Mayor Sylvester Turner is warning that up to 2,200 city workers would be laid off if Houston's pension-reform measures don't win approval from the Texas Legislature.
Turner was flanked by city leaders Wednesday at a news conference at which he urged state lawmakers to OK the reform plan.
The city is seeking to resolve a 15-year pension funding crisis that's contributed to recent credit downgrades and severe strains on the city budget.
Houston ended 2016 with a deficit for the first time in the history of the nation's fourth-largest city.
Turner attributes the $95 million deficit to the continued growth of the city's pension obligations.
An audit late last year put pension underfunding in Houston at $7.7 billion, nearly double from 2014.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
