Fiscal Policy
Turning debate into bickering over legislation that would increase departmental budgets by eight percent, Rep. James McGovern (D, MA) offered this irrelevancy: “The same people who drove the economy into the ditch are now complaining about the size of the tow truck,” said Rep. James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, pointing out the large increase…
One of the most unenlightening debates that has resulted from the financial crisis has been the one where advocates of defined benefit pension plans argue that the market crash proves that 401(k)-style plans can’t work and therefore we need to increase the number of people in defined benefit plans, while advocates of 401(k)s argue that…
We all should be vitally interested in the goings-on in Washington, DC, regarding the Stimulus Package that’s making its way through Congress. The news reports may make it seem complicated and far away, but it won’t be long before the effects of what our lawmakers do to us on this matter come right home to…
Yesterday, Marc and Monique noted that the “stimulus” sticker is being slapped on boxes of the Democrats favorite things. It may be the giddy air of Washington, these days, that brought forth from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the comment: “Would we have ever thought we would see the day when we’d be using that terminology…
Rhode Island’s General Treasurer is also the chair of the state’s investment commission, which as part of its duties determines the asset allocation of the state pension fund. (Professional fund managers then decide specifically which funds to put the money in). Breaking news: You may have heard that that markets did not do so well…
During Anchor Rising’s interview of Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio, Treasurer Caprio presented the results of several case studies illustrating how the pension reforms implemented in 2005 have helped bring the cost of Rhode Island’s pension system in line relative to the other New England states. One set of analyses compared benefits owed to…
Valley Breeze publisher Tom Ward offers a proposal for modifying cost-of-living pension increases that’s softer than a total freeze… What is the better way to handle COLAs and save money? Follow the lead of our surrounding states, that’s how. In Massachusetts, all state employees get a 3 percent raise on the first $12,000 of their…
For those interested in full detail, the complete text of the Governor’s budget proposal is already available from the Rhode Island Legislature’s website. I recommend the PDF version over the HTML in this case, since it’s a little easier to tell what’s being added and what’s being removed in the PDF scheme. Let me add…
Governor Carcieri’s proposal has two major ongoing items relating to non-disability pensions…Elimination of cost-of-living adjustments for state and municipal employees who retire after April 1, 2009.Establishment of a minimum retirement age of 59 for state and municipal employees, including teachers, to be eligible for retirement.Also, the Governor’s plan calls for only 25% of the state…
Here’s an index of the major items in Governor Donald Carcieri’s supplemental budget reconciliation plan. “Major” in this context is defined as any item saving $10 million or more for FY2009; the 10 items below account for $305 million of the $357 million deficit (85% of the total). Eliminate General Revenue Sharing to Cities and…
