Maryland billions short in retiree payouts

The Washington Times reports:

Maryland is $16.2 billion short in payouts for future retiree health care benefits, according to state budget analysts.

"That is a ticking time bomb," said Delegate Murray D. Levy, Southern Maryland Democrat. "If we do nothing, we're going to have a huge problem."

To avoid a major financial problem, Maryland will either have to start paying at least $500 million more annually into the retiree fund in the coming years or cut retiree benefits, according to a further analysis by The Washington Times.

In addition to the state problem, Baltimore and the state's 23 counties are $12 billion to $14 billion behind in the payments, local budget analysts say.

Mr. Levy has been working on a task force since 2006 to find ways to fix the problem.

He said cuts in spending or tax increases are possible, which would follow $1.4 billion in tax increases approved in November by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. Or lawmakers could cut benefits for retirees. Or they could make some mix of the two.

The panel will submit its report to the Assembly and Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, at the end of the year.

Right now, the state has a $991 million annual commitment to retired workers and their families. Mr. O'Malley included $514 million for retiree health care in his fiscal 2008 budget, leaving the state $477 million short.

The problem has not attracted as much attention as the issue of capital punishment, homosexual "marriage" and illegal aliens have in the 2008 Assembly session, despite Comptroller Peter Franchot's warning in his State of the Treasury speech last month.

"While I am pleased with the steps that we have taken to ensure the financial security of our retirees, I remain concerned that current contributions are insufficient to fund our long-term obligations to state employees," he said.

The shortfall is the result of collective-bargaining commitments that state and local leaders made with government employees more than 20 years ago, analysts say.

I'll bet you can guess who the largest employer in the state of Maryland is.I'll bet you can guess their union contributes to politicians that can vote them juicy pensions.Here's a good example of why today's politicians, in the short run ,are never held accountable for problems they create.