They don't want you to know the REAL reason Social Security is in trouble

But I'm going to tell you anyway

Robert Reich

The trustees of the Social Security fund said Tuesday that the fund will be depleted by late 2032, a year earlier than the trustees’ projection last year of 2033. If nothing is done, benefits will automatically be cut six years from now.

The common understanding is that Social Security’s shortfall is due to the huge postwar baby boom, now retiring, and to America’s increasing life expectancy. The usual recommended fix is to reduce Social Security benefits or raise the age of eligibility. As Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, warned Monday, “entitlement programs” like Social Security “have to be adjusted and fixed.” He said Republicans will introduce a plan to do that. Brace yourselves.

I used to be a Social Security trustee, and I call bullsh*t.

The baby boom can’t be blamed for Social Security’s shortfall. The Greenspan Commission, which in 1983 recommended the reforms that Congress then made — raising Social Security payroll taxes and also raising the eligibility age for collecting Social Security benefits — knew all about the baby boom and figured it into its calculations. (Early boomers like me can now start collecting full benefits at age 66; late boomers born after 1960 have to wait until they’re 67 to collect full benefits.)

Americans’ increasing life expectancy isn’t at fault, either. While wealthier Americans are living longer, that’s not the case for lower-income Americans. The Urban Institute estimates that life expectancy in the top 20 percent of income-earners is 91 years for people born in the 1990s, four years more than people born in the 1950s. Yet the life expectancy in the lowest 20 percent of income-earners is fewer than 80 years.

So what’s the real cause of the Social Security shortfall? What did Greenspan’s commission fail to predict? Widening inequality.

Remember, the Social Security payroll tax applies only to earnings up to a certain cap. This year, that cap is $184,500. Earnings at or below this amount are taxed at 12.4 percent. The cap rises every year according to a formula roughly matching inflation.

New Trump Rule Would Let Private Equity, Crypto ‘Endanger Retirement Savings of Millions’

Money for tech bros

Jake Johnson

Donald Trump’s Labor Department unveiled a proposal that would welcome private equity and cryptocurrency investments into Americans’ 401(k) plans, the culmination of an aggressive Wall Street lobbying push that could leave the retirement savings of millions vulnerable to the wild swings of so-called “alternative assets.”

The proposed rule, now subject to a public comment period, was issued at the direction of a Trump executive order from last year that was characterized at the time as “the holy grail for private equity.”

In addition to giving employers a green light to include private equity and crypto investments in 401(k) plans offered to workers, the new rule would establish a “safe harbor” allowing retirement account administrators to avoid legal action from employees who believe their funds were steered into excessively risky products.

Investing Public Pensions in Fossil Fuel and AI Companies Is More Than Amoral – It’s Bad Business

Public pension money should be directed to where it will do the most good

Liz Perlman and Stephen Lerner for Common Dreams

We're not this guy

Our country faces an affordability crisis amidst fundamental attacks on democracy. Public employee pension plans can either be part of the solution or part of the problem.

Late last year, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander recommended the city’s pension boards drop BlackRock and other portfolio managers that don’t have decarbonization plans up to the city’s standards. Lander’s initiative was blocked, and the editorial board of The Washington Post accused him of playing politics. But Lander argued that his recommendation was in line with the government’s fiduciary duty to protect the long-term value of pension funds, the retirement systems most public sector workers rely on—and have been paying into their entire careers. He’s right. 

In this critical moment in history, companies that are actively hastening climate change, threatening housing security, eliminating jobs and industries, and destabilizing our democracy and economy do not deserve our investment. Yes, they are acting immorally but they are also very bad investments with little promise of future returns for public sector workers. It’s not “playing politics” to refuse to fund their efforts to dismantle our society. That’s why we’re calling on pension boards across the country to take a hard look at their portfolios and make the smart business decision: stop investing in companies like this today.

The stakes could not be higher: pension funds account for $6.1 trillion in state and local defined-benefit funds alone. Every month, nearly 15 million workers across the country contribute part of their paycheck to ensure they have enough income to retire securely. This is a big pot of money and the companies that boards choose to invest it with matter. 

