Municipal Pension Panel Holds First Meeting

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.