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Article: Unfunded Pensions: Federal `Gift' to the District; For 54 years, the federal government promised District civil servants lavish pensions without voting the money for them. Then it l1701213216
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 7, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Mayor Kelly has spent much of her time and energy over the past 29
months addressing the shorter-term financial problems she inherited
upon taking office as well as the day-to-day crises that confront
almost every large-city mayor in contemporary America. There remains
hovering over the District, however, a longer-standing financial
problem of enormous proportions - unfunded pension liability.
For many years prior to home rule, the federal government promised
to pay District police and firefighters, teachers and judges
unusually generous pension benefits without providing sufficient
funds to pay for those future benefits. As a result, even after
Congress ostensibly addressed the unfunded ...