The Funding of State and Local Pensions: 2011-2015

The brief’s key findings are:

• During 2011, the funded status of public plans slipped from 76 percent to 75 percent.

• This decline reflected slow asset growth due to actuarial smoothing, which was partly mitigated by an unexpected reduction in liability growth.

• Going forward, the funded ratio is projected to remain steady next year and then gradually improve as the market meltdown is phased out of the calculations.