Pennsylvania's two major public-sector pension plans on Tuesday told state lawmakers that together their investments lost more than $28 billion in value last year.

Officials who oversee the separate funds for state workers and public school employees also warned that a sharp increase in taxpayer subsidies looms because stock market losses will make a long-anticipated 2012 rate spike much steeper than recently projected.

The two funds' percentage losses on investments were similar. The value of State Employees' Retirement System investments dropped 28.6 percent in 2008, while Public School Employees' Retirement System investments fell 29.7 percent.