The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Kansas with fraud Monday for failing to inform purchasers of state bonds about underfunding of the state employees pension fund.
The charges centered on the sale of $273 million in bonds in 2009 and 2010.
The Brownback administration quickly released a statement saying that the risk disclosure is now being made and strides have been made toward better pension system funding.
Kansas City securities attorney Diane Nygard says though the SEC did not issue a fine the problem is not completely solved.
Nygard said that in 2012, funding of the KPRS pension system was about 56 percent of the amount promised to workers. She said that the latest information she has shows the ration has improved to about 60 percent now, but that,represents a significant risk from the workers' perspective.
Nygaard added that the market reaction to the fraud charges could make it more expensive for Kansas to sell its bonds. She said that has happened in the two other states that have been confronted with similar fraud charges.