Record of Testimony

In 2011, the state of R.I. passed a piece of legislation commonly referred to as RIRSA. The passage of this law had profound effects upon the lives of numerous public service employees. As a law, it is my belief that RIRSA was neither “fair” nor “just”.

I taught music at North Providence High School for 29 years. I retired in 1997 to answer a call to full time ministry. At the time I was promised an 3% annual COLA as part of my retirement package.

Hello and thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you regarding the proposed improvements to the teacher pension system.

My name is Scott Breguet and I have been a Woonsocket Police officer since Nov. 2009.

I am one of the active Rhode Island employees who has severely felt the impact of the Pension Overhaul under Governor Raimondo. I have been a state employee for 30 years with the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.

I retired from the Providence Public School Department in June 2011. My decision to retire was based on numerous factors happening concurrently in Providence ( all teachers were fired, my school closed and a new position was not guaranteed to me). After serious consideration, I chose to retire.

Thank you for this opportunity to voice my opinion about the 2011 pension reform bill. As a Police Officer in the City of Woonsocket, I paid an additional 1% of my weekly paycheck specifically for the COLA.

I want to address the issue of the Rhode Island State Police Retirees Cola situation and give you a little background on what we all went through to earn our Cola.

As the pension advisory group winds down, a recommendation will be forthcoming. If the recommendation is based only on financials the COLA will not be restored. If it is based on ethics it will be. I have written to many of the state leaders and General Assembly members.

I am a municipal police officer for the City of Woonsocket. Our pension payment weekly is tied to how many hours we work. Officers that work overtime shifts pay more into a pension that will only return a set amount, and without recent cost of living increases for many years.