Faced with rising pension costs, Rhode Island passed a set of reforms to its public sector retirement system that go further than what any other state has done. The bill is unprecedented, both in terms of the employees it will affect and the scope and scale of changes to their benefits.

Sue Urahn, managing director for the Pew Center on the States, discusses what progress has been made, suggests actions states must take and offers solutions states should consider.

Research Director Kil Huh answers five questions about what governors and legislators are doing to meet the challenges of pensions and retiree health care costs.

The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money set aside to pay for them grew to at least $1.26 trillion in fiscal year 2009—a 26 percent increase in one year—according to a Pew report.