Raimondo Seeks Pension Settlement, But Has “No Interest” In Negotiating Changes to Reforms

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said during an interview Wednesday that she is still hoping for a settlement with public workers in the lawsuit over the state’s 2011 pension reforms.

But while she is willing to settle, she has “no interest” in re-opening negotiations on the reforms.

From NBC 10:

She said during a taping of “10 News Conference” that she is pushing to have pension reform settled, but she is not calling for negotiations.

Raimondo and other state leaders have said they would like to see the pension reform lawsuit settled out of court, and a deal was negotiated that was approved by a majority of the unions involved. But one unit rejected it, scuttling the deal.

The incoming governor says that deal is the best that she will agree to. When the agreement was announced nearly a year ago, she said it preserved the bulk of savings for taxpayers. And as far as she is concerned, while she would prefer to have all sides agree to those terms, she is not willing to offer unions and retirees anything better.

“I have no interest in changing the terms of that,” Raimondo said. “Otherwise, we can go forward with the litigation. The state has a very strong case. But it’s in everyone’s interest to have some finality.”

Raimondo said she will reach out to all the parties to try to reach agreement, but admits it may not be possible. But it’s something she’d like to get finalized soon.

The state’s 2011 pension reforms were especially controversial because they applied to all workers and retirees, not just new hires.

Photo by By Jim Jones (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]