'Think the U.S. debt is bad? Check out the states'

from washingtonexaminer.com....

"The entitlement crisis is seen most vividly at the state level in the unfunded liabilities of government employee pension systems. But getting a handle on the true scope of these debts is difficult. As Bryan Leonard of StateBudgetSolutions.org wrote in a recent study, "one of the most insidious aspects of pension liability is its stealth nature. Pension obligations don't appear on state balance sheets. As such, states with billions in unfunded pension liabilities may technically brag of 'balanced' budgets while being swamped by pension debt. For example, Arkansas claimed a balanced budget last year, but had at least $2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. Indeed, the unfunded pension promises in most states dwarf the total outstanding debt, tax revenues and spending."



"By comparison, California's estimates range from a low of $59 billion to a high of $298 billion, while Maryland ranges from $11 billion to $48 billion and Virginia from $10.7 billion to $53.7 billion. Other states of interest: New York ($10.4 billion to $143 billion), Ohio ($19.5 billion to $187 billion) and New Jersey ($34.4 billion to $144.8 billion). Even under the conservative Pew estimates, no state's pensions are properly funded. At $179 million, Washington state has the lowest pension liability among the 50 states. These liabilities are coming due as the baby boomers begin to retire, which means entitlement reform -- at the federal and state levels -- is likely to be the defining political issue for the next decade"........read it here