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.