Thursday, November 21, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, November 4, 2016
Hawaii Pensions 70.8% Unfunded
By Keli'i Akina PhD @ 1:32 PM :: 4886 Views :: Hawaii State Government, Hawaii Statistics

The elephant in the room - and in the country

by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D., President Grassroot Institute

One of the interesting things about elections is that so little attention is paid to issues that have major, long-term consequences. Perhaps that's because such problems feel too big...or more likely because candidates don't see how they will attract votes. However, when all is said and done, there are some core issues that need to be addressed and can be deeply influenced by election results--if only the voters would consider them.

Chief among these is the problem of unfunded liabilities.

Hawaii isn't the only state facing substantial pension debt. In a new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council, researchers estimate that the state public pension plans are underfunded by about $5.6 trillion--a $900 billion increase from the 2014 estimate. If you were to combine the debt across all states, the price tag would be $17,427 for every man, woman, and child in America.

Sadly, that would be a good deal for Hawaii.

Hawaii wasn't the worst performer in the study, but that's about as comforting as it gets. The Aloha State placed 40th when ranking states by funded ratio--that is, the value of the plan's assets compared to its accrued liabilities. Hawaii's funded ratio is 29.2%, an indication that our efforts to relieve the burden of our state's unfunded liabilities haven't generated much success yet.

When it comes to calculating the per capita unfunded pension liabilities--which ALEC describes as the most alarming (and dramatic) way of viewing the real burden of the shared debt for taxpayers--Hawaii performs even more poorly. The state ranked 44th in unfunded liabilities per capita, saddling each taxpayer in the state with $24,544 worth of pension debt.

Of course, none of this is news. Hawaii's policymakers, from the Governor down, all recognize that it's an issue. On some level, they even acknowledge that the Hawaii's unfunded liabilities create problems for the state budget and threaten our economic future. But now, during an election when voters could make important decisions about which leaders they want handling the issue, we aren't hearing much.

This is a critical issue for our state, our economy, and, let's be honest, our wallets. If voters aren't asking their candidates what they would do to address the state's pension debt, they should start doing so before it's too late. Regardless of what some politicians may think, we can't keep trying to pass this problem off to a future generation.

---30---

ALEC: Hawaii Unfunded Pension debt $35.1B

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii