WEST Virginia's elected public managers got a couple of hard-earned compliments recently when bond ratings agencies applied their green eyeshades to some state bond issues.

It also got unsettling reminders of how far it has to go.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services gave the state's general obligation road bonds an "AA" long-term rating, and reaffirmed its "AA-" rating on the state's appropriation debt.

Fitch Ratings issued similar cautiously positive judgments.

The news was in the fine print. It was stated in a reserved way, but it was there.

S&P cited the state's "solid financial management" and "demonstrated willingness to tackle large-scale financial challenges, as evidenced by the recent progress made in addressing West Virginia's unfunded pension liability and other post-employment benefits."

Fitch cited the state's "strong financial management" and "sound reserve position," adding:

"Long-term liabilities remain high, though the state remains committed to disciplined efforts begun 16 years ago to address accumulated financial challenges, in particular seriously underfunded teachers' pensions and workers' compensation systems. . . .

"Faced with severe fiscal and economic challenges during the 1980s, West Virginia has since institutionalized positive fiscal and management practices, highlighted by the governor's broad power to cut spending and the consolidated executive control of debt issuance."

Gee whiz.

There was a time when terms like "solid financial management" and "West Virginia" would not - could not - have appeared in the same sentence. The state was notorious for being a financial basket case.

It has taken many, many years to win a particle of praise from lenders, the people who determine how much West Virginia has to pay to borrow money. A series of governors and legislative leaders has had to work hard for this change in tune.

They should be proud of themselves.

We should recognize how much more work needs to be done.

West Virginia's political class has over the decades managed to produce the worst of two  worlds.

First, it pursued policies that successfully deterred economic development and wealth creation, while preserving poverty.

West Virginians have hovered for years at 49th in per capita income, although statistical oddities recently pushed us up to 44th.

Second, the political class maintained its control by generously promising public employees much more than the poverty-stricken population can afford to pay.

As Fitch put it, "Despite substantial progress made, significant unfunded pension liabilities remain."

No kidding. Pension liabilities are still measured in the billions.

And beyond that lie what are delicately called "other post-employment benefits" - health care for retirees.

State Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, heads a working group tasked with addressing that problem. It has been quantified at $8 billion.

Some have contended that this is not a "real" liability, as the state is not legally obligated to fund retiree health care.

McCabe says it is a real liability, and said in a recent column that "we must address it now to protect our current and future employees."

What about taxpayers?

In the private sector, managers cut retiree health care benefits all the time.

But West Virginia's political class seems unable to imagine doing that in the public sector.

Perhaps that's why S&P and Fitch think the state's "other post-employment benefits" obligations are real, too.

Therefore, they are.

Nobody wants to hurt state employees. But if the state fails to trim a deficit that now stands at $8 billion, it will hurt the private-sector taxpayers who will have to make all that money.

They obviously still have a long way to go.

Maurice is editorial page editor of the Daily Mail. She may be reached at 304 348-4802 or ha...@dailymail.com.