The general assembly finds and declares the following:

(1)  All Rhode Islanders deserve retirement security, including those who have spent their careers serving their communities as first responders and municipal employees; and

(2)  The city of Central Falls has shown great resilience in emerging from bankruptcy and thriving economically and culturally against great odds; and

(3)  The bankruptcy occurred in part because the pension plan in Central Falls had become severely underfunded, and as a result many first responders and retirees in the city of Central Falls experienced significant hardship in the form of benefit reductions; and

(4)  The city of Central Falls, the labor organizations representing its first responders, and the state of Rhode Island are united in their desire to see the city of Central Falls remain on the path of fiscal health, and that the predictability and sustainability of the pension system is vital to maintaining fiscal health for the city of Central Falls and retirement security for its first responders and retirees.

(5)  The general assembly adopts this act to facilitate the assistance of the municipal employees’ retirement system of the state of Rhode Island in administering the local Central Falls pension plan.