Chafee Joins Christie as Rhode Island Seeks Pension Cuts

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, who left the Republican Party last year to run as an independent, is joining New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in seeking to roll back benefits promised to government retirees.

Chafee, 58, elected in November after he lost a U.S. Senate seat in 2006, wants to overhaul the state’s $7.4 billion pension because it has only about half the assets needed over the coming decades, according to state data. He and Treasurer Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, proposed changes including suspending cost-of-living raises to cut the unfunded liability by $3 billion in a special legislative session today.