General Assembly

A bicycle gear

Ride your party bike to somewhere free.

By Justin Katz | March 23, 2022 |

Westerly produces another bit of evidence that Rhode Island is not ultimately a free state: [Tom] Riley and Debbie Stebenne said they spent almost $30,000 on a custom party bike for their hotel near Misquamicut Beach. The goal was to bring an attraction to Rhode Island that is already a success in cities like Nashville,…

Jose Clemente Orozco, The Clowns of War Arguing in Hell

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Let’s Pretend Politics

By Justin Katz | February 28, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss some of the more mystifying realities on the RI news landscape.

Sue Cienki with Richard August on State of the State

State of the State: Election Year 2022

By Richard August | February 27, 2022 |

Rhode Island GOP Chairperson Sue Cienki discusses with host Richard August a variety of issues and concerns from her political party’s perspective.

Zakary Pereira

Should we question whether Zakary Pereira can tolerate students and constituents?

By Justin Katz | February 24, 2022 |

Imagine a young Christian Rhode Islander running for office with a team of Republican candidates of the Make America Great Again mold taking to Twitter to say: The LGBTQs are coming for the Christian community. Who will look out for our best interests, if not ourselves? Run for office.  Support local Christian candidates.  Fight back.…

Solar farm in North Smithfield

Let’s start making the obvious connections between environmentalist news stories.

By Justin Katz | February 23, 2022 |

Whether I’ve been failing or succeeding, all these years, I’ll leave to others to judge, but one of my core objectives has always been to foster the habit of making the sorts of connections that are too often covered over for political reasons.  Let’s look at a big one. Perhaps with the mixed motivation of…

A water drop and ripples

Something as reasonable and helpful as temporarily eliminating the gas tax has no chance in RI.

By Justin Katz | February 23, 2022 |

Well, we have to thank Rhode Island Republicans for trying: The Rhode Island Senate Republican Caucus is proposing the state eliminate gas tax for the remainder of the year. “We want to direct the influx in tax revenue back to residents and provide relief from the crushing pain at the pump,” Senate Minority Whip Jessica…

A hoodie on a beaten school bus

A healthy state would force money-grubbing special interests out of schools.

By Justin Katz | February 16, 2022 |

You know you’re dealing with greedy special interests most concerned with maintaining their own position when you read something like this, emphasis added: The plan has the support of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association, the National Education Association Rhode Island and the Hassenfeld Institute for…

RI House Redistricting Plan D

Redistricting can be a tool of inheritance, at least in one district.

By Justin Katz | February 15, 2022 |

General Assembly politics are a mystery to most Rhode Islanders.  They don’t really understand why anybody wants the job, figuring that some people are just into that sort of thing.  Yes, some people are really, really into it. John G. Edwards, the Fourth, has been the Democrat representative from district 70 since 2008, having previously…

A door open on a red room

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Political Emergencies and Emergences

By Justin Katz | February 14, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz go over some of the revelations and unknowns of Rhode Island politics.

A water drop and ripples

The courts aren’t the right place for deciding JCLS controversies.

By Justin Katz | February 10, 2022 |

Don’t get me wrong.  RI House Minority Leader Blake Filippi is right to be pursuing his lawsuit against the Joint Committee of Legislative Services, which is undoubtedly a central hub of our legislature’s corruption.  But the judiciary isn’t where these disputes should have to be resolved.  Think about it: Filippi, the top Republican in the…