There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when the recent lame-duck session in Springfield ended. Why? No action was taken to address the $95 billion in debt owed to the state’s five pension systems.

This leaves the systems with just 40 percent of funding they should have currently, well below the 80 percent generally deemed healthy for public systems.

Good government groups and editorial boards lamented the Legislature’s failure to pass yet another proposal to reduce that ginormous obligation – this time cutting almost $30 billion in benefits earned by current workers and retirees.