Closing 2023 Piece: The Unraveling of Gina Raimondo's 2011 Pension Raid-And Why You Should Care
The US Commerce Secretary's signature pension legislation in Rhode Island is receiving increasing backlash, along with her past Rhode Island track record as a whole. A special photobook edition
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is facing a rude awakening in Rhode Island that will haunt her future national political ambitions.
This Pension Commission meeting is at the epicenter of a growing new resistance (see Journal article from longtime veteran journalist Katherine Gregg, and full video footage on RI Capitol TV).
State retirees and others came to testify about the “unintended consequences” of the 2011 state pension law.
The consequences? Staffing shortages because people did not want to work in Rhode Island with lower pension benefits relative to Massachusetts or Connecticut. Increased turnover in the current workforce. A new generation of young workers not wanting to work in fire, police, or other state jobs (including 911 dispatchers) because they have no faith that after working decades that their pension will be safe & guaranteed. Retirees who struggle to pay their mortgages who had to go out and work to supplement their gutted pensions. Groceries and other necessities becoming an increasing hardship due to the drastic reduction in retirement benefits. Retirees who worked their adult life only to have promises broken, and now living on a completely reduced fixed income. Even more troubling: most of them are women.
There is more to this though.
On the pension front, Raimondo’s covert efforts to win support through public pressure, like dark money Super PACs in the form of Engage RI (feel free to Google this term when you can). Some retirees and state lawmakers expounded on that in great detail. They even brought printed articles from 2013 and before regarding the operations of Wall Street and Corporate America. They mentioned state lawmakers who were purged from office by Raimondo and Engage RI (like Spencer Dickinson, Rene Menard, and Roberto DaSilva). Her deal with the Pension Board and Wall Street cohorts back in 2011 & 2012 to hide the alternative investment records that outline the actual health of the pension system and its handling of state taxpayer dollars. Despite what was promised by Raimondo in her investment portfolio approach, the system significantly underperformed expectations.
And to call this out once and for all, the farcical “blind trust.” If ever there was a misnomer, it applies here. The only asset in the blind trust was Point Judith Capital. There were no other investments whatsoever in this “blind trust.” Therefore, Raimondo knew exactly how her trust would turn out. The only blind element was the deception of the people of Rhode Island.
Her statewide record of 10 years plus is a high-powered political illusion. Ongoing developments at Eleanor Slater Hospital were reported just this Friday by the press that started with the Raimondo Administration’s mismanagement of this last-resort facility for those with severe disabilities. The pension debacle and disgraceful treatment of our most vulnerable population at Eleanor Slater alone are emblematic of her entire public career in Rhode Island, which is just smoke and mirrors. It comes down to these themes: conflicts of interest, lapses (if not obstruction) in government transparency, and administrative dysfunction & negligence.
Yet, she continues to crank up the public relations machine in anticipation of her future political aspirations. As she came home for a fundraiser almost two months ago, she had time to give Lesley Stahl an interview for 60 Minutes, but would not even acknowledge well-known local reporters, let alone give them any hint of access.
Raimondo’s infatuation with Enron’s John Arnold (who received an $8 million bonus right before his company went under) and media billionaire Michael Bloomberg (the latter whom she backed for President over her current boss Joe Biden) reveal her true colors as opposed to her manufactured & phony “Gina from Greenville” image.
All of this conduct is-and will continue to be-the basis of growing calls for the launching of federal criminal investigations surrounding Rhode Island state government, and possibly of the US Commerce Department itself (see previous petitions on Change.org, MoveOn, and IPetitions).
Give the retirees more support at the upcoming event (whether at the State House or CCRI) on January 17th, 2024 in support of their COLA Restoration campaign and for broader reforms in state & federal government.
And Have a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
The RI Budget has increased approximately 85% since RIRSA2011 was passed! From $7.8 Billion to over $14 Billion! Think about that!
The Budget increase is roughly 3 times the CPI. (34% vs 87%!) What was the justification? Despite Gina Raimondo’s “Fiscal Crisis it has increased approximately three and half times the Pension Fund Shortfall! Two Billion at the time! Under Gina Raimondo, a CONTRACT was NOT really a CONTRACT if the State deemed it to be Politically Expedient!
When I hear that a 2% COLA will be restored in 2031 or a possible 3% COLA in 2034, I just shake my head. How many of believe that ALL of the Retirees will still be here in 2034?
The very idea that this is the State’s GOAL, i.e. wait until the Elderly Retirees pass on, is both Ethically and Morally Reprehensible! And after all, wasn't that the original plan?