"New projections show the state's annual bill for retirement obligations is expected to reach $11 billion by the time Brown leaves office in January 2019—nearly

"New projections show the state's annual bill for retirement obligations is expected to reach $11 billion by the time Brown leaves office in January 2019—nearly double what it was eight years earlier." That's the state's "annual bill," i.e., the direct costs taken from the general-fund budget. That number doesn't even include those "unfunded" pension liabilities that according to some estimates top $1 trillion. [1] That's more than double the $5.2 billion a year the Brown administration hopes to raise from a plan that would boost gas taxes by 12 cents a gallon, raise the vehicle-license fee by $25 to $175 a year (depending on the value of the vehicle), impose a $100 annual fee on electric cars because they don't currently pay gas taxes and include a large hike on diesel fuel. Money is fungible, so if the state overspends on pensions, it has to make it up somewhere else. [2] [1] http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/04/jerry-browns-pension-reforms-have-done-little-to-rein-in-costs/ http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/04/jerry-browns-pension-r... [2] http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/07/california-road-tax-hike-is-really-a-new http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/07/california-road-tax-hike-i...