In Depth
14. Various proposed changes to campaign finance and expenditure laws; H5074 limits all campaign contributions to the General Assembly between January 1 and the passage of the state budget, H5187 limits campaign contributions from lobbyists between January 1 and July 1, H5385 requires disclosure of four year’s worth of political contributions by anyone hired by…
Inobvious Priorities: H5278 > Labeling of food products containing genetically modified organisms; H5280 > Standards for handling raw milk. 28. H5654: Calamari declared to be the state appetizer (H Health, Education & Welfare; Wed, Mar 27). 27. S0012: Father-daugther dance bill. (S Education; Wed, Mar 27) 26. On Tuesday, March 26, the Senate Judiciary Committee…
Very good editorial, entitled “Waste-and-fraud report”, in today’s Providence Journal. Mr. Block came back with what was a first glance at the problem; he lacked the data to do a more extensive survey. But he found signs of serious fraud just below the surface — demonstrating that our elected officials and bureaucrats should better monitor…
In case you missed it, this past week presented an excellent opportunity to watch RI Dems and Repubs handle election results. > At the State House, Democrats discovered that [gasp] a committee had done its job and actually voted on whether to send a bill to the House Floor, resulting in an 8-0 vote in…
Baseball is a sport that is built on numbers. How many home runs a player has, how many strikeouts a pitcher has, his ERA or a hitter’s batting average. Most fans understand these numbers, how to figure them out and generally what they mean. A hitter who gets a hit three times out of ten…
Mark Zaccaria, whose tenure as Chair of the RIGOP was unexpected extended last night, issued the following statement this morning. RIGOP Deadlocked on New Chair Cranston: The State Central Committee of the Rhode Island Republican Party met in convention Thursday night to elect new leadership for the upcoming two year term. The convention was held…
… earlier this week on Varney & Co by not vigorously defending the social program that made Woonsocket the subject of that Washington Post article. Don’t miss the part where Mayor Fontaine holds up a state application for food stamps and points out that the last page of it is a voter registration form. (H’mmm,…
[10:22] The parliamentarian has ruled the vote invalid, and the Charimanship will be revoted on another night. [10:19] Hall over Olson 109 – 75 for 2nd Vice Chair. Platform fails 95 – 85. Calise over Talan 112 – 68. Smiley over Harrop 94 – 93 BUT that’s one more vote than the number of people…
This afternoon, the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee will hear two same-sex marriage bills, S0708 which would put the question to a Constitutional voter referendum in 2014, and S0038 which would directly authorize same-sex marriage by statute. In terms of the guarantees of “protection of religious freedom in marriage”, the bills are polar opposites. The…
We, as a society, need to give deference to traditions upon which good governance is built, but, like corsets, manual typewriters, and LP records, the Rhode Island “Master Lever’s” time has passed. It is time to allow it to retire with dignity into the memories of our grandparents and public affairs’ historians. Contrary to what…