California’s unfunded public pension liability, when measured correctly, is two to four times larger than official government estimates. In total, California’s 86 defined-benefit public
pension plans are underfunded by roughly ＄430 billion, representing California’s greatest financial challenge since the Great Depression. The failure to fully fund the pension promises has
allowed the current generation to receive public services that they are not fully paying for, pushing the pension problem onto future generations.California Dreaming: Resolving the Public
Pension Crisis explains how six reforms would solve the state’s pension problem in an equitable, responsible, and moral way: preserving pension benefits already earned, providing
competitive pensions going forward, and granting the flexibility needed so that future generations are not paying for deals they did not make.
