Rhode Island’s Independent Man standing atop the beautiful Rhode Island State House in all its golden glory has been weeping for the public employees of the Rhode Island Pension System since 2011-2012. Many former Rhode Island public school teachers, state workers, and municipal employees were led to believe they could count on a state pension with a 3 percent compounded COLA benefit to ease the burden of inflation in their retirement years. These dedicated, hard-working, professional public employees have been financially hurt .
.. by the ill-thought-out actions of former General Treasurer and Governor and the General Assembly of 2011-2012.
Legislators and executive officeholders should do the honorable thing by giving back, retroactively, our full promised 3 percent, compounded COLAs in order to honor the men and women who served Rhode Island so selflessly, so diligently. Present public employees of Rhode Island should ponder this critical issue of state employment/teacher employment/municipal employment by asking themselves, “If the State of Rhode Island could do it to those who worked for the state for 30 years, and cut them out of their contributions to the State Pension System, the state could do it to us in 30 years also!” Odds are, it’ll happen again by “honorable” officeholders, like “The ‘Honorable’ Commerce Secretary,” Gina Raimondo! The recent of a North Atlantic right whale entangled in rope south of Block Island is another stark reminder of ho.