For public sector workers, pensions are not only retirement funds, but deferred current compensation. Workers are forsaking their hard-earned money today for the potential of a dignified future. Meanwhile, corporations are using that money today to further their own goals—many of which are directly at odds with the goals, livelihoods, and futures of public employees.

EDITOR'S DISCLOSURE: Steve Lerner and I go back 40 years when he was a young textile worker organizer. Steve was a frequent house guest at our suburban DC home. On one of his visits, Cathy and I (well, mostly Cathy) introduced him to Marilyn Sniederman. I told Cathy I wouldn't recognize her skills as a yenta until the bris of their first son. When that happened, I admitted my mistake. Later on, when I went to work in the labor movement, I worked with both Marilyn and Steve in my first union job. I owe them both.  - Will Collette

Why unions?

R.I. environmental police are finally staffing up

No surprise: better pay and benefits improve recruitment

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Rhode Island’s state environmental police force has been troubled by vacancies for at least 20 years.

But not for much longer. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Division of Law Enforcement is poised to reach its full 32-person staff for the first time since Deputy Chief Mike Schipritt began working there in 2005.

Schipritt, who was promoted to deputy chief in 2024, will get a break from the endless hiring paperwork. More importantly, he won't have to struggle so much over how to deploy critical environmental guardians across the sprawling landscape of state-owned land and waters. 

Now they're bothered by pension plans

The right's war on woke is coming for pension plans

by Lisa Needham, Daily Kos Contributor

Conservative Texas District Judge Reed O’Connor took time out of his packed schedule of trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act to hand down a genuinely unhinged decision.

According to O’Connor, American Airlines violated federal law by offering 401(k) plans that included funds managed by investment companies with environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. It’s the newest—and dumbest—front in the war on “woke.” 

The Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requires people who manage retirement investments to act in the best interests of their participants. This is a good thing! It means that fund managers can’t put their own financial interests first and must diversify a fund’s investments to minimize the risk of significant losses. 

This lawsuit arose when a former pilot sued American Airlines in 2023, saying it violated ERISA by mismanaging 401(k) funds. Was it because somehow the company lined its pockets with the hard-earned cash of retirees? Nope. Was it because the company’s 401(k) funds were performing terribly? Nope. It was because American Airlines hired BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager that oversees trillions of investment dollars, to manage its retirement funds.

Several years ago, BlackRock started positioning itself as a leader in its focus on environmental sustainability in investing. In 2021, BlackRock, then the second-largest holder of Exxon stock, cast a proxy vote on behalf of activist investors who wanted climate-conscious directors on the corporation’s board. 

Magaziner Leads Letter to Reunite Americans with their Lost Retirement Benefits

Show us the money! 

U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02) and Ron Estes (R-KS-04) led 37 members of Congress in a bipartisan letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) to help American workers receive their lost retirement benefits with the help of state unclaimed property programs. 

There are 29.2 million left-behind or forgotten 401(k) accounts holding approximately $1.65 trillion in assets. The workers and families who own these funds often have no idea of their existence because they have changed jobs or their former employer has gone out of business.  

While state unclaimed property programs already work to reunite individuals with financial assets — such as the contents of a safe deposit back or utility reimbursements — regulatory ambiguity allows thousands of accounts to go unclaimed. The letter urges the DOL to develop a uniform, nationwide regulation that allows state unclaimed property programs to help reunite individuals with their lost retirement checks. 

“Retirement benefits belong to the Americans who worked hard to earn them, not the large financial institutions who service them,” said Representative Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02). “As the former state treasurer of Rhode Island, I know that Rhode Island’s unclaimed property division works tirelessly to reunite individuals with their missing property and can do the same for missing retirement checks. Everyone deserves to retire with dignity and financial security.”  

RI Auditor General finds new CRU leadership in Charlestown improved town finances

The CRU has been cleaning up the CCA's mess – and it’s working

By Will Collette

This is how the CCA managed Charlestown's money

Though many voters have short attention spans, let’s remember that Charlestown voters overturned the Charlestown Citizens Alliance’s 10-year rule in 2022 largely because the CCA messed up Charlestown’s finances.

