do to address the issue. Now, that's where things got interesting. The presentation on successful reforms tested in other states closely followed Grassroot Institute's own recommendations in our recent report called, How to Resolve Hawaii's Pension Debt Crisis. And you can get that at www.grassrootinstitute.org. It was all there. True hybrid plans as opposed to the current hybrid and name only plan available in Hawaii, switching to defined contribution plans, cash balance plans, choice plans, changes to contributions, age and service requirements, all the solutions that will work. The one question the NCSL experts couldn't answer, whether the Constitution allows for these changes, was also covered in the Grassroot report. Aware that this will be a point of debate as we move forward, Grassroot conferred with experts and looked to the example of other states for guidance. Now, based on that research, we believe the state Constitution protects accrued benefits, but it still allows for changes to current employees' benefits moving forward. Now the session helped Hawaii legislators see that the state is falling behind when it comes to addressing pension liabilities. In the past decade, 10 states, plus Puerto Rico, moved away from defined benefit plans. In 2018 alone, 210 pension reform bills were enacted in 42 different states. This is no longer a third rail in state politics, it is the necessary focus of real and effective change. During the session, Representative Sylvia Luke asked the presenters, what kind of things can we improve upon? The experts diplomatically avoided giving specific recommendations, but Grassroot is already on record with the solutions and lawmakers need. We urge Hawaii legislators to make use of our recent pension report and consider the solutions we offer. Reform does not have to be a zero-sum game that pits unions and workers against government number crunchers. It's possible to enact reforms that are welcomed by state employees because they offer more flexibility and choice. What's more, we can start with measures that prevent abuses like pension spiking. It's good to see that Hawaii's legislators are contemplating real and lasting pension reform. Grassroot is ready and willing to help by providing research and solutions that will benefit taxpayers, state workers, and our state's fiscal outlook. I'm Keena President of the Grassroot Institute. Until next time, Allah.