A dozen good government organizations schedule press conference on Monday, April 12th, 3pm, State House entrance on Smith Street to remind every General Assembly member that public sector union leadership does not corner the market on political endorsements. Real people have real votes. Representatives and senators will lose the people’s votes if they do not uphold their responsibility to pass a supplemental budget that is in the best interest of all taxpayers in this state.
We are at the State House on April 12th to counter the unions whose leadership has rallied their membership to be there as well, one big happy family as it were! If you stand with us then feel free to join with:
The Rhode island Tea Party; Ocean State Policy Research Institute; the East Providence Taxpayers Association; local Tea Party leaders of the East Bay Patriots, the Westerly Tea Party, the Warwick Tea Party, the RI Tea Party’s senior outreach committee, the South County Tea Party, Blackstone Valley Tea Party, the Cumberland/Lincoln Tea Party and the North Kingstown Taxpayers Association and Refoundri. We implore General Assembly members to do right by all taxpayers in Rhode Island by including in the supplemental budget a mandatory minimum of 15% health insurance cost share for all public sector employees and by stopping automatic annual cost of living increases for public sector retirees. We are in the hole. Stop dancing around the edges. Stop spending money we do not have.
We remind the General Assembly that the supplemental budget is meant to provide long-term structural solutions to years of over-spending. This does not mean raiding the rainy day fund. This does not mean re-mortgaging the public pension.
We implore the General Assembly to hold fast to Article 9 of the supplemental budget that requires the approval of a collective bargaining agreement between a school committee and representatives of teachers and/or other school employees by the city or town council(s) in which the school district is located. We implore the General Assembly to require at least one public hearing to review the collective bargaining agreement prior to city or town council approval.
And finally, we implore the General Assembly to accept the RI Association of School Committees’ budget amendment to require the president or chair of every City and Town Council to serve as a member of the school committee’s negotiating team for the collective bargaining agreements subject to city and town council approval.
We implore the General Assembly to hold fast to Article 16 to rein in cost of living increases.
The taxpayers don’t need anymore “pain to be spread around” as House Finance Chair Costantino said. We the people have endured “the pain” for too long.
Be at the Tax Day Tea Party Rally on Thursday, April 15th, 3-6pm, State House, mall side.
Press Release: Rhode Island Tea Party
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