Pension Reform

Several former police officers and firefighters said Tuesday that they should not be blamed for the city’s fiscal woes and vowed to battle it out in court if Mayor Angel Taveras attempts to freeze cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) or cap their pensions.

Cranston's $245 million underfunded pension plan is in the spotlight. A national task force today announced they have targeted the woefully underfunded pension plan and hope to use it to shape the political discussion surrounding local pension reform.

From Smith Hill to Providence and Pawtucket, government lawyers have been batting zero in their efforts to convince Rhode Island judges to uphold changes to public-sector workers’ retirement benefits.

Treasurer Gina Raimondo thinks the best way to fix the state’s 36 locally run pension plans is to move them into the state-run system. But making that happen will be easier said than done.

Mike Stanton and Tom Mooney have a solid story in today’s Projo about the challenge Mayor Taveras faces in trying to claw back those hugely expensive pension COLAs granted back in 1989. What many people don’t seem to understand – including some powerful folks at the State House – is that Taveras can’t hammer out a deal with the unions because the unions don’t represent the retirees.

A fourteen-member panel created by last year's pension reform legislation held its first meeting yesterday at the Rhode Island State House to discuss failing municipal pension systems. After months of debate about the state pension system last year, the first meeting of the panel — which comprises municipal executives, union leaders and other political appointees — represents the beginning of a new chapter as the state shifts its focus to unfunded liabilities facing the pension systems of Rhode Island cities and towns.

Delores, a retired Rhode Island state employee, was one of five panelists to speak at a recent event hosted by the National Public Pension Coalition (NPPC) in Washington, D.C. The NPPC panel discussion aimed to separate fact from fiction as union organizations and policy leaders work to protect retirement security across the country.

One important Rhode Island municipality was notably absent from Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s local pension workshop on Tuesday morning: the city of Providence.

Treasurer Gina Raimondo is bringing former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch to the Community College of Rhode Island next week to speak at a workshop she’s holding for municipal officials who run their own independent pension plans, WPRI.com has learned.