The costs are going up for several reasons: 1) Many pensions are underfunded. The state has to play "catch up" because they weren't putting enough money in the

The costs are going up for several reasons: 1) Many pensions are underfunded. The state has to play "catch up" because they weren't putting enough money in the fund in the past. 2) Pension funds play the stock market. In a recession, the fund needs more money because the market is down. 3) (I'm not sure this is the case for California, but it's definitely the case for the federal gov't) The gov't often guarantees pensions issued by bankrupt companies. The gov't just takes on the extra debt, and often bankrupt companies don't keep up with their pension contributions.