An article in The Times today details how “errors, misunderstandings and wishful thinking” have caused public pension costs in New York State to explode. The problem is not limited to New York or to the fiscal crisis poster state, California, whose ballooning pension obligations have stoked battles between anti-tax crusaders and public sector unions, with the legislature paralyzed in between. Even states like Kansas, where retirees’ payouts are relatively small, are facing grim forecasts.
Stories about $150,000-a-year pensions for retired officials are fueling anger and demands for action, but there seems to be little that officials can do about existing contracts, for legal and other reasons. The focus has turned to reforming the state systems, to make sure they are fiscally sustainable in the future. What states have led the way? And what political obstacles have arisen in other places?…
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