Pew Study Finds States Face $2.73 Trillion Bill for Retiree Benefits
Source: Pew Center for the States
States have promised at least $2.73 trillion in pension, health care and other retirement benefits for public employees over the next three decades, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts' Center on the States. Promises with a Price, the first 50-state analysis of its kind, finds that states have saved enough to cover about 85 percent of their long-term pension costs, but only 3 percent of the funds needed for promised retiree health care and other non-pension benefits. All told, states already have set aside about $2 trillion to meet their long-term obligations. But they still need to come up with about $731 billion--a conservative figure that does not include all costs for teachers and local government employees.
Full Report (PDF; 1.1 MB)
Individual state fact sheets (PDFs)