Why have the national associations of state and local governments established a pension funding task force?  In a nutshell, it is because the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued new pension accounting standards without any guidance on how governments should calculate the annual required contribution to fund them. 

Since state and local officials make annual budget decisions, they need a rational way to determine how much the employer needs to pay each year to cover current employee pension costs as well as an appropriate portion of any unfunded pension liability.  Having a rational method to calculate and report the annual required contribution (ARC) ensures that policymakers, employees, and the public can assess how well funded their government’s pension plans are.