Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and Treasurer Gina Raimondo are pouring cold water on two retiring Senate Democrats’ separate suggestions that Rhode Island should increase state workers’ pension benefits, saying it’s too soon to revise the new law passed last November.

“The Senate President does not support these proposals,” spokesman Greg Paré told WPRI.com. “Speaking generally, we will monitor implementation of the pension changes made in the fall, but it is too early to consider changes.”

One proposal by state Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, would create a special pension benefit for employees in two departments, while another by state Sen. Bea Lanzi, D-Cranston, would scrap the requirement that municipal police officers and firefighters wait until age 55 to become eligible for a pension.

Raimondo spokeswoman Joy Fox told WPRI.com the new pension law “was developed after thoughtful analysis and designed to enact a fair and lasting reform,” and said the treasurer “encourages a similar comprehensive approach for subsequent legislation affecting the retirement system.”

“As chief fiduciary of the retirement system, she urges the General Assembly to give [the pension law] a chance to work before considering changes that might weaken its impact,” Fox added.

Tassoni and Lanzi, who aren’t running for reelection, did not return phone calls seeking more information about their proposals. The lawmakers didn’t issue press releases publicizing and explaining their bills, either.

Just months after the new pension law passed, two lame-duck senators want to boost some retirees’ benefits.

A proposal [pdf] put forward by state Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, would create a special defined-benefit pension only for employees in the Departments of Corrections and Children, Youth and Families. The new pension would spike in value after 30 years of employment, maxing out at 80% of salary.

In addition to probation and parole officers, Tassoni’s proposed special pension would also be available to clerk secretaries, typists, internship/volunteer coordinators and others who work in the two departments.

Another proposal [pdf], this one put forth by state Sen. Bea Lanzi, D-Cranston, would scrap the requirement that municipal police officers and firefighters wait until age 55 to become eligible for a pension, allowing them to collect one at any age. Both bills were introduced Thursday and referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Treasurer Gina Raimondo has urged lawmakers not to tinker with the state pension system after last fall’s changes. “I urge you to give RIRSA a chance to work before considering changes that might weaken its impact,” she wrote in March about another bill.

Tassoni and Frank Ciccone, D-Providence, were the only two senators who voted against the pension law last November. Lanzi voted to approve it. Neither Tassoni nor Lanzi is running for reelection.

State Sen. John Tassoni may not run for reelection next year.

Tassoni, a prominent Smithfield Democrat with close ties to organized labor, acknowledged the possibility that he may retire in a brief interview Friday, but dismissed the buzz among insiders that he’s already made a decision as “a rumor.”

“I just had surgery, and I don’t know what I’m doing yet,” Tassoni told WPRI.com. “When I decide, everyone will know.” He had $25,491 in his campaign war chest as of June 30, according to the Board of Elections.

Tassoni won the District 22 seat in 2000, when he narrowly unseated incumbent Republican Michael Flynn, a 22-year lawmaker and former Senate Minority Leader. He currently chairs the Senate Committee on Housing.

Until 2009 Tassoni was the business agent for Council 94, Rhode Island’s largest public-sector union. He is currently president of The Sentinel Group, a marketing firm in Providence, and produces both a newspaper and a radio show about organized labor.

(photo: Rhode Island Senate)