Someone tell the pay czar to check out State & Local Governments!

States are exhibiting the type of fiscal responsibility that we need at the Federal level. That being said, it seems that there is room for more cuts. According the the CATO Institutes Tax and Budget Bulletin, State & Local employees total compensation and availability of benefits is significantly  better than the private sector. This is true across the board, from high union share to low union share. Who would have thought the government would be a plush gig? According to CATO, in 2008, wages and benefits of $1.1 trillion accounted for half of total state and local government spending. This is close to the compensation share at Wall Street firms! This is important for other reasons - it's not uncommon for State and Local Pension/Benefit plans to be significantly underfunded (i.e. guess who picks up the tab?). Below are the key tables from the CATO report (link to full report below).