The Harsch Anti-Corruption Plan

Republican candidate for Attorney General William Harsch has released his four-point plan for attacking public corruption if elected Attorney General...

• The formation of a Public Corruption Unit within the Attorney General's Office.
• Stiffer penalties for public officials convicted in corruption cases.
• Creation of a Joint Commission on Election Fraud with the Secretary of State's Office.
• The implementation of an anonymous Public Corruption Tip Line.

Mr. Harsch has also proposed a plan for increased oversight of public utilities...

• The addition of at least (1) assistant attorney general to the Attorney General's Consumer Division
• 2 special assistant attorneys general with specialized education and experience to prosecute and/or intervene on both the state and federal level in those regulatory matters that impact the day to day life and expenses of Rhode Islanders such as PUC rate hearings, health insurance rate filings [Blue Cross/Blue Shield] at the Department of Business Regulation (DBR), general casualty insurance rate increases at Business Regulation, bank merger hearings (DBR), as well as hearings on regulated trades who may be preying on the public ( contractors, plumbers, electricians, travel agents, etc).
• A dedicated support staff of accountants, economists, paralegals, and Investigators
• The retention, where necessary, of qualified attorneys and other experts to supplement prosecution through the development of the following programs:
  1. An Attorney General Recruiting Program from law schools and business schools
  2. An Attorney General Work Experience Program to establish a permanent and ongoing work-experience program with local law schools to have law students (at no cost) support white collar, regulatory and other prosecutions within the Attorney General's office
  3. Implementing a lawyer volunteer program composed of retired attorneys, judges and prosecutors willing to donate time to help in complex or larger cases - similar to SBA retired business consultant program
• The establishment of a community-based Regulatory Steering Committee to take measure of local business and consumer concerns such as possible provider abuse as in the case with Beacon Mutual.

• Improve the accessibility of Rhode Island's Online Sexual Offender Database.
• Amend the Sexual Offender Notification Guidelines to provide more accurate information regarding the home and employer address of registered offenders.
• Introduce an online educational initiative to help parents protect their children from online sexual predators.
• Make it harder for convicted sexual offenders to avoid registration as Level II and Level III offenders.