Talk politics.

More than just that, they've been consistently under-funded. Most states have known that their pension-fund growth rates were totally unrealistic (I recall one of the towns that declared bankruptcy recently was modeling their pension fund on a presumed 13% annual growth rate). Absolutely insane, willful ignorance of the true state of the pension system has lead us to this juncture. Pensions could've been in a lot better shape (not necessarily 100% OK, but better) if states and municipalities had been less short-sighted and funded them properly.