It'll be interasting what's going to happen with state pensions when the burden is just too high. In the next 15 years one of these IL, NJ or HI will be at a breaking point. My bet is on IL since the approx date of falling off the cliff is 2028.
According to the book (the author did do some financial analysis but I forget the details), if these states sell a small fraction of their assets, they will be able to pay off all their debt. I'm definitely not agreeing with the author's point of view, but that is something I had not thought about before. i.e. while your debt may be a lot higher than your income, if you have sizable assets, you an get away with it for a while.