Kevin Kane discusses new research, “Louisiana’s Fiscal Albatross: The Coming Public Pension Crisis.”

NEW ORLEANS, La. – On Wednesday morning Garland Robinette (pictured left), host of the WWL-FM Think Tank radio show, expressed grave concerns over the findings of a new Pelican Institute report on Louisiana’s unfunded liabilities. The $30 billion, optimistically estimated, dwarfs next year’s projected deficit of $1.6 billion, and Robinette invited Kevin Kane, the institute’s president, to elaborate on and defend the report.

“Where is it in the headlines of the newspapers and the television stations?” questioned Garland, as he speculated on the severity of the situation and the potential for a sell-off in state bonds. Kane responded that concern is bipartisan among legislators and that the institute had released the report to publicize what is in effect a “ponzi scheme.”

Click below to hear the revealing interview (nine minutes), in what is set to be an ongoing discussion. The report is the first in a four-part series on the state’s retirement benefits, which account for the state’s unfunded liabilities.
[audio:http://bit.ly/hxKKxR]

Fergus Hodgson is the capitol bureau reporter with the Pelican Institute for Public Policy. He can be contacted at fhodgson@pelicanpolicy.org, and one can follow him on twitter.