January 11, 2010
BUMPED & CORRECTED: Making the Legislative Stooge List
The following correction (initially made Saturday morning) is sufficiently important that I've bumped this post so that it is not diluted by the lightened weekend readership.
CORRECTION:
Although readers may offer partial mitigation based on the fact that Rhode Island's method of providing legislators' votes is not exactly helpful when it comes to pre-dawn data collection, an error on my part in the compilation of this list was egregious, and I apologize to the parties involved and to you. While reviewing the relevant Senate journal (PDF), a stray click of the mouse brought the wrong vote tally onto my screen, and although the overlap was extensive, I've made the following corrections:
- Senators who actually voted to sustain the governor's veto and have therefore been removed from the Legislative Stooge list:
- Dennis Algiere (R, District 38, Westerly, Charlestown.
- David Bates (R, District 32, Barrington, Bristol)
- Marc Cote (D, District 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield)
- Leonidas Raptakis (D, District 33, Coventry, East Greenwich, Warwick, West Warwick)
- Senators who did not vote on this override and have therefore been removed from the Legislative Stooge list:
- Daniel DaPonte (D, District 14, East Providence, Pawtucket)
- Walter Felag (D, District 10, Bristol, Tiverton, Warren)
- William Walaska (D., District 30, Warwick)
- Senator who voted to override the governor's veto and has therefore been added to the Legislative Stooge list:
- Jamie Doyle (D, District 8, Pawtucket)
Again, I apologize to readers and to the senators for the error.
Frankly, it's a little hard to stomach the following from House Minority Leader Bob Watson, with reference to the RI House's override of the governor's veto of 2009-H 5613 Sub A, mandating healthcare benefits for public school teachers (including charters):
House Minority Leader Robert A. Watson said those who supported the override were "voting against the interests of every city and town in the state, and for that you should all be thrown out of office."
After all, he voted to pass the legislation in the first place; every legislator did. Granted, that vote was taken in the late hours of a special autumn session, and nobody among the media or right-leaning reformist community had noticed that the bill did much more than create a benign research committee. But what good is a powerless minority party if it at least doesn't spot and decry the sneaky state-killing legislation making its way into law?
That said, Watson and the 22 other Representatives and four Senators who changed their opinion between passage of the legislation and override of the veto get a pass on inclusion in our new Legislative Stooge list of politicians who, because of a dramatic and unforgivable overreach and catering to special interests, should under no circumstances receive your vote. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive balancing of a legislator's career, and not every piece of legislation will be enough to put politicians on the list, only the most egregious, and getting off of it will require stunning examples of wisdom and leadership.
For explanation of why this veto override is enough to make the list, see here, here, and here.
Anchor Rising's (Do Not Vote for the) Legislative Stooge List - House
| Name | Party | Constituents | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edith Ajello | D | District 3, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Joseph Almeida | D | District 12, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Samuel Azzinaro | D | District 37, Westerly | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| David Caprio | D | District 34, Narragansett, South Kingstown | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| John Carnevale | D | District 13, Providence, Johnston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Elaine Coderre | D | District 60, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Steven Costantino | D | District 8, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Roberto DaSilva | D | District 63, East Providence, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| John DeSimone | D | District 5, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Grace Diaz | D | District 11, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Mary Duffy Messier | D | District 62, East Providence, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Deborah Fellela | D | District 43, Johnston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Frank Ferri | D | District 22, Warwick | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Robert Flaherty | D | District 23, Warwick | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Gordon Fox | D | District 4, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Raymond Gallison | D | District 69, Bristol, Portsmouth | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Joanne Giannini | D | District 7, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Scott Guthrie | D | District 28, Coventry | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Arthur Handy | D | District 18, Cranston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Peter Kilmartin | D | District 61, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Donald Lally | D | District 33, Narragansett, North Kingstown, South Kingstown | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Charlene Lima | D | District 14, Cranston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Karen MacBeth | D | District 52, Cumberland | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Peter Martin | D | District 75, Newport | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Nicholas Mattiello | D | District 15, Cranston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Joseph McNamara | D | District 19, Cranston, Warwick | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Rene Menard | D | District 45, Lincoln, Cumberland | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| William Murphy | D | District 26, West Warwick, Coventry, Warwick | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Eileen Naughton | D | District 21, Warwick | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Patrick O'Neill | D | District 59, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Edwin Pacheco | D | District 47, Burrillville, Glocester | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Peter Palumbo | D | District 16, Cranston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Michael Rice | D | District 35, South Kingstown | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| William