NEARI 2024 Priorities and Legislative Agenda

The legislative session came to end in June and NEARI saw gains on all of our legislative priorities!

• Pension Relief:
  • 5-to-3 bill PASSED
  • COLA restored for those who retired prior to 2012
  • A decrease from the 80 percent target for COLA restoration to 75 percent for all other retirees
• Common Sense Gun Safety: Safe Storage bill PASSED
• MLL Funding: PASSED
  • An increase to 20% on the weight given to the core instruction amount is a critical addition to the education funding formula
• Healthy School Meals: For 6,500 students in need PASSED
• Restoration of state aid in the funding formula: Instead of deep cuts, funding was restored

We did this together and our voice was heard!

We made great progress on complicated issues: Important first steps for pension relief for state workers and safer, more equitable schools.

But there’s more to do. We need to continue our efforts to champion public education and uphold our union values of fair wages, good benefits, and a secure retirement.

Let's acknowledge the hard work and dedication that went into this legislative session as we look forward to building on these successes in the coming years. Thank you for your advocacy!

Pension Relief

• 2011 reform was too drastic
• We want meaningful change for all categories of members – retired and active
• Continued negative impacts include
  • Retirees whose COLAs were frozen
  • Active members who are working longer for less
  • Aspiring educators who are educated in the Ocean State but choose to work elsewhere for higher wages and stronger retirement benefits
  • Additional negative factors compounding recruitment and retention problem

Visit Pension Page for more

Common Sense Gun Safety

• Safe Storage Act S-2202 & H-7373 (Sponsors: Sen. Pam Lauria, Rep. Justine Caldwell)
• Assault Weapons Ban H-7217 & S-2653 (Sponsors: Rep. Jason Knight, Sen. Lou DiPalma)

Targeted MLL Funding

• Reform to state education funding formula to incorporate Multilingual Learners (MLLs)
• Increase funding to support MLLs with the resources they need for academic success.
• Enough instructors to teach them too
• Thanks to Governor McKee for prioritizing as part of proposed budget
• MLL targeted funding must be part of a broad approach to addressing an equitable and fair funding formula

Universal Healthy School Meals for All

• Studies show Healthy School Meals for All supports student well-being, reduces administrative costs, increases investment in food service programs, eliminates unpaid meal debt, removes stigma from the lunchroom, and increases equity in our schools.
• H-7400 (Sponsor: Rep. Justine Caldwell)
• S-2320 (Sponsor: Sen. Sandra Cano)