Rhode Island Politics
In July, Council 94 tried to ignore economic reality and rejected this deal: 1) Pay raises of zero, 2.5 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent during each of the next four years; 2) a one-day pay reduction in the current year that employees can recoup as a paid leave day; 3) escalating increases in the…
In a Sakonnet Times story about the advantages that incumbents have in Rhode Island, Senator Charles Levesque inadvertently gives a small indication of why Rhode Island is in its current predicament: Sen. Levesque makes no apologies for obtaining what he calls “civic support” for the library and reaping a little publicity in the process. “Is…
Providence City Council member Terry Hassett wants the Public Utilities Commission to revisit this summer’s rate increase (h/t): “If the rationale was to boost the rate for electricity here in Rhode Island because it is directly related to the cost of oil, then the PUC is obligated to summon National Grid before them to reconsider…
From the ProJo: [Rhode Island] Ethics Commission members said yesterday that they suspect that if a Rhode Island official (Governor Carcieri, for example) did what an investigation in Alaska found that [Alaska Governor Sarah] Palin did — used her office to advance a personal, although not financial, cause — it would probably not violate the…
Whether or not Rhode Island voters pay so little attention to what they’re doing that they’d confuse political ads from Massachusetts as applying to ballot questions in Rhode Island, I don’t know. But as always, my recommendation is to vote “no” to transportation bonds — our Question 1: Although it’s described as an $87-million bond…
Under Donald’s post “Multiple choice options regarding Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment”, commenter Phil remarks I cannot ignore the presence in R.I. of Republican conservatives and the detrimental effect it has on the place I live. Yes, let’s talk about some detrimental effects inflicted on the state by a particular political party and ideology. –…
The RIGOP has filed a formal request to investigate possible Hatch Act violations by the following candidates for the General Assembly. Elaine Coderre, House District 50 (incumbent) Grace Diaz, House District 11 (incumbent) Arthur Handy, House District 18 (incumbent) Beatrice Lanzi, Senate District 26 MaryAnn Shallcross, House District 46 Anastasia Williams, House District 9 (incumbent)…
My return to the Providence Journal editorial pages today offers a synopsis of recent establishment v. reform events in Tiverton, with the suggestion that, since the powers who be are interconnected across the state, so should the reformers be aware of and cooperate with each other: There seems to be little reason for residents of…
I caught a snippet of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on WPRO this morning remarking on the great mystery of Rhode Island’s horrible economy. Paraphrasing: “I don’t think anybody knows why it’s so bad. We should be in the middle of the pack.” Well, perhaps such outcomes are puzzling when the actual explanation is ruled out…
The Projo‘s Talia Buford has details on the Rhode Island State Police’s explanation of why there is an investigation into the Michael Pinga/Stephen Alves Democratic primary, but not into the Erin Lynch/David Bennett result…The complaint filed by Democratic Party Chairman William Lynch asked the State Police to investigate “voter irregularities” in both the Warwick and…