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Hawaii’s financial woes are no secret. The state has often been dinged for its growing liabilities tied to pension and health benefits for public employees and retirees.

Hawaii taxpayers owe about $24 billion for state and county retiree health and pension benefits.

But are we one of the highest-ranking states when it comes to our debt?

That’s what Gov. Neil Abercrombie claimed during a recent status update on his New Day plan.

Here’s his exact quote:

“Our per capita debt is the third-highest in the nation, and this fact is relentlessly eroding our credit worthiness.”

The governor made clear that Hawaii needs to deal with its “long-term financial responsibilities without flinching,” shortly before citing the debt ranking.

Is he right?

A spokeswoman for Abercrombie said the governor was referencing a 2010 report by Forbes Magazine.

According to that January 2010 study, Hawaii had about $4.7 billion in tax-supported debt in 2008. That liability indeed ranked Hawaii as having the at $3,675. Connecticut topped that list with $4,859 in per-capita-debt, while Massachusetts came in second with $4,323. (Caveat: It’s important to note that Hawaii’s tax burden is shared with visitors to the islands, who pay General Excise Tax on all goods and services. The GET is the single largest source of revenue for the general fund, which is used for debt payments.)

Overall, Forbes ranked Hawaii near the bottom — — for having the worst overall debt, which the report measured using 14 metrics. That included states’ unfunded pension liabilities, changes in tax revenue, credit agency ratings, debt as a percentage of Gross State Product, debt per capita, growth expectations for employment and the state economy.

The latest counts show Hawaii’s unfunded pension liability is close to $9 billion. The state’s unfunded liability for health benefits is .

Another more recent by Moody’s Investor Service ranks Hawaii in the No. 2 spot for having one of the largest tax-supported debt and pension liabilities. Moody’s previously evaluated credit risks from pensions and debt levels separately, but combined the two in that January 2011 report.

A few months later, in May, Moody’s Hawaii’s general obligation bond rating, citing the state’s “strained financial operations.” Lower credit ratings mean higher costs for states to borrow money. Moody’s last changed Hawaii’s rating in May 2005, but that was an upgrade, rather than a downgrade.

Hawaii’s liabilities — as well as the rest of the nation’s — have increased significantly since 2008, the year Forbes based its report on. A valuation report from 2007 pegged Hawaii’s health fund liability at $9.2 billion. The retirement system had a $5.1 billion unfunded liability in 2007.

Abercrombie’s remarks about Hawaii’s situation weren’t made in passing, but he didn’t lay out a concrete action plan.

He said “the days of ignoring these threats need to be over,” and noted that he wasn’t interested in pointing blame as to how our liabilities ballooned, but in “setting a firm course for correction.”

The accompanying [hand-out] of the New Day status report says a “key next step” for transforming government is: “Develop an action to find solutions for our longterm unfunded liabilities in the state’s pension system and for health insurance benefits for state and county employees and retirees.”

Bottom line: There may not be an action plan just yet, but Abercrombie was accurate in saying that Hawaii has the third-highest debt per capita, according to the latest Forbes study. And those liabilities have negatively impacted the state’s credit rating.