There was the “$3 million Oopsie,” the misallocation of almost 10% of the town’s budget that went unnoticed for almost 2 years. There was the 2022 RI Public Expenditure Council report that showed Charlestown’s administrative costs were the highest in Rhode Island. 

While the CCA now claims that none of this happened, that’s classic CCA b.s. Plus, says CCA resident genius and Town Council candidate Bonnita Van Slyke, why hasn’t the new majority from Charlestown Residents United (CRU) fixed these problems that the CCA claims never existed.

Well, according to a new report from the Rhode Island Auditor General David Bergantino, the CRU has indeed brought about a major turnaround in Charlestown’s finances. You can read his report by CLICKING HERE with the Charlestown section covering pages 16 and 17.

Look at the numbers

Under the leadership of Deb Carney, Rippy Serra, Steve Stokes, the late Grace Klinger and her replacement Peter Slom, Charlestown has:

Raised more revenue. 

Under the CCA, revenue was $28 million. Under the CRU, this increased to $30 million.

Lowered expenses. 

RIPEC flagged Charlestown’s highest in the state expenses which were $31.2 million, more than the revenue collected. Under the CRU, expenses dropped to $29.8 million.

Increased the town’s savings. 

This is the unassigned fund balance (UFB) that the CCA criticized the CRU for failing to increase. In fact, according to the Auditor General, the CRU raised the UFB by 17% from the CCA’s $5.3 million to $6.2 million.

Improved pension funding. 

Funding to cover future pension costs rose from the CCA’s $8.3 million level to $8.8 million under the CRU.

Reduced Charlestown’s debt by a LOT. 

Under the CCA, Charlestown’s debt was $7.9 million. Under the CRU, debt dropped to $6 million, almost 25% less.

Erased the deficit the CCA left behind. 

According to the Auditor General, the CCA left behind a DEFICIT of $3,266,029. The CRU erased that deficit and ended FY23 with a SURPLUS of $157,666.

Don't believe me? Here are the numbers from the Auditor General that back up what I just reported:

Auditor General's report, page 16.

The CRU did all this while reducing Charlestown’s tax rate from the $8.17 per thousand the CCA left behind to the current $5.78 under the CRU, 30% less.

In real numbers, the CRU not only cut the tax rate, they reduced the total amount of taxes paid from $23.5 million under the CCA to $20 million under the CRU. That's $3 million dollars less Charlestown taxpayers had to pay. AND the CRU not only wiped out the $3 million CCA deficit but also increased the town's savings by almost a million dollars.

The financial data above from the state Auditor General shows these are facts, not CCA fiction.

How your choice affects your taxes

The CCA has always made a big deal about the tax rate. Considering these numbers, they can’t honestly claim they had some magic formula to keep taxes low (aside from providing almost no municipal services). However, that won’t stop them from making the claim they are the best when it comes to taxes - all facts to the contrary.

The actual tax you pay is based on the rate multiplied by your property tax assessment. Those property tax assessments have risen sharply since non-residents found they can buy luxury beach properties here at far cheaper prices than, for example, the Hamptons. They have been paying far more than assessed value for Charlestown beach property, in some cases, almost DOUBLE.

Recent examples:

491 East Beach Road near Blue Shutters. Assessed at just under $2 million. Sold for $3.65 million.

419 West Beach Road. Assessed at $3.95 million. Sold for $7.5 million, the record so far this year.

59 Ninigret Ave. Assessed at $2.3 million. Just sold for $4 million.

Data from the Charlestown Tax Assessor database HERE.

These purchases are great for our tax base, making the tax rate an insignificant factor by contrast. But these purchases drastically increase the assessments for the rest of us, even though we are unlikely to get buyers to pay us so much more than assessed value. Not all of us live on the beach.

The CCA messed up the money

The CCA can use big donations from such non-residents to print glossy, wordy flyers claiming they are the best at managing the money, but the hard facts from the RI Auditor General shows otherwise.

Since ousting the CCA Council majority, along with their toadies former Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz and Budget Commission Chair Dick Sartor, the CRU has turned around Charlestown’s finances.

