Leora Friedberg, a professor of public policy at the University of Virginia, said Virginia is in better shape than states, such as California, where entire cities have declared bankruptcy. Part of the reason for Virginia's relative comfort is a recent move by the state to have public workers contribute to their retirements, she said. "The other thing that helps Virginia is we do not have a big retiree health insurance liability," Friedberg said. "Virginia, among other states, is in pretty good shape, but it is still a pretty big problem."