The Legislature made an important stride two years ago when it agreed to pump more money into the state pension system, but it stopped short of shifting new employees to 401(k)-style retirement plans, a move most experts agree is the only way out of a multibillion-dollar hole that taxpayers would ultimately have to fill.

Though public agencies and their employees are plowing more money into pension funds, a process that will take five more years to be fully phased-in, unfunded liabilities — the projected gap between assets and future payouts — stood at an incredible $25.47 billion at the end of fiscal 2018. That’s closer to an abyss than a

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