Tagged: Gina Raimondo

Glimmers of Lincoln Chafee's campaign message for 2014 are starting to emerge as part of the media offensive in support his latest budget.

EngageRI, the pro-pension overhaul group started with encouragement from state Treasurer Gina Raimondo, is reminding Governor Lincoln Chafee of how pension savings made possible many of the initiatives in his new budget.

EngageRI chairman John Galvin says in a statement:

(PROVIDENCE, RI) State treasurer Gina Raimondo has written letters to House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed expressing strong support for the marriage equality bill now in the legislative pipeline.  

The letters read in part: “Marrying my husband Andy 11 years ago was the best decision of my life and we have two beautiful children together. Every Rhode Islander who wants to be in a loving and committed marriage should have the same rights as we do.”  

Fox aims to begin hearings on the bill next week.

A former head of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service -- the government arm mediating Rhode Island's pension dispute among eight parties -- calls the case "the mother of all mediations."

Peter J. Hurtgen, who led the FMCS from 2002 through 2004, says a subset of the eight parties in mediation could potentially reach some areas of agreement among themselves. But he says the complexity of the case makes it unusually fraught for mediation:

The fate of the 2011 pension overhaul in mediation is among the top issues facing the state starting this month. As we transition into the New Year, Rhode Island Public Radio political reporter Ian Donnis has been talking with state leaders. We’ve already heard from Governor Lincoln Chafee and state Senate president Teresa Paiva Weed…. Our latest interview is with state Treasurer Gina Raimondo.