And the CRU did it without drama. Without shady land deals. Despite the chaos the CCA left behind including a merry-go-round of auditors and the resistance of the CCA to bringing in outside expertise to figure out what went wrong, the CRU has, according to the Auditor General, has cleaned up most of the CCA’s mess.

Here is Auditor General David Bergantino's summary analysis: 

Auditor General report, page 17

In addition to keeping Deb Carney, Rippy Serra, Steve Stokes and Peter Slom in office, please also support Craig Marr for Council. We all know his success at running the Breachway Grill. CRU offers Charlestown continued steady stewardship over the town’s money.

Here's the official end-of-session wrap

This year at the General Assembly

STATE HOUSE — Here are the highlights from news and events that took place in the General Assembly this year. For more information on any of these items visit http://www.rilegislature.gov/pressrelease

 

HEALTH CARE

§  Several bills that were included in the Senate leadership’s HEALTH (Holistic Enhancement and Access Legislation for Total Health) initiative were enacted by General Assembly, including bills to join five interstate licensing compacts to make it easier for Rhode Islanders to access the care they need and budget provisions to use $1 million of general revenue to purchase medical debts of struggling Rhode Islanders and incentivize providers to enter primary care fields.

§  The Assembly included over $160 million from all sources to fully fund the plan recommended by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates next year, including $3.8 million for Early Intervention providers.

§  The legislature passed the Healthcare Provider Shield Act to protect medical providers who provide transgender and reproductive health care services in Rhode Island from civil or criminal suits from other states or their residents.

 

HOUSING

·       Legislators approved and sent to the governor several bills included in the legislative package put forth by Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) to address the state’s housing crisis.  Many of the bills are aimed at speeding housing production by streamlining and removing roadblocks in permitting processes.

·       Lawmakers provided a boost to housing production by helping Rhode Islanders to develop accessory dwelling units on their property.

·       Legislators put forth a $120 million bond question on the November ballot to support more affordable housing creation. The bond would provide $80 million for affordable housing, $20 million for acquisition and revitalization, $10 million for homeownership programs, $5 million for site acquisition, $4 million for housing-related infrastructure and $1 million for municipal planning.

 

The Real Truths of Retirement Accounts

They’re no substitute for real pensions but remember Voltaire

By Gerald E. Scorse, Progressive Charlestown guest columnist

Nearly half a century ago, on Labor Day 1974, President Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The bill created Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and essentially paved the way for 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and a host of imitations.

Retirement experts have been beating up on the accounts ever since. Two fresh examples aim specifically at 401(k)s, easily the most common of the type.

One was an in-depth article asking a serious question, “Was the 401(k) a Mistake?” The answer, equally serious, was an emphatic “yes”. By coincidence, the second critique also asked a serious question and delivered a “yes” answer: “Should Your 401(k) Be Eliminated to Save Social Security Benefits?”

The primary fault of 401(k)s and all comparable accounts—undeniable fifty years ago and undeniable today—is that they simply can’t compare to pensions. Employers put up the money for pensions, investing it on behalf of their workers. The workers collect when they retire, getting fixed monthly amounts (and often cost-of-living increases as well) for the rest of their lives.

 

At some point those workers will also be drawing Social Security, so they’ll be savoring financial double-dips for all of their later years.

 

Retirement plans are almost the exact opposite of pensions. Workers put up their own money (though employers, especially in more recent years, have kicked in something as well).  There are no guaranteed monthly returns down the road. There’s actually no guaranteed anything: the value of the accounts goes up one day and down the next, and where it ends nobody knows.

 

No wonder, then, that retirement experts have never been fans of IRAs, 401(k)s and the like. And yet, and yet: maybe the picture isn’t quite as bleak as it’s long been painted.

 

Nearly-$14B budget plan breezes through Rhode Island House on 69-5 vote Friday

New budget even draws a few GOP votes

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Finalizing the state’s annual spending plan is often a contentious, drawn-out process.

Not this year. A $13.96 billion fiscal 2025 budget breezed through the Rhode Island House of Representatives Friday night.

The 69-5 vote came after a mere 3 1/2 hours of discussion that included high praise for funding of critical and often contested issues like state pensions for retirees, K-12 education and health care provider rates. 

