In Depth
UPDATE @ 4:30 PM: Kathy Gregg at the ProJo tweeted out: Hear that right? Did Speaker [F]ox just publicly remove J Patrick O’Neill from house judiciary after last nights ethics bill coup. Yes. Thus does O’Neill become the object lesson for what happens when you move to vote a bill out of committee without Speakah…
The movement to abolish the master lever, or more accurately in Rhode Island, abolish straight party voting (SPV) seems to be gaining steam. A couple days ago, Andrew wrote about the majority of the House Judiciary Committee is also in favor. Tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 4:30, the committee will hear public testimony on the bill.…
10. H5760: Allows all Rhode Island school departments to accept “donations, gifts and grants of money, equipment, supplies, materials and services, conditional or otherwise, from any state, the federal government, or any governmental entity or agency; or from any person, firm, association, foundation or corporation”. (H House, Education and Welfare; Wed, Mar 13) Right now,…
20. H5300: Creates an underground utility contractor licensing process (and fee) where, apparently, none currently exists. (H Corporations; Wed, Mar 13) 19. S0212: Allows “mobile and manufactured homes within a mobile and manufactured home park” to count towards a city or town’s low or moderate income housing requirements. (Senate Housing and Municipal Government; Thu, Mar…
For the first time, the list goes to three parts… Local Impact: Central Falls 2, One or a Few Big Employers. Inobvious priorities: S0498 > Adds the executive director of the Economic Development Corporation to the Interagency Council for the Homeless; S0353 > Sets weekend fees for justices of the peace; H5395 > Golf carts…
In George Orwell’s 1984, the protagonist, Winston, begins to notice the import of the revisions that he makes to news and history as an employee of the Ministry of Truth. No fact is so set in stone that it can’t be made to look better through revisions of the past. In the real world, nationally,…
The weekly legislative review will start a little early this weekend. On Wednesday, March 13, the House Judiciary Committee will hear several bills on removing the master lever (i.e., the straight-party option) from Rhode Island election ballots. For various reasons, the most important of these bills is H5778, submitted at the request of the Secretary…
The campaign flyer at the center of this allegedly campaign law violation, and its dissemination at the last minute of the 2012 campaign, was such a nasty maneuver that part of me cheered when I heard that it has resulted in an arrest. (Jim Archer, candidate for the General Assembly, was the target of the…
My, how quickly Governor Chafee can change his opinion on things. First, on January 10th of this year, his office issued a press release that began: Governor Lincoln D. Chafee Announces New Transparency and Accountability Initiative, Signs Supporting Executive Order Providence, RI – In his continuing efforts to promote open and honest government in the…
1. The idea of the executive branch of the United States government creating a kill list, or a capture or kill list, is not a question of whether the President can order the Armed Forces to respond to organized threats that cross into the United States. Targeting a foreign facility or foreign forces operationally engaged…