Robitaille: Caprio ‘Negligent’ with Pension Fund
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Republican candidate for governor John Robitaille accused his Democratic opponent in the race, Frank Caprio, of being negligent in his management of the state pension system and jeopardizing the retirements of municipal and state employees.
Robitaille pointed to a recent memo Caprio issued through the General Treasurer’s office, revealing that the unfunded liability for the state pension system was $6.5 billion—$2.1 billion higher than previously estimated. Robitaille said that Caprio had assuming a 8.25 percent rate of return on investments, even though as early as 2002 he knew that assumption was problematic.
“As General Treasurer, Frank Caprio knowingly understated the pension liability,” Robitaille said. “In doing so, he jeopardized the retirements of every public servant in Rhode Island. We need a governor who honors the promises made to the men and women who make our state a better, safer place to live – not a governor who plays politics with our retirees’ futures.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCaprio Campaign Manager Xay Khamsyvoravong issued the following response:
“John Robitaille’s attack shows Mr. Robtaille’s complete ignorance of the Rhode Island pension system and fiduciary responsibility. Its yet another instance of where John Robitaille would rather shoot first, and ask questions later.”
Khamsyvoravong continued: “Frank brought this issue before the Retirement Board in April and provided expert testimony on this very issue. The reality is that over the past 25 years the fund has returned an average of 9 percent. However, Frank supports an adjustment of the rate of return assumption once the pending experience study, which looks at all the factors impacting the fund's unfunded liability, not just its rate of return, is completed and the board has an opportunity to review its results and make adjustments to a number of assumptions, including the rate of return.”
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