Report: State pension funding gap at $1.2 trillion

A new report finds that state-run pension systems for public employees are underfunded by $1.2 trillion.

Moody's Investors Services says the gap is expected to widen in the years ahead, partly because the funds' annual investment returns are running well below expectations.

The report released Thursday compiled pension data for the end of the 2015 fiscal years in most states. It is among the first to tally the funding gap under new accounting rules intended to give a more accurate picture of the problem.

California, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas accounted for more than half the total pension gap across the country.