Attorney General Greg Abbott released a report this week that showed that 82 of the 96 government-related defined pension plans in Texas were carrying liability on the books. Basically, these funds carried $23 billion more in anticipated debt than current funding. Abbott estimated 1.8 million Texans have counted on retirement funds with liabilities that exceed their assets. Of those 82 funds, 17 were considered to be seriously “at risk” because current liabilities would take more than 40 years to repay. Abbott suggested independent actuarial calculations, better financial expertise from board members, and greater transparency of conflicts of interest.
This article appears in June 22 • 2007.