Pennsylvania debt spiral

Pennsylvania's growing pension promises are the first of these trends indicating looming financial troubles. Earlier this year, Wolf and state lawmakers enacted pension reform, but the changes don't go into effect until 2019. However, the new rules do nothing to reduce the state's unfunded pension liabilities, which have ballooned from $12 billion in 2009 to a whopping $42 billion in 2016. In order for Pennsylvania to see it's taxpayer burden head in the right direction, state lawmakers need to decrease their pension debt. 
 The second trend I have been watching is a byproduct of the first: interest payments on the state's growing debt.

That debt growth is way above any sustainable debt expansion, it is growing about twice the rate of NGDP, a nightmare.   

This is the fourth largest state, Illinois the fifth.  then we have New York and California.   If the California Dems go out on the debt market to bailout their state programs, then woe be to Illinois and Pennsylvania who will be needing the debt markets simultaneously.