Signature Coverage of Beth Moura, Senate Candidate in Rhode Island District 19

Beth Moura is running for the Rhode Island Senate seat in District 19 (Cumberland, Lincoln), currently held by Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors, who is not seeking re-election...

Anchor Rising: You've picked a time to run for office in state government, when there a lot of problems that need to be solved, and it won't necessarily be easy to do what needs to be done. What's motivating you to run now?

Senate District 19 Candidate Beth Moura: "Problems in our state government, I don't think it's a new thing. That's been going on for a very long time. Basically, it has had to get this bad for people to realize where the problems lie...I know that I have the courage and the integrity to do what needs to be done when I get there and also to address the tough issues that a lot of our legislators -- most, I should say -- don't want to address. They don't want to address the failures in the social programs, they don't want to address the failures in the pension system, they don't want to address failures in immigration law enforcement..." (Audio: 1 min 1 sec)

AR: You are running for a Senate seat. For a long time, the impression the people have had is that Senate goes along with what the House does in a lot of fiscal and public policy areas. How do you see the role of a Senator?

BM: "...if [a bill] passes the House it is kind of like code to pass the Senate. If you notice the Senate, they're in and they're out of there very quickly when they're in session...depending on how many people get elected, it's going to change business as usual between the House and the Senate, because you are going to have people that aren't going to play along anymore, and they are going to actually represent their districts. What a concept." (Audio: 1 min 11 sec)

AR: And what would your top priorities be, if you were to be elected?

BM: "My top priorities are going to be addressing some of the difficult fiscal issues that, like I said, a lot of them don't have the courage to address, one being the welfare system, our social programs..." (Audio: 1 min 27 sec)