Fix for pensions

Alarmed that the annual taxpayer tab for teachers' and state workers' pensions and health benefits has soared from $1 billion to more than $5 billion since 2000, California officials called on Friday for fixes to stem the financial outpouring. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The calls come amid growing concern about California's pension crisis, which has deepened over the past seven years as the average county fund has gone from being flush with cash to being at least 9 percent underfunded.

And officials are worried that the state's already massive unfunded liabilities for pensions and retiree health benefits - estimated as high as $300 billion combined - will only continue to grow.