Washington state's public pensions are among nation's best-funded

IN a recent guest commentary, a researcher from the other Washington argued that our state pension programs are in trouble because elected officials make promises without paying for them. Andrew G. Biggs reaches this conclusion by ignoring both the way our public pensions are managed and the investment returns achieved from pension funds ["State's pension hole deeper than estimates," Opinion, Sept. 14].

Washington's pension plans are among the best-funded in the nation, with assets sufficient to pay the benefits earned. Thirteen of the state's 15 plans are fully funded. Only two, known as PERS 1 and TRS 1, closed to new employees more than three decades ago, are currently underfunded.