Retirement reforms needed

Retirement reforms needed

Marietta Times: For years, administrators of the five programs that provide retirement benefits for public employees in Ohio have been begging state legislators to do something about unfunded liabilities. Meanwhile, the debt continues to grow.

At last count, the five pension systems had a combined unfunded liability of about $66 billion.

Some progress has been achieved in dealing with the liabilities. But legislators need to give the five retirement boards more flexibility to keep the programs solvent. That may mean requiring public employees to pay more of the cost of funding pensions and covering retirees’ health care costs. It also may require new limits on benefits such as health insurance.

But changes have to be made, or the programs at some point will be insolvent — or will have to turn to Buckeye State taxpayers for massive bailouts.