Thanks to strong investment returns and pension reforms, Virginia’s state-funded retirement plans have decreased their unfunded long-term liabilities by $1.1 billion in the past year, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported recently.
In 2010, Virginia was forced to defer its required pension contributions in 2010 in order to balance the budget during the recession. However, since then, Gov. McAuliffe and the General Assembly made a concerted effort to make full payments to the fund as well as to repay the obligations that were previously deferred. In 2012, the General Assembly and then-Gov. Bob McDonnell enacted reforms that required the state to fully fund its share of the contribution rates by mid-2018, but Virginia met the goal early for both state employees and teachers.
With funding status improved, there will be less pressure on the state budget as well.
