Think of “Pac-Man” gobbling up the little yellow dots as it moves through the maze.
That’s not too far from Gov. Tom Corbett’s description of the pension crisis that the state faces.
The soaring pensions costs are consuming billions in state revenue. The state’s obligations to its two public employee pension funds are eating up money that otherwise could go to fund schools, public safety, transportation, human services and other core governmental programs.
To help Pennsylvanians understand the magnitude of the problem, Corbett’s budget office on Monday issued the Keystone Pension Report.
It also explains how the problem was created: benefit enhancements in 2001, a decade of underfunding by the state and school districts and less-than-expected investment returns.
Combined, this left both pension programs less than 68 percent funded. A healthy pension program is about 80 percent funded.
Click here to read the full article by Jan Murphy published on PennLive.com (November 27, 2012)
