State’s Debt Burden Better Than Most
Oklahoma’s state debt is better than most, but that’s no reason to relax
by Patrick B. McGuigan
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s economy is growing. Despite some projected tightening in state revenues, the Sooner State remains among the nation’s healthiest. However, a new study of state-level debt in all 50 states provides sobering analysis that hints at imminent crisis.
The annual state debt report from State Budget Solutions (SBS) projects $5.1 trillion in state government debt across America — $16,178 per person.
Oklahoma is neither among the five worst nor the five best in public debt burden.
In the SBS analysis, the state’s debt is “only” $44,151,947,000 (most of that in unfunded pension liabilities), or $11,574 per capita.
The largest Oklahoma state government pension programs (including the public employees fund and the Teacher Retirement System) have in recent years performed well, at or near historic levels of 7 percent or more for returns on investments.