San Bento | D | District 58, North Providence, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| John Savage | R | District 65, East Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Gregory Schadone | D | District 54, North Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| David Segal | D | District 2, Providence, East Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Mary Ann Shallcross-Smith | D | District 46, Lincoln, Pawtucket | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Agostinho Silva | D | District 56, Central Falls | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Scott Slater | D | District 10, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Raymond Sullivan | D | District 29, Coventry, West Greenwich | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Stephen Ucci | D | District 42, Cranston, Johnston | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Kenneth Vaudreuil | D | District 57, Central Falls, Cumberland | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Donna Walsh | D | District 36, Charlestown, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Peter Wasylyk | D | District 6, Providence, North Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Anastasia Williams | D | District 9, Providence | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Thomas Winfield | D | District 53, Glocester, Smithfield | H5613A, mandating teacher health insurance |
Anchor Rising's (Do Not Vote for the) Legislative Stooge List - Senate
| Name | Party | Constituents | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Ciccone | D | District 7, Providence, North Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Daniel Connors | D | District 19, Cumberland, Lincoln | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Elizabeth Crowley | D | District 16, Central Falls, Pawtucket, Cumberland | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Frank DeVall | D | District 18, East Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Louis DiPalma | D | District 12, Little Compton, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Jamie Doyle | D | District 8, Pawtucket | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Paul Fogarty | D | District 23, Burrillville, Glocester, North Smithfield | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Hanna Gallo | D | District 27, Cranston | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Maryellen Goodwin | D | District 1, Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Paul Jabour | D | District 5, Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Charles Levesque | D | District 11, Bristol, Portsmouth | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Erin Lynch | D | District 31, Warwick | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Christopher Maselli | D | District 25, Johnston | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| John McBurney | D | District 15, Pawtucket | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Michael McCaffrey | D | District 29, Warwick | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Harold Metts | D | District 6, Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Joshua Miller | D | District 28, Cranston, Warwick | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Teresa Paiva Weed | D | District 13, Jamestown, Newport | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Rhoda Perry | D | District 3, Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Roger Picard | D | District 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Juan Pichardo | D | District 2, Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Dominick Ruggerio | D | District 4, Providence, North Providence | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| James Sheehan | D | District 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| Susan Sosnowski | D | District 37, New Shoreham, South Kingston | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
| John Tassoni | D | District 22, Smithfield, North Smithfield | S0777Aaa, mandating teacher health insurance |
Awesome. So the General Assembly, in this economy, just did a few things:
Increased the size of government with this new board of directors. Yeah, wasn't big enough already
Increased the cost of government. Yep, I have extra money lying around that I really want to send to them.
Tied the hands of munis in their contract negotiations from anything creative.
ADDED ANOTHER UNFUNDED MANDATE! Almost everyone says we need to repeal many of these, not add more!
Unbelievable clowns. As for the two "Republicans" who voted for it, we already know that Savage is in the tank for the teachers and should be banned from any Republican gatherings in any way, but Algiere? I'd previously heard of his non-conservative leanings, but here's some direct evidence, I guess.
Posted by: Patrick at January 7, 2010 8:25 AMFrom the law:
"The actuarial value of any of the approved benefit plan designs may not be greater than the actuarial value of the state employee health plan in effect as of the date the plan designs are approved.
The PPO options shall reflect four (4) different levels of plan design, with a minimum actuarial difference between each of the plan designs of seven and one-half percent(7.5%).
The actuarial value of the lowest board-approved benefit plan design shall not be greater than the actuarial value of the public school employee benefit plan design with the lowest actuarial value in effect in the state on January 1, 2010."
So this establishes the bottom floor of the new standards to be the already too-high status quo?
This section should have forced the values of the plans to center on the statewide average cost of non public-sector employer-provided premiums, and the values not to exceed 130% (that’s 100% of the average private-sector + 7.5%*4) of that number, that would still allow (but not force) the ‘worst’ plan to be the average one we all get.
It also doesn’t regionalize a gosh-darn thing, it sets up the plans, but the cities and towns still have to purchase them on their own. I’m not sure how that helps at all. It should have forced the cities and towns to -purchase- the plans through a single entity, to maximize the buying power and leverage economies of scale across the state.
I can support this kind of law, but definitely not this particular implementation. Regionalization should be about putting the entire state onto one bus, not forcing every town to charter their own limousine.
Posted by: mangeek at January 7, 2010 1:02 PMAny R who thought this was a good idea, resign from the party, and just become a D already. Unbelievable.
Posted by: kathy at January 7, 2010 4:22 PM