Taking Stock of Where Rhode Island’s Candidates for Governor Stand On the Release of Pension Hedge Fund Records

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Last month, current Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo (Democrat) denied the Providence Journal access to records relating to the state pension fund’s hedge fund investments.

The newspaper appealed, but that appeal was denied as well.

In a letter written by Raimondo at the time of the denial, she justified her actions with the following logic (the entire letter can be read at the bottom of this post):

For democracy to work, the public, often through the press, needs oversight over how government is acting on its behalf. At the same time, the government, to fulfill its obligations to the public, needs to be able to function effectively, which often requires a measure of confidentiality, particularly when contracting with private sector entities. Over the years, the law has determined how to balance these two requirements, and the actions of Treasury were consistent with that balance.

With elections only a few months away, and Raimondo in the midst of a bid for governorship of the state, Raimondo’s opponents have seized the opportunity to pounce on her decision to deny access to the hedge fund records.

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras (Democrat), who is now running for governor of the state, had this to say:

“Apparently, the treasurer is more concerned about hedge funds being able to keep their talent than taxpayers knowing how their money is being spent,” Taveras’ spokeswoman Dawn Bergantino said. “The treasurer should be looking out for our interests, not Wall Street and hedge fund billionaires.”

Allan Fung (Republican) is currently the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island. But he’s in the running for governor of the state as well, so he put his thoughts on the table:

“There is a dramatic difference between what is required legally and what is necessary to do the right thing,” Fung said. “Current and retired state employees depend on the strength of the pension fund for their retirement security, and all Rhode Islanders face the risk of higher taxpayer contributions if these investments come up short. We all face tremendous risk and we deserve to know the basis for these investments.”

According to the latest polls, Taveras is currently up on Raimondo, garnering 33.4 percent of the vote to Raimondo’s 29 percent. Clay Pell remains a distant third with 11.5 percent of the vote.

Credit: Wikipedia

Raimondo’s position has notably diminished since she chose to withhold the hedge fund records. Although she is drawing in the same percentage of votes, the issue may have swayed undecided voters to side with Taveras.

On the Republican side, the latest poll has Ken Block maintaining a healthy lead over rival Allan Fung.

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Credit: Wikipedia

And, as promised, here is the letter that Raimondo wrote when she denied the Providence Journal access to the state pension fund’s hedge fund records.

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Photo by: By Jim Jones (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Judge: Challenges to Rhode Island pension overhaul will move forward

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Rhode Island’s 2011 pension overhaul—considered to be the most sweeping pension reform law in the country—has had its fair share of legal challenges.

A number of public sector unions and retiree groups currently have suits pending against the law, and their arguments, as with similar cases in other state, center on provisions in the state constitution that protect pensions as contracts.

Rhode Island was hoping that those arguments wouldn’t hold water and requested to have the cases thrown out. But Superior Court Associate Justice Sarah Taft-Carter ruled today that the unions’ arguments are too strong to simply dismiss.

From the Washington Times:

Unions and retirees have argued that their pension benefits constituted an implied contract, while the state disputes that. Taft-Carter notes in her decision that unlike some other states, Rhode Island’s constitution and law do not explicitly state that public employees have a contractual right to their pension benefits.

But she writes that other factors support it being a contract, such as the fact that workers have served the public for a required number of years and contributed a required percentage of their salaries to the pension system in return for pension benefits.

“A valid contract exists between plaintiffs and the state, entitling plaintiffs to their pension benefits,” she wrote.

Taft-Carter notes that her standard for reviewing the state’s motion to dismiss was not whether the lawsuit is likely to succeed, but rather to assume the allegations are true, and examine the facts in a light favorable to the unions and retirees.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and Treasurer Gina Raimondo said in a joint statement that they expected the judge’s decision and are now preparing for trial.

 

Photo Credit: Governor Chafee via Flickr Creative Commons License

Rhode Island pension reform could be scaled back with settlement proposal

Rhode Island has been entangled in legal battles since the state signed its sweeping pension reform bill into law in 2011. But a new proposal may bring an end to the legal challenges mounted against the law once and for all, and in the process soften some of the law’s strongest provisions.

The 2011 law, titled the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act, aimed to curb the state’s pension costs by $4 billion over 20 years. It did so by raising retirement ages for most workers, suspending COLAs for retirees, and shifting workers into a new 401(k)-type retirement plan.

The settlement would keep in place most of the 2011 law. But it would also bring some key changes, as outlined by the New Haven Register:

The settlement would give cost-of-living increases to retired government workers sooner than the current law would allow. It calls for a one-time 2 percent cost-of-living pension increase once the settlement is enacted by lawmakers. Additional increases would come in 2017, and every four years thereafter until the pension fund is 80 percent funded.

The existing law calls for limited increases every five years until the 80 percent funding level is reached. The fund is now about 60 percent funded.

The settlement would also call on public workers to contribute slightly more toward their own retirement benefits.

The proposed changed would cost Rhode Island $13 million and the state’s towns and cities $11 million, and would raise the state’s unfunded liabilities from $4.8 billion to $5 billion.

The proposal must now pass through a series of votes by union members, a judge in the state Superior Court, the systems retirees and finally by state lawmakers.