As I noted yesterday, Bill Gates gave a talk at the TED conference on state budgets.  Video of the talk is not yet available, but the Wall Street Journal has reported on it, here and here.

Mr. Gates said states are stuck in a system that pays out vast amounts for early retirement, health care and pension obligations while education suffers as teachers are laid off, class sizes increase and tuition increases.

“It really is the young versus the old, to some degree,” he said. “You’re going to be de-investing in the young.”

Gates also has a number of interesting, interactive graphics at his site, here.  You can compare pension funding by state, as well as state spending in general.

In Washington, Gov. Gregoire has proposed the state stop making automatic annual pay increases for people in the PERS and TRS 1 pension plans.