WPRO News
Standing with a handful of St. Joseph Hospital retirees who are suing the Diocese of Providence over their overextended pension plan, Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner announced Tuesday he is proposing legislation to require private pension plans reveal basic information to plan participants.
“We just want to close the loophole that says some plans are exempt,” from reporting requirements affecting most public pension plans, said Magaziner.
He said that he would introduce legislation in the 2019 session that would require pension plans managed by Rhode Island religious organizations to send regular updates on the financial health of the pensions to their plan participants.
“The RI Catholic Conference agrees that transparency and disclosure to pension plan participants about non-ERISA plans is a responsible practice. In fact, such has been the practice of the Diocese of Providence for many years,” said Father Bernard Healey, Conference Director in a statement.
“The Diocese of Providence has demonstrated such transparency by annually providing each pension plan participant (known as the “Lay Employee Pension Plan”) a yearly estimate retirement benefit statement. This report is mailed to each active participant of the pension plan. Additionally, an annual independent audit of the Central Administration Funds and Diocesan Cemetery Operations discloses the plan’s health, which includes a detailed explanation of the plan’s overall status. This audit report is published in full on our diocesan website. Lastly, “Town Hall” style meetings with plan participants have been held around the state when significant changes have been proposed to the pension plan. In addition, diocesan fiscal and human resource personnel are available to consult with every plan participant by phone or in person each and every business day.”
“The hearts of all of us are broken to think that this could ever happen to us,” said Marilyn Horan of Providence, a retired registered nurse who said she was born in St. Joseph Hospital and worked there for 40 years before retiring in 2004.
“That our hospital, that we gave our lives to, could possibly allow such a thing to happen and keep us all in the dark,” Horan said.
St. Joseph retirees have filed class action lawsuits in state and federal courts.
