After eight months of discussion by members of its Public Pension Working Group, Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics has issued a report identifying options to help the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and many of its municipalities and school districts meet severe public pension funding challenges.

The group brought together bipartisan elected officials and representatives from business, labor, civic and academic organizations — many with legal, public finance and pension fund expertise — to informally explore options.

The full report, “What To Do About Public Pensions: Options for Funding and Reform,” is intended to inform current debates about public pension issues. According to their latest valuation reports, the commonwealth, its school districts and its counties and municipalities face unfunded pension liabilities of more than $50 billion.

The report identifies and discusses options in three broad categories: obtaining new resources, reducing pension costs and exploring innovative paths to meeting pension reform and funding challenges. In addition to options already being debated in Harrisburg and elsewhere, the report suggests several ideas not currently under consideration.

Temple University established the Center on Regional Politics to provide elected officials and other public and private sector leaders with a forum to seek consensus on policies to improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for the residents of Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. The center is supported by Temple and by the William Penn Foundation.