Last night on the Matt Allen show, I mentioned our coverage of the governor’s speech and gave some general suggestions about the direction of Anchor Rising in the new year. Stream by clicking here, or download it.
I have to say that the governor’s plan takes more ground (and concedes less) than I’d expected, giving me some hope that the state can head in a better direction without utter collapse. As I wrote in the comments to our liveblogging post, it’s important, however, not to forget the basics of Rhode Island politics just because we’re relatively happy with the governor’s direction.
Part of the “political coverage” built into our system as it stands is coverage to do the wrong thing. The House may pass this proposal having already arranged for the Senate to make fatal changes. On something else down the road, the Senate will take a political risk, and the House will kill it. Meanwhile, the governor’s new commission on consolidation (empowered to propose legislation directly) will contain a mole or two who’ll scuttle advancement in the governor’s name.
And as I said in response to a question about how legislators could get away with raising taxes in this environment: Wait until just after an election.