NEW: RISC Backs Chafee’s Municipal Package
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Rhode Island Statewide Coalition (RISC) has thrown its support behind the 7-piece Municipal Relief legislative package unveiled by Governor Chafee to help cities and towns that are struggling with spiraling pension costs and bloated education budgets.
Chafee’s bills, which address a wide range of problems that are forcing communities into deficits and cash flow shortages, would provide relief under several tiers of categories ranging from measures that could only be adopted by narrowly defined communities which carry the most severely distressed local pension plans, to measures that could be adopted by any city or town in the state.
“Chafee’s legislative package represents a comprehensive attempt to curb the soaring costs of local retirees as well as help communities get control of the runaway contract costs built into their school budgets,” states RISC Executive Director Harriet Lloyd. “Budget problems and pension debt vary from town to town so we believe the Governor had no choice but to take this multi-tiered approach in trying to prescribe reforms that could provide relief to communities.” Lloyd notes that the fiscal crises now unfolding in several cities were triggered by either persistent school budget deficits or mounting COLA costs and other aspects of retiree benefits, and it’s time that substantial reforms for cities and towns be enacted.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Legislative leaders, from the Speaker and Senate President on down need to recognize if tough choices aren’t made and legislation that could provide relief is ignored, we may be seeing Woonsocket and Providence follow Central Falls and East Providence into some form of state oversight or receivership.”
The Governor’s legislative package would allow for immediate suspension of COLA’s for 24 of the 36 communities running local pension plans that are deemed to be in “critical status”; would enable a host of cost cutting measures for both retirement benefits as well as current contracts for several major cities (Providence, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, West Warwick) that fall into a “severely distressed” category; and would allow all communities statewide to adopt pension changes for local plans that mirror reforms that were made to the state pension system, as well as modify a number of laws currently affecting their school budget process.
