Gifts Decline to R.I. Homeless Charity After It Backs State Pension Bill

Donations to Rhode Island’s largest homelessness charity have plunged since the organization publicly backed a controversial overhaul of the state’s pension system, the Providence Journal writes.

Crossroads Rhode Island says contributions dropped by $100,000 in October and November compared with the same months last year, a decline of more than 50 percent, said Karen Santilli, the charity’s vice president for marketing and development.

Crossroads was among several nonprofit groups that backed EngageRI, a business alliance that pushed for a pension overhaul. The state legislature last month approved a measure raising the retirement age for many state workers and suspending cost-of-living pension increases.

A local affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, which represents Rhode Island government employees, had urged its 1,000 members not to give to charities that supported the pension bill.

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