No, they didn't cause it unless they elect PERS board members. (I'm from out of state and don't know how this PERS is set up. I did work in two pension systems out of state so have a general knowledge of how pension systems usually work). If the taxpayers pay into the pension fund, as they do in many public plans, then they would ordinarily have a statutory obligation to make up the difference.  Pension systems have options. For example, they could close any plan that is currently in operation and offer a less generous benefit. What is usually lost in these discussions is the fact that pension systems -- even poorly funded ones -- are funded far into the future. We had a twenty year boom I the stock markets in the 80s and 90s, and that could easily happen in the future. If that happened, earnings from a pension fund could easily reduce the unfunded liabilities. That's not out of the realm of possibility given that pension funds are almost always invested in conservative instruments.