To the Editor:

An open letter to “Governor” McKee and the General Assembly regarding Article 2 of H5076, i.e., the proposed FY 26 Budget.

“Governor” McKee, perhaps some background on what you are attempting to do to Rhode Island is appropriate? The 2011 Rhode Island Retirement Security Act (RIRSA 2011) included RIGL 35-6-1(d), the purpose of which was to require that all future state budget surpluses be deposited into the pension fund to help restore it to full funding.

Back in 2011, then-Treasurer Gina Raimondo promised that RIGL 35-6-1(d) was part of the pension reform package and was enacted into law to be an annually recurring function.

After becoming governor in 2015, Raimondo went back on her word and RIGL 35-6-1(d) [now subsection “(e)”] was rewritten to reduce the ERSRI deposit from 100% of excess revenues to only 50% and to allow the other 50% to be used to balance the annual state budget instead of being used strictly to restore the pension fund. Any wonder that the pension fund has been slow to recover?

When word of your attempt to “scoop” approximately $21.6 million, 50% of the FY24 surplus, from being deposited into the pension fund as required under RIGL 35-6-1, came to light, the board of the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI), speaking as one, voted on 9 April to send to the governor and all members of the General Assembly a resolution expressing its “strong opposition to any redirection or non-transfer of surplus revenues, which are statutorily required to be transferred to the Employees’ Retirement System.”

Further, the board’s Resolution in Opposition to Art 2, Section 3, questioned the efficacy of denying the ERSRI, which has been struggling to undo a level of unfunded liability for over 14 years to which it is statutorily entitled! Of note, since RIRSA was enacted, the RI budget has almost doubled, increasing from approximately $7.7 billion to over $14 billion!

One hopes that every RI union will join in the effort to stop the governor’s attempt to blatantly usurp the money, which is not McKee's money, but state budget money that was directed by RIGL to be deposited into the pension fund for this sole purpose! What gives him the right to change the law?

In my opinion, it has been your hubris and lack of “fiscal oversight” that has contributed to the current state of affairs in Rhode Island. From thousands of Rhode Islanders suffering in the traffic over the Washington Bridge (we are still waiting for your self-proclaimed “Day of Reckoning), to the possible collapse of our health care system, I could go on ad infinitum!

Your recent proposed pay raises for your senior advisors, while attempting to deny the over 60,000 members of ERSRI funds statutorily required to be transferred to the Employees’ Retirement System, is beyond the pale. Your justification for the raises is that they “will help keep Rhode Island competitive in attracting and retaining top talent for crucial leadership positions.”

In my opinion, Governor McKee, you have no ethics, no honor and no integrity!

To quote Cromwell’s address to the rump Parliament back in 1653, “It is not fit that you should sit here any longer. You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing lately … In the name of God go.“

But, before you go, please withdraw the surplus revenue "scoop" from your FY 2026 Budget.

A.G. “Aldo” Palazzo, CDR USN (Ret)

West Warwick