Tentative deals forged in ill., Providence, R.I., to save money on retiree pensions, health care

Jun 1 2012

Officials report accords with public employees restricting pension increases in order to keep the programs solvent. Both deals also involve changes to retiree health care programs..

The New York Times: Rhode Island: Deal May Avert Bankruptcy
A tentative deal between the city of Providence and its workers and retirees will prevent the city from going into bankruptcy, Mayor Angel Taveras said Wednesday. Mr. Taveras announced that retirees, current safety officials and current municipal workers agreed to a 10-year suspension of cost-of-living increases for most pensions --and limitations thereafter -- and the migration of their health care plans onto Medicare (Bidgood, 5/30).

Chicago Sun-Times: Madigan Announces Possible Pension Reform Deal In Springfield
House Speaker Michael Madigan announced a possible breakthrough late Wednesday on a pension reform deal just hours after facing bitter GOP accusations of slashing juvenile diabetes funding to punish two Republican leaders with diabetic children. … The move came after a day of stalemate and acrimony over a pension deal, which is designed to right the state's massively underfunded pension systems by making current and retired state employees and teachers accept lower post-retirement pension increases in exchange for keeping state-subsidized health care as retirees (McKinney, 5/31).