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February 2, 2012
Providence on the Brink of Bankruptcy
As Andrew mentioned, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras held a press conference this morning and painted a grim picture for Providence unless some remedies are found to close the budget gap. Ian Donnis summarizes
– Taveras says the city is pursuing an expedited state Supreme Court review of Super Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter’s decision barring the city from moving public-safety retirees into Medicare.Ian will have more details soon.– Taveras was joined by House Speaker Gordon Fox, who said he’ll go to the wall to help Providence avoid going into bankruptcy. Fox said this could include passing legislation requiring contributions to the city by tax-exempt institutions.
– Taveras announced plans for an early March “Town Hall” with retirees at the Rhode Island Convention Center. It will also be carried online for retirees who can’t make it to the event.
– Taveras says the city is due to run out of money in June, and a decision will be made by then about whether to seek a supplemental tax increase. He called that a last resort and said he doesn’t want to solve Providence’s budget problems with a temporary fix.
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Posted by: Tommy Cranston at February 2, 2012 1:18 PMBetter dig out those "A Promise Made Is A Promise Kept" signs from Pat Crowley and Council 94.
Sure worked for them...
LOL
"Taveras announced plans for an early March “Town Hall” with retirees at the Rhode Island Convention Center. It will also be carried online for retirees who can’t make it to the event."
I'm going to cook up a big bowl of popcorn to watch that event live. A couple of fellow refugees have expressed interest as well. It's sure to be better entertainment than any of the usual crap on television or sporting events.
Be sure to get there early for a good seat, Michael. Will the caped crusader be making an appearance to give his impassioned "dishonoring the heroes" speech? I would spend pay-per-view money to watch that.
Posted by: Dan at February 2, 2012 1:22 PMI don't know much about municipal bankruptcy (Chapter 9 is it?) because it was so rarely seen, until late.
Since "everything is on the table" bankruptcy seems the obvious answer, it is the system which puts "everything on the table". "Negotiations" can be held to a minimum and there is always a referee. We dug ourselves a hole,let's go for it. The retirees? Well they were in there wielding shovels right along with everyone else. Since the federal government basically guarantees pensions, can the retirees find balm in COBRA, ERISA,etc. Theoretically, bankrutcy should not effect pension rights, but there is an assumption that they are fully funded.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at February 2, 2012 5:54 PMWarrington,
Everything I've seen on the subject says that the guarantees for private sector pensions extended by the Federal government through the PBGC do not extend to public sector plans.
Posted by: Andrew at February 2, 2012 6:24 PMAndrew,
I had a girlfriend whose father was sued in retirement for not fully funding his employee's pensions. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see a few former mayors stood before the mast.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at February 2, 2012 9:07 PM"I'm going to cook up a big bowl of popcorn to watch that event live. "
LOL. That is going to be a better show than the Super Bowl. Lets have a pool on how many minutes till we hear "we paid our share ever week just like we were supposed to".
Posted by: Tommy Cranston at February 2, 2012 10:02 PMThe Ballad Of Paul Doughty-What Part Of BROKE Don't You Understand?
Posted by: Tommy Cranston at February 2, 2012 10:10 PMwww.youtube.com/watch?v=wnl7HDWduAU