A downright fascinating chart in an article on how much should be put into pension plans at the state level (in Pennsylvania there are two, one for state employees and one for public school employees) and how much they should be putting in under the “Annual Required Contribution” (ARC). If one considers 80% or better (assets/liabilities) as the acceptable standard for public sector pensions, then only 14 states hit that benchmark in 2012. If one considers a 50% or lower funded ratio bad—as in City of Pittsburgh level bad prior to the changes mandated by Act 44—then two states were in that neighborhood in 2012. Pennsylvania’s funded ratio fell through the years covered in the chart.
Equally frightening is the amount of ARC the state put in in the past three years. Only New Jersey lingered in the range of Pennsylvania in that time period. Pennsylvania’s ARC, in dollar terms, was $3.6 billion in 2012. Texas was close ($3.5 billion) but they put in 69% of that in 2012.
