Many state-run retirement systems face significant shortfalls between the pension benefits that governments promised to their workers and the funding available to meet those obligations.
Some pension plans for state and local workers are well-funded, but unless changes are made in a number of other states, retirees, workers, and taxpayers will have to contend with rising costs and potentially unpaid promises for years to come.
Over the past decade, policy reforms and increased financial contributions have dramatically improved the cash flow situation of some of the nation’s most troubled state pension plans. Thanks to these changes, which include reforms to benefit designs, a commitment to fiscal discipline, and greater monitoring of the financial health of public retirement systems, no state is at risk of pension plan insolvency. Nevertheless, many states still have more to do to ensure the long-term sustainability of pension promises.
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David Draine
Principal Officer
Public Sector Retirement Systems
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