Rhode Island Politics
During the handful of interactions I had with Connie Grosch at the State House, last session, she was friendly and very helpful. Moreover, she did her job taking photographs for the Providence Journal well. So, I was sorry to see her name added to the list of personnel cuts that the paper has made in…
As of late last week, the House Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote on a gay marriage bill tomorrow. Around ten days ago, General Treasurer Raimondo sent a letter to Speaker Fox and Senate President Paiva-Weed expressing strong support for the passage of gay marriage in Rhode Island. Anchor Rising obtained a copy of the…
Several months ago, I contacted Newport Grand to ask what percentage of their visitors came from Massachusetts so that we could project how much tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge would cost them in business – and, by extension, cost the state in lost revenue from the slot parlor. I didn’t get very far, leaving…
It took me a couple of read-throughs to put my finger on the eery blank space in Mike Stanton’s group interview with Rhode Island’s three most powerful politicians: House Speaker Gordon Fox, Governor Lincoln Chafee, and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed. Although only the two legislators are officially Democrats — Fox from Providence and Paiva…
This column by Steve Frias in the Cranston Herald contains, among other things, some fascinating history about the evolution and implementation of public pensions and collective bargaining in RI. Some quotes highlighted by Frias from the early 1990’s in particular stand out, not so much because of their substance, though they are absolutely correct, but…
Over at On Politics, Ian Donnis reports that Gov Chafee will not say whether his upcoming budget will include a tax hike. Governor Lincoln Chafee is declining to talk specifics about whether his next budget will include revenue increases – a.k.a. tax hikes. The governor offered this comment during an interview last week (excerpts of…
Ah, yes. Another week, another undesirable ranking. Rhode Island once again finds itself at or near the top of a category quite disadvantageous to the people who pay the bills. Thanks to commenter ANTHONY for sharing a link under another post that sent me click-clicking around curiously until I happened across this 24/7 Wall Street…
The Providence Journal reports. The Rhode Island Office of Higher Education said Monday that 59 undocumented students are paying in-state tuition rates to attend a state college or university.. This fall, 56 such students enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island, two at the University of Rhode Island and one at Rhode Island College.…
Apparently, the Governor had commissioned a study of Rhode Island’s infamously convoluted structure for hiring, firing and compensating state employees. In that article from Wednesday’s Providence Journal in which she reports that legislative leaders will be briefed soon about the findings of the study, Kathy Gregg also secured this comment from one of the potentially…
I’m just amplifying Tim White’s latest WPRI report on the use, and possibly, abuse of state-owned vehicles for top politicians, titled “Taxpayer Taxi.” My immediate reaction is probably the same as everyone else’s, why the heck do they have state-owned and even chauffeured cars? Seriously? Here are all the people who we are paying to…