Pensions are the albatross around California budget’s neck

Gov. Jerry Brown still hasn’t gotten his state’s budget problems beat.

A high-profile new report showed California still faces massive liabilities extending far into the future. The study, released by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, tallied over $340 billion in debts, deferred payment and other budgetary burdens “that will affect the state’s financial health in the future.”

According to the report, “Addressing California’s Key Liabilities,” there was some good news mixed in with the bad. The LAO was relatively sanguine toward a substantial portion of California’s long-brewing public pensions crisis. The report’s Executive Summary lauded “recent actions taken by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) board … to address the unfunded liability for state employee pension benefits in about 30 years.”

at Cal Watchdog.