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State Budget Solutions' third annual State Debt Report shows total state debt over $4 trillion
California again trumped other states with a $617 billion debt. California's debt is more than twice the size of New York's state debt, and New York has the second largest total debt burden in the nation. Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois rounded out the top five states with the most debt. Although New York and Texas moved up one and two spots, respectively, the states with the five largest debts remained unchanged from last year's report.
The states with the most people have the most debt? Shocking!
Vermont has the least amount of debt of all fifty states with a $5.8 billion state debt. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska follow Vermont with the smallest debt burdens in the country.
The states with the least people have the least debt? Shocking! Shocking I tell you!
I took the liberty of converting the total debt to total debt per capita (using the data within the link above combined with the state populations as seen here). This paints a slightly different picture.
New Jersey is the big loser with a whopping $32,013 debt per resident, followed closely by Alaska with $31,141, Hawaii with $29,062, and Connecticut with $27,540.
The winners are Nebraska with just $4,249 debt per resident, followed by Tennessee with $5,348, Indiana with $5,697, and Florida with $7,079.
So what's up New Jersey?
August 28, 2012
Romney and Christie's Hard Truth Problem
Each year, Christie has achieved “on paper” budget balance by making inadequate payments into the state’s pension fund, effectively borrowing from the fund. Christie has touted this year’s $1.03 billion pension fund payment as the largest in the state’s history. Too bad the state’s pension actuaries told him to deposit $3.74 billion.
Nice. How about you Hawaii?
August 28, 2012
Report: Hawaii unfunded pension liability a risk to investors
Investors who buy bonds issued by the state of Hawaii are not being compensated adequately given the risk presented by the state’s high unfunded pension liability and debt load, according to analysis by Barron’s, a weekly financial newspaper.
Fantastic. And you Connecticut?
August 9, 2012
Connecticut's pension fund assets slip 0.9 pct in FY 12
Ben Barnes, secretary of Connecticut's Office of Policy and Management, said by telephone that the expected rate of return is 8.5 percent for the teachers' fund and 8.25 percent for the other employees.
Connecticut's teachers' babies need new shoes!
Come on back to me 22. Come on back to me. Come on back. Come on 22, 22, 22.
7 comments:
I should probably mention Alaska.
Palin: Romney/Ryan Provides a Strong and Prosperous Vision for America
Sarah Palin released this statement endorsing a Romney/Ryan ticket on her Facebook page on Saturday. She highlights Obama’s wasteful spending, high unemployment, broken promises and the country’s massive debt problem the administration has not taking seriously.
Here's a few questions for Sarah Palin. Was Obama also responsible for Alaska's $22.5 billion state debt with a population of just 722,718? Or should I blame Alaska's former governors?
Disclosure: I'm not a big fan of either party.
"Democrats said the bill would save state and local governments tens of billions of dollars over the coming decades, and Ana Matosantos, director of the Department of Finance, said the changes to retirement ages alone would save $36 billion over the next 30 years."
http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Public-worker-pension-changes-unveiled-3821554.php
So upping the retirement age will save $36B, but the state just "lost" $20B in missing yield thanks to their recent 1% return.
Man things are going to get dicey here later this decade.
Serious question. If Mitt Romney and all the other Wall Streeters are so truly talented and endowed with business acumen, then why is the country such a basket case? Why is historical growth so elusive? Why are private and public pension funds so underfunded?
If I didn't know better, I'd think Mitt and the rest of Wall Street were really debt creators and con-men rather than job creators.
Romney is a sham. So is Obama. American politicians are whores.
Time for me to prove I'm not a robot - it's getting harder!
Troy,
Man things are going to get dicey here later this decade.
Craps
No wagering system can consistently beat casino games of pure chance such as craps, but that does not stop hopeful gamblers believing in them.
mab,
If Mitt Romney and all the other Wall Streeters are so truly talented and endowed with business acumen, then why is the country such a basket case?
Craps
No wagering system can consistently beat casino games of pure chance such as craps, but that does not stop hopeful gamblers believing in them.
Just a theory.
California appears to be on the verge of major public pension reform.
Alan Milligan, chief actuary for CalPERS, estimated that savings would be between $40 billion and $60 billion over 30 years to the state
This affects me directly as a CalPERS member. Most of the changes target new employees, but some affect current workers. I think the changes will require me to pay an additional 0.5% of my salary into CalPERS. Public safety employees will have to pay a lot more, though that may be delayed up to 5 years depending on how each muni implements it.
I think this is a good first step, but may not be enough to keep CalPERS solvent long term. There may have to be another reform package in a few years.
Mr Slippery,
Using the data within this post, California has just $16,386 debt per resident. That's only about half of New Jersey's $32,013.
That said, you are still the 10th largest state debt per capita. Probably best not to get out the party hats.
My state (Washington) is in the middle of the pack at $11,908. I can't complain (as much).
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