Monday, January 12, 2009

State Pensions Need to be Examined

State budget deficits and the contributions of pension funds to the budgetary problems are not getting much press.

The problem is, of course, that everyone assumes that pension funds are not discretionary spending, but really, it is. These are benefits and when times are tight, employers have to sometimes cut benefits. But when pension funds create a larger problem, then there is no way in which states can ignore the impact of pension funds on teh budget deficits.

By the way, Pennsylvania, a state more than twice the size of my home state, Maryland, has a budget deficit that is smaller than Maryland? Hmmmm.

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