2023 -- H 6019 | |
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LC002183 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 | |
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N | |
SUPPORTING THE REINSTATEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND STATE WORKER | |
PENSIONERS COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS (COLAS) | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Place, Chippendale, Vella-Wilkinson, Noret, Finkelman, | |
Date Introduced: March 01, 2023 | |
Referred To: House Finance | |
1 | WHEREAS, In November of 2011, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted into law |
2 | the Rhode Island Retirement Security Act of 2011, which suspended COLA payments for all |
3 | State Employees, Teachers, Judges, State Police, BHDDH Nurses and Correctional Officers until |
4 | the plan’s funding level for all groups, calculated in the aggregate, exceeded 80 percent. It was |
5 | projected that this would occur in 2031; and |
6 | WHEREAS, Depending on economic factors, currently, for members with a suspended |
7 | COLA, an interim COLA is calculated and awarded every four years during the suspension |
8 | period. The "4-Year" COLA was last awarded in 2021, and is scheduled to be awarded next in |
9 | 2025; and |
10 | WHEREAS, The annual inflation rate for the United States, according to U.S. Labor |
11 | Department data was 6.5 percent for the 12 months that ended on December 2022, after rising 7.1 |
12 | percent previously. This rise in prices has critically reduced the purchasing power of consumers, |
13 | many of whom had already been negatively affected by COVID-19 shut-downs, lay-offs, |
14 | furloughs and unemployment spiking to 18.4 percent, the highest in state records going back to |
15 | 1976; and |
16 | WHEREAS, In response to these economic factors, Social Security benefits and |
17 | Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments have increased by 8.7 percent in 2023, based on |
18 | increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers; and |
19 | WHEREAS, Rhode Island’s 2022-23 fiscal year ended with a surplus of more than $600 |
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1 | million; now, therefore be it |
2 | RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
3 | supports the reinstatement of Rhode Island State Worker Pensioners Cost-of- Living Adjustments |
4 | (COLA). |
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LC002183 | |
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