Rhode Island Politics
On my wish list of general changes to Rhode Island government structure is bringing state representation more directly in line with voter residence. I’ve argued that legislators would thereby be more accessible and that such a system would create a more direct line for involved residents to move up the ladder of governance — moving…
State Democrats’ lopsided (88 to 32) endorsement of Frank Caprio indicates that party operatives understand, at least, what sort of rhetoric the electorate wants to hear, just now: “We are going to be the party that holds the line on taxes. We are going to be the party that streamlines state government. We are going…
I hadn’t had time to explore the new news site, but apparently, Go Local Prov (which is affiliated with WPRO) has been featuring regular commentary by RI Future founder Matt Jerzyk, including a Rhode Island “who’s hot and who’s not” column. The list typically has the slant that one would expect from Matt, but one…
On Thursday morning of this week, that is the headline that some of you might be reading in your local newspaper. UNLESS somebody comes forward to run in the next few days. All candidates for State Legislature must file their Declaration Of Candidacy, at the City or Town Hall in the community where they are…
Did you catch state Senator Lou Raptakis (D., Coventry) in the Providence Journal? It is no accident or coincidence that as Rhode Island is mired in an economic and budgetary crisis, our General Assembly has been operating in the shadows. When hundreds of bills are considered at the last minute, when significant new proposals are…
Heavy metal/punk rocker Henry Rollins used to (and may still) do free-form monologue shows — sort of a cross between stand-up comedy and academic lecture. As you might imagine, his commentary was often sordid and aggressive, but in my youth, I found there to be an underlying goodness, even wisdom, in his talks. One skit…
… pointing out that the bill lacks critical financial information, especially as to the state’s take, and questioning why the bill by-passes the right of the proposed host communities (Lincoln and Newport) to hold their own referenda on the matter. Now, it passed the House with an apparent veto-proof majority of 62-12. The Senate is…
On one level, it’s peculiar that so much attention should be paid to a simple change of law to make some minor fireworks legal. On another level, the issue is emblematic of Rhode Island governance. When I first read of the change, slipped into an article about municipal receivership, I made a light-hearted note in…
Brian Hull (h/t Ian Donnis), current proprietor of RI Future is putting the old girl up on the block again. This will be the 3rd ownership change for our erstwhile Progessive counterparts in as many years. Hull has been accepted into the Masters in Public Policy degree program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and…
In yesterday’s Providence Journal, House Speaker Gordon Fox describes how the new Rhode Island fireworks law came to be. “It was my intention to put it in just to get the discussion going for next year,” Fox said. “And the members just liked it. So next thing I know, they’re like, ‘We want to vote…