A major credit-rating house reports that Illinois' pension liability as a percentage of its revenue is far and away the nation's highest.
Moody's Investors Service has released a report showing that the state's three-year average liability over revenue is 258%. The next closest is Connecticut at about 200%.
The report averaged the Illinois percentage from 2010 through 2012.
The state has a $100 billion deficit in the amount of money it should have invested in five state-employee pension accounts. Lawmakers adopted an overhaul plan last fall that cuts benefits and increases worker contributions to significantly cut that debt.
But Moody's points out that even if the law gets Illinois constitutional approval from the Supreme Court, the state will face decades of financial digging out.
