Project News
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- Press Release
- States' Fiscal Health ,
- State Health Care Spending
Pew Study Finds 61 Cities' Retirement Systems Face $217 Billion Gap
Sixty-one key cities across America have emerged from the Great Recession with a gap of more than $217 billion between what they had promised their workers in pensions and retiree health care and what they had saved to pay that bill, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. more
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- Press Release
- States' Fiscal Health
Pew Study Finds Shortfall in States' Retirement Systems Has Grown To At Least $1.38 Trillion
The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money they have set aside grew to at least $1.38 trillion in fiscal year 2010, resulting in a nine percent increase in one year, according to a report released by the Pew Center on the States. more
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- Video
- States' Fiscal Health
Experts Discuss State Pension and Retiree Health Care Costs
Experts explore the long-term challenges of public sector retirement costs at a Pew Center on the States conference. more
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- Press Release
- States' Fiscal Health
Many States Fail to Measure Performance of Transportation Dollars
States spent an estimated $131 billion on transportation in fiscal year 2010, but many cannot answer critical questions about what returns this investment is generating, according to a new report by the Pew Center on the States and the Rockefeller Foundation. more
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- Press Release
- States' Fiscal Health
Pew Study Finds Shortfall in States’ Retirement Systems
The gap between the promises states have made for public employees’ retirement benefits and the money they have set aside grew to at least $1.26 trillion in fiscal year 2009, resulting in a 26 percent increase in one year, according to a report released today by the Pew Center on the States. more
Media Coverage
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
Debt Ceiling Uncertainty Puts States at Risk
The federal debt ceiling debate is already complicating life for state and local governments. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
States Want More in Pension Contributions
First came the pay freezes and unpaid furloughs. Then came the higher contributions for health insurance. Now, in the most definitive sign yet that the era of generous compensation for public-sector employees is ending, workers in more than half the states face the prospect of paying more of their salary toward their pensions. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
How Bad Is the Pension Problem?
Well-publicized crises in Illinois and New Jersey may have given public systems a bad reputation, but in reality, the vast majority of state and local government programs are not on the verge of collapse. "The public pension community is not in a state of crisis," says Keith Brainard, research director at the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. "Some plans face larger challenges than others, but it varies by plan."
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
Report: Savings Gap for Pensions Growing
The gap between promises states made for employees’ retirement benefits and the money they set aside to pay for them is widening, according to an April report by The Pew Center on the States. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
U.S. States Pension Fund Deficits Widen by 26%, Pew Center Study Says
U.S. states’ deficits in their employee retirement systems widened by 26 percent in fiscal 2009 as governments were stung by investment losses and failed to pay enough into their pension funds, a study found. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
States Face $1.26 Trillion Shortfall in Funds to Pay Retiree Benefits
The state funds that pay pension and health-care benefits to retired teachers, corrections officers and millions of other public workers faced a cumulative shortfall of at least $1.26 trillion at the end of fiscal 2009, according to a new report. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
State Pension Plans Lose Ground
The funding gaps at some state pension plans widened in fiscal 2010, though strong investment returns prevented the situation from deteriorating even more, according to a new study by the Pew Center on the States. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
Are Public Sector Pensions Broken?
Government workers worried about retirement should take steps to protect themselves. The battles in Wisconsin and Ohio between public employees who have guaranteed, often inflation-indexed pensions and taxpayers who lack such generous and dependable retirement benefits could soon boil over into other states.
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
A Perfect Pension Storm
Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman delivered a timely reminder to Illinois politicians that the state's budget woes cannot be solved simply through higher taxation. In a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn, Oberhelman hinted that Caterpillar, an employer of some 23,000 in the state, would consider relocating in response to new burdens from Springfield. more
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- Media Coverage
- States' Fiscal Health
Arkansas' Public Pensions Show Signs of Improvement
Even though some government pension plans across the country are still struggling, Arkansas' two major pension funds are showing signs of improvement after suffering millions of dollars in investment losses in 2008 and 2009. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System reported market value assets of $9.884 billion, which was up $1.037 billion from the prior year.
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