West Virginia Teachers' Retirement System, Charleston, will receive an additional $385 million per year as part of Gov. Joe Manchin's fiscal 2007 budget, said spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg. That amount would supplement the state's scheduled debt payment of $334 million for fiscal 2007.
The payment is scheduled to increase each year until it ends in 2034 at more than $700 million, Ms. Ramsburg said. That "is why paying more of the debt off early is so important, because it saves us in interest payments down the road," she said.
The $1.6 billion fund has liabilities of $5 billion.