“Through this budget, we are emphasizing education at every level and supporting children,” House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said in a statement Friday night. 

“This budget is the result of a truly collaborative process between my colleagues here in the House, the dedicated members of the House Finance Committee, our partners in the Senate and Governor McKee and his team to carefully create a plan that meets Rhode Island’s needs for education, students and children first, while addressing our challenges, such as housing and health care.”

The $13.96 billion spending plan falls just shy of the $14 billion high water mark that characterized fiscal 2024’s approved spending plan, but is $271 million more than what Gov. Dan McKee proposed in January. 

Four of the nine Republican members, including House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale, also voted for the revised spending plan. Chippendale credited Shekarchi and the leadership team for giving deference, and a listening ear, to his party’s priorities.

Education, housing and health care come out on top in lawmakers’ revised fiscal 2025 budget

More progressive than McKee budget

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (right)

Good news for transit riders, Medicaid providers and public school students, all of whom stand to benefit from the revised fiscal 2025 budget given first passage by a panel of House lawmakers Friday night.

The $13.9 billion spending plan unveiled late Friday falls just shy of the $14 billion high water mark that characterized fiscal 2024’s approved spending plan, but is $271 million more than what Gov. Dan McKee proposed in January.

The updated spending plan includes enough money to stave off service cuts at the financially struggling Rhode Island Public Transit Authority while offering Medicaid providers long-awaited reimbursement rate hikes in a single year, rather than the three-year incremental uptick McKee proposed. Meanwhile, a nearly $33.8 million boost in state aid for K-12 schools, above what McKee called for, will offset a steep drop in federal funding, along with more dollars for multilingual learners.

State Treasurer James Diossa lists legislative priorities

Secure Choice, Crime Victim Compensation, and Baby Bonds

STEVE AHLQUIST

Treasurer Diossa was joined by Catherine Taylor, State Director of the AARP; Oscar Mejias, CEO of the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Kristina Contreras-Fox, Director of Policy at the Rhode Island Black Business Association; Peg Langhammer, Executive Director at Day One; Vanessa Volz, Executive Director at Sojourner House; Dr. Darrick Hamilton, Professor of Economics and Urban Policy at the New School; and Nina Harrison, Policy Director at the Economic Progress Institute.

Rhode Island General Treasurer James Diossa unveiled his legislative priorities during a roundtable meeting with community stakeholders in the State House Library. 

During the program, Treasurer Diossa advanced three ideas that he maintains are investments in Rhode Islanders - the Secure Choice Act, a Crime Victim Compensation Program package, and the Rhode Island Baby Bond Trust Act.

You can watch the full roundtable here.

The path to the best possible Christmas

Influential far-right think tank plots out its agenda for America

What Harm Did ALEC Plot at Its 2nd Big 2023 Summit?

DAVID ARMIAK, Center For Media & Democracy

State lawmakers, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives got together in Scottsdale, Arizona, last week for the 2023 States and Nation Policy Summit hosted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. The summit—one of the largest annual gatherings of the ALEC faithful, along with the summer meeting—caps off ALEC’s 50th anniversary year.

Following its 50th Annual Meeting in July, ALEC held a formal gala on October 4 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., where attendees were met with protests highlighting the pay-to-play group’s “50 Years of Harm.” 

ALEC also organized a “50th Anniversary Policy Day” at the U.S. Capitol that featured discussions on artificial intelligence; environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investment strategies; school privatization; and the “state tax cut revolution,” as an agenda obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) details.

Meeting at the four-star Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, ALEC politicians considered model policies and resolutions related to an Article V constitutional convention, so-called “woke” capitalism, school curricula, the environment, gutting regulations, and more.

Settlement in the Auto Workers strike?

United Auto Workers union hails its tentative strike-ending deals with Ford and Stellantis

Raises top assembly-plant hourly pay to more than $40 as ‘record contracts’

Marick Masters, Wayne State University

UAW members attended a rally in support of the labor union’s strike on Oct. 7, 2023, in Chicago. Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

The United Auto Workers union agreed on tentative new contracts with Ford Motor Co. on Oct. 25, 2023, and Stellantis, the global automaker that makes Chrysler, Dodge and Ram vehicles in North America, on Oct. 28. The tentative deals halted a six-week strike that remains in place for General Motors. The strike, the industry’s longest in 25 years, began on Sept. 15, when the UAW’s prior contracts with all three automakers expired.

