Rhode Island Politics
According to Rhode Island Senate Press Secretary Greg Pare, Tuesday’s Judiciary Committee vote tallies in favor of holding the three tax-lien reform and four eminent domain reform bills for further study were all unanimous. Since the sponsors of three of the bills are on the Juidicary Committee; Senators Harold Metts (D-Providence), Rhoda Perry (D-Providence), and…
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted last night to hold all 4 eminent domain reform bills (the Governor’s bill, the Lieutenant Governor’s bill, the Attorney General’s bill, and the Cote/Badeau/Breene bill) before the committee “for further study”, meaning that the Senate is not required to take any further action on them this session. Whether this means…
Republican Bill Harsch officially kicks off his campaign for Rhode Island Attorney General at noon today, at the Garden Room at the Biltmore in Providence.
In an article entitled Research group finds state’s business-tax climate dismal: Rhode Island gets poor marks for its high unemployment -insurance tax, high property taxes and high personal-income taxes, we have yet another example of how the economic policies of Rhode Island are miserably ineffective: Rhode Island has one of the most unfriendly business-tax climates…
There are now at least six different eminent reform bills before the Rhode Island legislature that, if enacted, would ban, limit, or regulate the government’s ability to take private property from one owner and give it to another owner in the name of economic development. Three of the bills are reasonable, one is obsolete, and…
Gary Ezovski, Chairman of the North Smithfield School Committee, offers these thoughts in a recent ProJo editorial: I can comfortably say that I have yet to hear a suggestion that will solve the schools-budget challenge in our community or throughout the state… The business of education is nearly 80-percent labor. Payroll and benefits are where…
Arthur Kimball-Stanley reports in today’s Projo that a casino developer is interested in building a casino on or near the site of the Johnston Landfill (will the hook be “The Stinkiest Casino in the East”? How about “Johnston: A Place for Solid Waste and Clean Fun”)…The casino project pitched for [Johnston] Thursday night includes a…
I’ve tried to keep my eye on Beacon Mutual’s bid to privatize–and thus remove government oversight–and have posted a couple times (here & here) on why I’m not sure it’s a good idea. The Governor isn’t too keen on it either. In short, BM is a government-funded entity that was created to serve a specific…
Thinking aloud over at The Corner, Ramesh Ponnuru asks, “What do conservatives gain if Chafee wins?” But first he makes a case for conservative retribution against Sen. Chafee: The more I think about it, the more important it seems to me that Steve Laffey beat him in the Rhode Island Senate primary. None of the…
In addition to being the only Republican Senator to vote against the confirmation of now-Justice Alito, Senator Chafee has opposed President Bush and–more often–conservative ideals on the following substantive matters. (All links are to data provided by ProjectVoteSmart. An index of Sen. Chafee’s complete voting record is here). Presidential Appointments: Voted against nomination of Judge…