Marc Comtois
I start with a chart. A chart of the Full-Time Equivalent positions (FTEs) in the major departments of Rhode Island government from 2009 thru Governor Chafee’s 2012 Budget Proposal. I’ve also included some specific sub-departments if I thought they warranted particular scrutiny. The major departments are bolded while the sub’s are regular font. 2009 2010…
The ProJo reports that there is a bill in the RI House proposing an alternative to Governor Chafee’s 6%/1% “lower and broaden” tax policy. Let’s call it “promise to lower and broaden”: The bill, cosponsored by Representatives Brian Newberry, R-North Smithfield, Samuel Azzinaro, D-Westerly, Scott Slater, D-Providence, and Peter Palumbo, D-Cranston, would also add the…
A beautiful St. Patrick’s Day! My girls are Irish Step Dancers and they (and their Mom) have had a busy few days springing and jigging across the state (their “tour” essentially concludes with the Providence St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday). In the spirit of the day, here is Rhode Island’s own Tom Lanigan Band…
(H/T Ian D.) Well, it is something he knows about…. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy has a new title- visiting fellow at Brown University’s Institute for Brain Science. He’ll be spending his time advocating for advancements in the field of traumatic brain injury….Kennedy will deliver two lectures on the Brown campus during each year of his…
Back in the ’90’s, when given the choice, I preferred Duke (though I wasn’t exactly a “fan”) to the much-hyped Fab Five of Michigan (who actually won, well, nothing and lost 3 out of 3 to the same Duke Blue Devils). Duke had a bunch of white guys who seemed sorta privileged (and won…always it…
New Warwick School Committee member Eugene Nadeau has been quoted in the ProJo and stated this morning on the WPRO Morning News that he is against the new School Funding formula: Eugene Nadeau, a member of the Warwick School Committee, said the formula is a “sweetheart deal” for Providence, which he said will receive five…
I guess I’m not as up on the workings of the State Labor Board as I should be. I was unaware that the State Labor Board could “issue a complaint” against someone, then hold a hearing to determine if that same complaint was valid in the first place. The state Labor Relations Board has issued…
The ProJo tried to figure out where the $1.9 billion in stimulus money that has been spent in Rhode Island has gone (funds can be spent as late as 2015). The ProJo included a chart of the “Top stimulus winners in R.I.”, insofar as what it could determine (apparently, not all entities–such as Medicaid, food…
I’m sympathetic to those who believe and have experienced the benefits of medical marijuana. Yet, I still have serious reservations about the way the law was rushed into being here in Rhode Island. There still seem to be a lot of gray areas. And the examples put forth by the ProJo’s in-depth look at Colorado’s…
Let me start with the caveat that I didn’t attend Brown’s immigration symposium convened to discuss a poll (that I’ve already touched on) and am relying on this morning’s report from the ProJo. That out of the way, stepping back, it really is remarkable, if unsurprising, that a supposed institution of higher learning would hold…