Ford released a statement in which it said it was “pleased” to have reached a deal and “focused on restarting Kentucky Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant and Chicago Assembly Plant.” Stellantis, likewise, looks forward to “resuming operations,” one of its executives said in a statement.

The Conversation asked Marick Masters, a Wayne State University scholar of labor and business issues, to explain what’s in these contracts and their significance.

Gabe Amo and his GOP opponent in CD-1 race file financial disclosures

One CD1 candidate has credit card debt; the other collects a six-figure pension

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Republican Congressional hopeful Gerry Leonard is receiving nearly $150,000 a year between his military pension and disability pay, while Democratic rival Gabe Amo lost his six-figure salary when he quit his White House job in April – and has up to $15,000 in credit card debt.

That’s according to financial statements each candidate filed with the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.

Federal law requires that members of the U.S. House of Representatives and candidates who raise or spend more than $5,000 on their campaigns share some details of their personal finances by submitting public, written financial disclosures to the House clerk. The 2023 documents — due by May 15 or once they raise or spend $5,000 — include financial statements up to the filing period and cover all of calendar year 2022.

What unions actually deliver

Treasury Department releases first-of-its-kind report on benefits of unions to the US economy

By Pete Marchese

The Treasury Department today is releasing its most comprehensive ever look at the role that labor unions play in the American economy with a new report by the Department’s Office of Economic Policy. 

The report represents one of the over 70 actions implemented by the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, chaired by Vice President Harris. 

The report finds that unions play an important role in addressing longstanding challenges faced by the middle class – including stagnant wages, high housing costs, and reduced intergenerational mobility.  In doing so, unions contribute to a more robust and resilient economy.

President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Yellen and the Administration have consistently championed the rights of workers and the role of strong labor unions in contributing to a thriving middle-class and economy – including through good-paying jobs, safe working conditions, and equitable treatment for workers. 

The report’s key findings are:

Rep. Magaziner Pushes Back Against Republican Attacks on Socially Responsible Investing

Argues sensible investing protects pensioners from liability

Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02), a founding member of the Congressional Sustainable Investment Caucus, joined his colleagues in condemning Republicans’ attacks on worker and retiree savings through their misguided war on “ESG investing.”

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have declared July “ESG month,” voting on bills that will erode the retirement savings of working people by forbidding investors from considering environmental, social or corporate governance (ESG) risks that companies face when making investment decisions. 

Research has shown that companies that take steps to mitigate their environmental footprint, invest in consumer and workplace safety, and promote corporate diversity, among other ESG factors, tend to outperform their peers over the long-term. 

However, congressional Republicans remain determined to advance culture wars at the expense of working people by banning ESG considerations from investing.  

Losers from the 2023 legislative session

Some important issues were passed over: AR-15 ban, police reform, and more

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

Even $14 billion can’t buy happiness for everyone. 

The state’s fiscal 2024 spending plan and flurry of end-of-session legislation still left policymakers and reformers hanging on high-profile topics ranging from police reform and gun safety to the controversy-ridden Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. 

Here are the biggest losers from the 2023 session. (There were some winners too).

LEOBOR reform

The latest proposal to reform the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) passed the Rhode Island Senate on the final day of the session, but never made it to the House.

The legislation, sponsored by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, would have expanded hearing panels to five members. Panels currently consist of three people — one chosen by an accused officer, one chosen by the chief of police, and a third chosen by both or a presiding Rhode Island Superior Court judge. 

Under Ruggerio’s bill, members included three randomly selected officers, a representative from the Nonviolence Institute and a retired judge appointed by the chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. 

The bill also would have allowed police chiefs to release video evidence and make public comments concerning the accused officer.

Other bills seeking to reform or abolish LEOBOR were held in committee.

Gun safety advocates

Despite support from the state’s executive branch and a visit from a high-profile activist, the Rhode Island General Assembly failed to act on two bills seeking to tighten Rhode Island’s gun laws.

