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Pew Charitable Trusts pensions study, 2017

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In 2017, the Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent research group, published a report on the financial health of public pension plans in the United States. According to Pew, “The nation's state-run retirement systems had a $934 billion gap in fiscal year 2015 between the pension benefits that governments have promised their workers and the funding available to meet those obligations.” The table below provides information about pension plan liabilities and debt, funded ratios, and net amortization. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, "Net amortization measures whether total contributions to a public retirement system would have been sufficient to reduce unfunded liabilities if all expectations had been met for that year." This metric comprises two parts: an employer contribution benchmark, which is the amount the employer needed to contribute to the plan in a year in order to reduce pension debt, and the percentage of that amount that was actually paid. A positive net amortization percentage (i.e., one exceeding 100 percent) indicates that plans could expect to see a reduction in their debt.[1]

Pension health metrics from the Pew Charitable Trusts report, fiscal years 2012-2015 (dollars in millions)
State 2015 Funded ratio Net amortization
Liability Pension debt 2012 2013 2014 2015 Employer benchmark Percent paid
Alabama $48,599 $16,036 66% 66% 70% 67% $1,394 105%
Alaska $20,808 $6,773 55% 52% 60% 67% $720 423%
Arizona $65,738 $24,168 72% 72% 64% 63% $1,900 86%
Arkansas $29,827 $5,246 71% 74% 86% 82% $636 117%
California $669,956 $174,122 77% 72% 76% 74% $18,943 79%
Colorado $70,583 $27,924 63% 61% 64% 60% $2,104 65%
Connecticut $54,636 $27,660 49% 48% 51% 49% $2,444 101%
Delaware $10,342 $1,108 88% 88% 92% 89% $201 136%
Florida $171,620 $23,115 82% 81% 91% 87% $2,475 118%
Georgia $102,015 $19,517 81% 79% 83% 81% $2,084 100%
Hawaii $23,238 $8,733 59% 60% 64% 62% $1,061 92%
Idaho $15,669 $1,283 85% 86% 95% 92% $219 159%
Illinois $199,090 $119,072 40% 39% 41% 40% $10,125 72%
Indiana $46,839 $16,571 61% 65% 69% 65% $1,232 150%
Iowa $34,091 $5,087 80% 81% 87% 85% $638 114%
Kansas $25,614 $8,979 56% 60% 67% 65% $838 86%
Kentucky $56,913 $35,412 47% 44% 41% 38% $2,631 46%
Louisiana $50,259 $18,440 56% 58% 65% 63% $1,545 143%
Maine $15,404 $2,692 79% 80% 86% 83% $254 149%
Maryland $67,480 $21,452 64% 65% 71% 68% $1,957 101%
Massachusetts $84,575 $32,118 61% 61% 67% 62% $2,269 98%
Michigan $85,939 $31,201 61% 60% 67% 64% $2,561 113%
Minnesota $75,522 $15,265 75% 75% 82% 80% $1,355 91%
Mississippi $40,864 $15,617 58% 58% 67% 62% $1,079 97%
Missouri $64,813 $12,032 78% 77% 85% 81% $1,124 132%
Montana $13,562 $3,456 64% 73% 76% 75% $305 110%
Nebraska $13,031 $1,130 79% 80% 93% 91% $148 197%
Nevada $46,195 $11,481 71% 69% 76% 75% $1,698 88%
New Hampshire $11,471 $3,962 56% 57% 66% 65% $323 107%
New Jersey $217,055 $135,701 65% 63% 42% 37% $8,519 32%
New Mexico $36,736 $10,799 63% 67% 74% 71% $869 86%
New York $193,066 $3,654 87% 89% N/A 98% $3,690 163%
North Carolina $93,393 $4,228 95% 96% 99% 95% $1,037 171%
North Dakota $6,646 $1,969 63% 61% 73% 70% $150 111%
Ohio $191,958 $45,316 67% 74% 80% 76% $3,097 107%
Oklahoma $36,539 $7,609 65% 67% 81% 79% $813 162%
Oregon $70,665 $5,742 91% 96% 104% 92% $771 151%
Pennsylvania $139,140 $61,499 64% 62% 60% 56% $5,561 74%
Rhode Island $11,106 $4,767 58% 58% 61% 57% $386 102%
South Carolina $50,658 $21,352 65% 63% 61% 58% $1,498 84%
South Dakota $10,352 -$424 93% 100% 107% 104% $013 870%
Tennessee $45,338 $2,077 92% 94% 99% 95% $571 184%
Texas $203,472 $49,638 82% 80% 79% 76% $5,419 67%
Utah $31,150 $4,463 76% 80% 88% 86% $784 139%
Vermont $5,623 $1,809 70% 69% 75% 68% $123 121%
Virginia $88,985 $22,579 65% 66% 75% 75% $2,469 101%
Washington $85,810 $11,105 95% 88% 90% 87% $1,625 108%
West Virginia $17,634 $4,068 63% 67% 78% 77% $416 164%
Wisconsin $90,000 $1,495 100% 100% 103% 98% $643 157%
Wyoming $10,147 $2,731 80% 79% 79% 73% $229 76%
Totals in the U.S. $3,850,168 $1,091,828 72% 72% 75% 72% $102,949 92%
Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts, "The State Pension Funding Gap: 2015," accessed August 21, 2017

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