Pew Study Finds States Face $2.73 Trillion Bill for Retiree Benefits

Pew has a rather important report on how the different states are doing in paying for government workers' retirement benefits.Here's some key findings:

* Only six states—Arizona, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin—were on track at the end of FY 2006 to have fully funded their non-pension promises for the next 30 years.
* Half of the states account for almost 94 percent of the non-pension liabilities.
* None of the five largest states—California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois—had put aside money for non-pension benefits as of FY 2006.
* Per capita costs for retiree health care and other benefits range from less than $200 in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming to more than $5,000 in Delaware, Hawaii and Connecticut. (Note that per-capita statistics do not tell the whole story because they do not take into account state differences in wealth or ability to pay the bill.)
* Eleven states face long-term liabilities in excess of $10 billion. These include New York at $50 billion, California at $48 billion, and Connecticut and New Jersey at nearly $22 billion each.

You've got to wonder how California and Illinois politicians can promise free health care for all children when they have underfunded pension plans.