Been thinking that inasmuch as Gregoire and her Gang like to spend taxpayer dollars on anything pretty and shiny, perhaps she'd like to explain why the total unfunded pension liabilites in Washington state have mushroomed from $778 million to $6.4 billion! A very bright and shiny number where I come from. It is an eightfold increase in five years!!
The Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) Plan 1 unfunded liability increased from $584 million to $3,9 billion between 2000 and 2005. In the same period the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) unfunded liability increased from $194 million to $2,4 billion.
State contributions to the state retirement systems have fallen substantially since 1999. In essence, the legislature skipped the last two plan 1 payments and rolled them back into the actuarial liability. By not properly funding pensions, Governors Locke and Gregoire and the legislature were able to superficially balance their budgets. Taxpayers will have to make up not only the funds that were not put into the pensions, but also lost interest and/or stock gains
8.8 Billion in the hole. She took a fat 18% raise which will keep her PERS 1 fat and juicy, but she really has no plans of staying anyway if Obama gets in. She thinks she has penned a deal for an additional Federal Retirement Bounty.
I am very hopeful this scenerio will not happen.
Bottom Line is Gregoire raised state spending by 33% in an avereage 2.3% yearly economy.
This can not be sustained.
Most important as this post suggests, State Government employees were at the bottom of her greedy self centered list.
I didn't vote for her, nor will I this time, but I guess that doesn't much matter
We unfortunately don't get what we vote for in this state anyway.
Posted by: GS on April 7, 2008 04:58 PM