On June 17, 2014, Sr. Fellow Lawrence McQuillan spoke at an event for supporters of the Independent Institute. Dr. McQuillan spoke about California’s state pension system, a topic he writes about frequently, including in his forthcoming book “California Dreamin’: Resolving the Public Pension Crisis.”

First he defines the types of pension programs for state employees, he outlined how funding for the programs is not sustainable for the promises made to pension recipients. The state admits to an unfunded liability of $140 billion, but McQuillan says that is actually an underestimate. According to most economists, the true amount of the unfunded liability is $430 billion.

How did this happen? McQuillan explains and offers six solutions to keep the pension systems solvent.