One bill would have banned the possession, sale, and transfer of semi-automatic firearms with certain features including detachable magazines or a folding stock. The other piece of legislation required that firearms be safely stored to prevent access by persons prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.

Both bills were held in committee for further study.

RIPTA (mostly)

The state’s $14 billion spending package does not include designated funding for the financially endangered Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), despite projections that the agency is headed toward a fiscal cliff.

RIPTA is projecting a $40 million budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year, which the agency projects could lead to 400 layoffs and drastic cuts to service.

It’s not all bad for RIPTA, as the agency will get $750,000 to continue its free fare bus route service along the “R-Line” — which travels from Pawtucket to Providence. 

The fare program began last September and will end at the end of August. RIPTA will track ridership data and submit a report to the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate, and the Governor no later than March 1, 2024.

Retired state employees

The ghost of past pension reforms returned to haunt the State House this session, with retired state workers and public school teachers calling on lawmakers to resurrect the cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) that were suspended more than a decade ago. While the fiscal 2024 budget offers some improvement – a much-reduced annual COLA rather than a lump, quadrennial sum and plans for a comprehensive study of the pension reform –  it was hardly the revival that retirees wanted. 

One potential outlier: working firefighters who suffer heart attacks on the job, who could now qualify for disability pensions under legislation passed in the final throes of the session. Assuming, that is, that Gov. Dan McKee does not veto the bill as the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns has called on him to do, citing the cost to taxpayers.

CRMC

The embattled Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council was the target of a flurry of bills this session that would have reformed, or even gotten rid of, the politically appointed council at the source of most of the controversy. Yet nearly all these pieces of legislation never made it out of committee in their respective chambers, minus one, successful bill that turns the executive director job into a governor-appointed role. 

Another small, but significant win for coastal reform advocates: the 11th-hour confirmation of a full-time hearing officer, filling a position that has sat empty (despite being funded) for more than a year. 

Inmates

The push to address solitary confinement in Rhode Island will also have to wait for a future session. The legislation, sponsored in the Senate by Central Falls Democrat Jonathan Acosta with a House companion bill by Rep. Leonela Felix, a Pawtucket Democrat, would have limited the maximum length of time a person can spend in solitary confinement. 

Both bills were held in committee for further study.

Legislators and activists sought to cap an inmate’s stay in restrictive housing at 15 days, which the United Nations says is the maximum amount of time someone can spend in solitary confinement before it counts as torture.

Many activists say the conditions inmates face in isolation have led them to die by suicide.

The legislation was opposed by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC), with Acting DOC Director Wayne Salisbury testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March that the bill was too broad to be applied to Rhode Island and could lead to “disastrous results.” The department also disputed the use of the term “solitary confinement” by advocates.

DUI legislation

Also stalled in committee was a package of bills that would crack down on impaired and reckless driving. One bill, sponsored by Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, sought to extend the limit on prior offenses that police take into consideration when charging an impaired driver with a more serious repeat offense from five to 10 years.

Another bill, also sponsored in the Senate by Raptakis, would have made the maximum prison term for killing someone due to impaired driving 30 years — double the state’s current penalty. 

Payday lending reform

Efforts to rid Rhode Island of predatory payday lending practices stopped short of passage, though the proposal still advanced further than ever before with overwhelming support by the Rhode Island House (it never got out of committee on the Senate side). While the triple-digit, small-dollar loans are still available in the Ocean State for now, reformers will no doubt use the momentum from this session to try and ban deferred deposit providers once and for all next year.

Heirs of estates above $1.7M

Though Massachusetts lawmakers appear poised to ease estate taxes, attempts to offer the same relief to Rhode Island heirs and beneficiaries proved unsuccessful. Various proposals to increase Rhode Island’s estate tax exemption over the current $1.73 million threshold  – or get rid of it entirely – proved unsuccessful despite warnings from lawmakers about losing wealthy residents, and their tax dollars, to states with better death tax policies. 

Meanwhile, Massachusetts lawmakers are still considering doubling their exemption to $2 million, which would leave Rhode Island as one of two states with a less competitive policy.

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Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and Twitter.