Pension Settlement Game of Chicken

Which way should the General Assembly go on taking up the pension settlement bill? That’s got to be what Speaker Fox and President Paiva-Weed are wondering now. Or maybe not. In a joint message reported by Ian Donnis:

“We will await the votes to be taken by both union and non-union members before we weigh in further.”

Which made me wonder which is the better way to go in this game of chicken. Apparently, some union members aren’t too keen on the settlement deal as one retired teacher wrote:

This pension settlement is a disgrace. I didn’t pay in 9.5% of my pay for thirty years for this! Unions screwed up!

The unions might not even approve this settlement. This now begs the question, what is the GA’s opinion on whether to pass the settlement agreement? If they ever plan to pass it, then why not just take it up now, before the unions even vote on it? Then if the unions reject it, the state can say “See, we tried. The unions are being unreasonable!”

The other option is for the GA to just wait and see if the settlement is rejected by the unions. This is an election year and maybe many of the GA members would prefer to not have to talk about pensions while campaigning on doorsteps. But based on the message reported by Donnis, it seems the GA leadership will instead wait until the spotlight is forced upon them. If the unions all agree with the settlement, then the GA will be potentially forced into agreeing to it, or that “see we tried” argument will be used against them in the court in September.

If anything comes out of the “wait and see” plan by Fox and Paiva-Weed, hopefully its that they’ll get to work on fixing the RI economy and reversing that recent 9.1% state unemployment rate.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

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