Rob Horowitz: Public Employee Unions Losing Pension Battle
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Last week’s front-page Providence Journal story featuring National Education Association (NEA) Executive Director Bob Walsh calling on Governor Chafee to keep the “promises” he made to the NEA during his campaign for Governor is another sign that the public employee unions know that they are losing their battle to put the brakes on comprehensive and meaningful pension reform.
Publicly threatening Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee (I) with a loss of union support is the kind of move that the astute and politically sophisticated Walsh would not make if he thought the public employee unions were playing a winning hand. Walsh knows choice quotes like: “You should treat everyone well, but you treat your allies better” are not music to the ears of hard-pressed Rhode Island taxpayers who expect their elected officials to work for the interests of all Rhode Islanders—not just campaign supporters..
Choosing to have this kind of hardball politics discussion in public—as opposed to behind closed doors as is usually the case--reveals some desperation. It also makes it more difficult for Chafee to support the NEA’s position because it will appear as if he is caving into political pressure from an important campaign ally, rather than deciding the issue on the merits.
Democratic Gen. Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s aggressive and persistent public education campaign, combined with an unfunded state pension liability of over $9 billion and a rapidly rising and unaffordable increase in pension costs, has created a political environment that is favorable to comprehensive pension reform.
As the time when Raimondo and Chafee unveil their pension proposal nears and the state legislature convenes a Special Fall session to consider it, the prospects for reform have never looked better.
Still, it is far from a done deal. Public employee unions will continue to put up a spirited fight and their political influence is particularly strong in the State Senate. Steadfast leadership from Chafee remains essential to realizing comprehensive pension reform and General Assembly members will need to hear from a broad range of constituents about the importance of action.
Rhode Island is close to a major accomplishment--one that will put our fiscal house in order, ensure that the pension system is sustainable for the long- term, and create the political and fiscal room to address our other pressing challenges. It is now up to all of us to become engaged.
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