05/17/12 Comprehensive pension reform is needed right now!
To: Governor Chafee
General Treasurer Raimondo
House Speaker Fox
Senate President Paiva-Weed
House Finance Committee Chair Melo
Senate Finance Committee Chair DaPonte
Members of the House Finance Committee
Members of the Senate Finance Committee
Rhode Island's pension crisis must be addressed thoroughly and immediately.
Rhode Island's unfunded pension liability crisis threatens the very fabric of our society. If left unresolved, the future increases in the State's contributions to the pensions will mean less money for funding schools, maintaining our infrastructure and providing crucial social services to our neediest citizens.
It is projected that next year the State will have to almost double its payments to the pension fund - climbing from $300 million annually to $600 million annually. This $300 million increase is equivalent to the State's annual revenues from the video slot operations at Twin River and Newport Grand. This $300 million increase completely consumes the State's 3rd largest revenue source, and the annual increases only go up from here.
The pension system needs to be fixed once and for all, in the best interests of everyone involved. Rhode Island's pension system needs to be fair, affordable and sustainable.
In your upcoming deliberations, please keep in mind our children and what kind of Rhode Island we want them to inherit. It is incumbent on us as adults to fix the pension mess that has resulted from decades of neglect. It is unacceptable to saddle future generations with the mistakes made by generations past.
Decades of kicking the can down the road have brought us to this misfortune. We cannot afford to put off addressing this crisis any further.
Respectfully,