But this problem isn’t new. For years, the state’s budget writers have faced a growing burden from the teachers’ pension fund liability. It dates back to 1989, when Gov. Madeleine Kunin’s administration decided to underfund pensions to free up cash for current spending. Her successor, Gov. Howard Dean, who inherited a deficit, drove pension funding even lower — a decision he says today that he doesn’t regret. ‘It was that, or cut people off their health care,’ Dean said. ‘We just had to make tough choices.’