Carroll Andrew Morse

First Circuit Court Rules the State of Rhode Island Cannot Prevent Federal Prosecution of Jason Pleau from Going Forward

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 7, 2012 |

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 3-2 that the state of Rhode Island cannot refuse to deliver Jason Pleau “into federal custody to answer the federal indictment” resulting from his alleged role in the murder of David Main in Woonsocket (h/t Katie Mulvaney). The court’s opinion touches on a number of technical issues…

Coming up in Committee: Seventeen Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly, May 8 – May 10

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 7, 2012 |

Local Impact: Barrington, Central Falls, Coventry 2, Exeter, I’m pretty sure, Middletown, Newport, North Providence 2 3, Providence, Smithfield, Warren, West Greenwich. 17. H8084/S2905: In the same week, both chambers of the state legislature will hear a bill to approve $250,000 in new “Promotional Points” for the state’s slot parlors (H Finance; Tue, May 8…

North Smithfield Running a Deficit

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 3, 2012 |

Central Falls, Providence, East Providence, Woonsocket…now North Smithfield can be added to the list of Rhode Island municipalities running a budget deficit, according to Sandy Phaneuf of the Valley Breeze…The benefits in contracts for town employees are growing at a faster rate than the town can legally afford to cover them, warned the North Smithfield…

Providence Pension Ordinance in The Economist

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 3, 2012 |

Further evidence we’re on the cutting edge of history here in Rhode Island — The municipal pension changes proposed by Mayor Angel Tavares have already made the Economist (that’s the famous British periodical, not some blogger with that handle)…Thus this week’s ordinance, in which the city suspended the cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) by which pensions are…

Coming up in Committee: Nine More Sets of Bills Being Heard by the RI General Assembly, May 2 – May 3

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 2, 2012 |

Local Impact: Central Falls/Cumberland 2, Cumberland, Newport, Warwick. 9. H7197: “The general assembly shall not authorize, award or allow legislative grants. For the purposes of this chapter legislative grants are hereby defined as monetary award to nongovernmental, or nonquasi-governmental entities” (H Finance; Thu, May 3). 8. S2473: Makes explicit that municipal fiscal stabilization procedures relating…

Coming up in Committee: Fourteen Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly on May 1

By Carroll Andrew Morse | May 1, 2012 |

Here are the RI General Assembly bills of interest for Tuesday (a few with hearings already underway): Local impact: New Shoreham, Pawtucket T14. H8020: “The director of administration shall not approve any contract or contract for services with a nonprofit organization or agency unless the organization or agency fully discloses all executives’ compensation and administrative…

The Ocean State Tea Party In Action Blog (Better Prepared for the Unexpected than Other Bill-Watching Bloggers You May be Aware Of)

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 30, 2012 |

The RI General Assembly website was down this weekend, so I wasn’t able to do my weekly review of the legislation coming up in committees. (There was a similar occurrence, at least one time last year). However, as fate would have it, this is also the week that the Ocean State Tea Party in Action’s…

The Woonsocket War Memorial Is Constitutional

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 26, 2012 |

The court decision most relevant to the Woonsocket’s war memorial that displays a cross isn’t the Cranston West prayer banner decision, it is the 2010 Salazar vs. Buono Supreme Court decision. The original issue in Salazar was whether the Federal Government could transfer to a private owner a parcel of land within the Mojave National…

Official GOP Delegate Tally

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 25, 2012 |

State Republican Chairman Mark Zaccaria has sent out an official press release with the delegate allocation decided upon by Rhode Island GOP primary voters last night: 12 delegates for Mitt Romney, 4 delegates for Ron Paul. The official delegation listing is available here.

Unofficial GOP Delegate Tally

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 24, 2012 |

OK, based on the rules submitted to the RI Secretary of State, this is my best guess on how Rhode Island’s Republican delegates will be allocated. 1. All candidates who received more than 15% of the vote are eligible to receive delegates. For the 2012 Republican primary, that means Mitt Romney (63.0% of the vote,…