Rep. Costa calls on Judge Taft-Carter to lift gag order on details of pension settlement

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STATE HOUSE – Representative Doreen Costa (R- District 31, North Kingstown, Exeter)
urges Judge Taft-Carter to lift the recent gag order on all of the details of the latest pension settlement agreement

“The general assembly is where law is created, not in the courts. We made the difficult but necessary decision to approve pension reform in 2011”, stated Representative Costa. “Here we are in 2015 without a definitive answer from the courts in response to the unions’ lawsuit. To make matters worse, the legislature has been marginalized throughout the entire process of mediation. This is the second time around that a settlement agreement was reached and it is the second time around that the legislature was denied a seat at the table.”
 
Costa continued, “Every member of the legislature should be privy to all of the details that have been agreed to behind closed doors. This settlement agreement was reached without regard to the fact that it is the legislature that will make the decision as to whether or not the settlement agreement will go forward. Taxpayers should not be left in the dark only to read what the media has been able to eek out.”
 
“I urge Judge Taft-Carter to lift the gag order. Rhode Island does not need to have yet another example of failing to disclose critical information to the state’s entire general assembly. The future status of our pension system is of the utmost importance to all Rhode Islanders and has certainly proven to be on a national level. We all know that we have been closely watched by politicians and stakeholders across the country.”

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