agreement for sharing the burden of getting the pension plan in reasonable financial condition.

Since pension obligations are so extensive, these two Texan cities have found it difficult to hire police officers, repair potholes, and carry out other routine operations in the city. In addition to the ballooning obligation, investment returns have fallen short of expectations. In recent years, most investment funds have earned far below the $8$ percent that is built into funding plans. This increases the gap between funds available and benefits promised. Chicago city officials' inability to address their pension funding gap means that the city can pay for only one$-$quarter of the benefits it has promised. So$,$ Houston and Dallas can see what will come next if they are unable to address their funding gap in public pensions.

Grensfield, a state in Markova, is struggling to allocate sufficient financial resources to its employee pension funds. To fulfill its obligations to the pensioners of the state, Grensfield needs to raise funds to provide the promised pension benefits. In this case, which of the following actions by Grensfield to raise funds is likely to receive the most support from the public?

a$.$ Requesting extensive employee involvement in defined contribution pension plans

b$.$ Coupling employee contribution plans with tax exemption benefits

c$.$ Doing away with employee stock ownership plans $($ESOPs$)$ and $401($k$)$ plans

d$.$ Banning all types of labor unions