May 9, 2008

Update on Legistlative Grant "Sunshine" Bill

Marc Comtois

When both Anchor Rising and RI Future agree on the merits of a piece of legislation, one would think passage through the House would be a no-brainer, no? I haven't seen anyone who doesn't agree with Rep. Nick Gorham's Legislative Grant Sunshine Bill. It would require that all such grants:

...must be included in the annual state budget and must include the following information:
(1) Recipient's name and address;
(2) Name of contact person for the grant recipient;
(3) Name of the legislator who sponsored the grant;
(4) Statement of whether the finance committee of either or both houses of the general assembly have had a hearing on the proposed grant; and
(5) Brief description of the nature and purpose of the grant.
Alas, a look at the current legislative calendar reveals:
House Bill No.7627
BY Gorham, Coaty, Long, Mumford, Trillo
ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC FINANCE -- STATE BUDGET
(provide that all legislative grants awarded by the general assembly must be included in the annual state budget)
{LC639/1}
02/26/2008 Introduced, referred to House Finance
05/06/2008 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
05/06/2008 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
Ah yes, the ol' "further study" canard. We all know what that means, huh? Never underestimate the ability of our legislators to stall on good government legislation (how's full implementation of Separation of Powers working out?). Perhaps it would be a good time to remind your legislator that you think this is a good idea.

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Let the lawsuit begin. These grants have been handed for years in such a way that violates the state constitution and the leadership has just FORCED us to litigate it.

Posted by: Greg at May 9, 2008 10:01 AM

The fact that Nick Gorham introduced this bill made it dead on arrival. That's all anyone needs to know. It's no great mystery.

Posted by: Pragmatist at May 9, 2008 10:50 AM

Nick is a great guy --but why is he still wasting his time? Same for all the other reformers. The majority of the citizens of RI are apathetic or part of the oppressive ruling party (the RI Democratic party). I say: change something you can change. RI is unchangeable and not worth the lost effort. The large amount of support shown for Hillary Clinton in the recent primary election speaks volumes. Rhode Island has become the West Virginia of New England.

Posted by: Citizen Critic at May 11, 2008 1:52 PM
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