Little-noticed help came to North Carolina from the so-called bill with no name that President Obama signed into law Aug. 10.

The extra federal money from H.R. 1586 will help the state use money it had set aside in its initial budget to make a larger cash payment to the Teachers and State Employees Retirement System. Unfortunately, the payment still falls about $182 million short of full funding. It’s the first time in 69 years the General Assembly has failed to make a 100 percent contribution.

Gov. Bev Perdue says the pension is not at risk. It is consistently ranked as one of the safest pensions in the country. State Treasurer Janet Cowell says any risk to the pension is years down the road, but failing to fully fund the pension one year can lead to compounding problems in the years to come. To get the pension back on track, the state will have to pay at least $1 billion next year.

To watch CarolinaJournal.tv’s full report on pension funding, click on the video.