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Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Trouble Ahead on Pensions
A consequence of our lazy, no-good, "do-nothing" Congress is that state governments have had to tackle problems that were once the province of the federal government. Massachusetts created a universal health care insurance plan. California just signed a pact with the British to reduce global warming. Lots of states have raised the minimum wage. And so on.
Don't think that the states are taking this in stride. They're angry. David Broder has an op-ed in the Washington Post today that lets the governors -most of whom are Republicans- vent their frustrations with the feds. Take the governors seriously, because about 5 of them want to be President, and every governor's support will be crucial for Congressional candidates in the upcoming elections.
Anyway, the status quo won't last long. The New York Times reports that states, counties and municipal governments are looking down the barrel of a $375 billion shotgun. That is, it's estimated that these governments have underfunded public employee pension plans by about $375 billion (though no one is sure what the number really is). That's not including private pensions, which are very much in trouble, or federal employee pensions, which are of course underfunded, too.
Doing something about pension plans is tough. The federal government only insures private pension plans, and hence is not much help. Local governments have a hard time running deficits, since they can't print their own bonds. Cutting pensions, too, is not an option, since it would violate most state constitutions to do so. The money will have to come from local taxpayers or local programs.
But that hasn't worked out so well. San Diego, which has a $1.4 billion shortfall in its pension system alone, has taken to cutting funds for vital city infrastructure to pay off its pension obligations. Consequently, the roads are falling apart, and beaches have been closed for sewage spills, says the NYT article.
Something has to give. Exactly how that will play out is anybody's guess. What is pretty certain, though, is that the federal government cannot keep delegating its responsibilities to the states for much longer. Rather, it's the states that will need more help from the feds once its obligations become too much to bear. Maybe then Congress will do something.
Washington Post Contempt for Congress
New York Times Public Pension Plans Face Billions in Shortages
Posted by Matt Lewis
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