Texas Eyes Pension Debts

Texas comptroller Susan Combs has decided to make a signature issue out of pension reform. For it happens to be the case that Texas, too, has a pension problem, especially at the municipal level. Houston currently devotes 13.4% of its general fund spending to pensions, a figure which is projected to rise to 17% by 2017. Some Texas cities have been unable to resist the allure of pension obligation bonds.  Collectively, Dallas, El Paso and Houston have a Texas-sized $1.1 billion in outstanding pension obligation bond debt.