State Government
I’m all for cutting government. But this? A page taken directly from the David Cicilline Handbook On Governing? The Rhode Island Society of CPAs (RISCPA) announced its strong opposition today to Governor Chafee’s proposal to abolish the Rhode Island Bureau of Audits. Under the Governor’s proposed FY2013 budget (House Bill 7323, Article 4), the Bureau,…
One of the big changes to the new Rhode Island Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is they’re going to try to be a little nicer. According to the AP, Governor Chafee reported: Rhode Island’s governor says he wants residents to know they can now expect to be treated with courtesy and “dignity” when visiting their…
This is interesting. Sovereignty for certain segments of the state’s criminal justice system. A federal appeals court has upheld Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s right to refuse to turn over accused murderer Jason Pleau for federal prosecution that could result in the death penalty. … Chafee issued a written statement late Thursday that said, “I am gratified…
Here’s an excellent indication that something is askew in our way of government operation: Charles Odimgbe, chief executive officer of RIPTA, said he was aware of the problem [of insufficient beach-bound buses] but that his hands are tied. “We have a deficit of $4.6 million,” Odimgbe said. “I do understand there are way too many…
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is squarely taking on the unions to help fix his state’s budget problems (h/t). Elements of Walker’s proposal include state employee wage increases limited to the rate of inflation unless approved in a voter referendum. State workers — other than police, fire, and inspectors — would lose many bargaining rights and…
Governor-Elect Chafee has declined to reconsider his decision to rescind Governor Carcieri’s Executive Order 08-01 (pdf) on the grounds that he cannot back away from a promise that he made during the campaign. After looking over some of Mr. Chafee’s other campaign promises, I’m excited to hear this – at least, his grounds for doing…
I submitted the Anchor Rising list of Gubernatorial civics questions to the transition team of incoming Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee — who, you may recall, stated during his campaign that “Rhode Island state government must be open, accessible, and accountable to its citizens” — and asked if the Governor-elect would be willing to sit…
Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me that there’s a huge conceptual flaw in general treasurer candidate Kerry King’s pension solution: “We have a crazy system of 150 pension plans, which makes no sense at all,” he said. “We need to bring all these plans together.” That would put all government employees into…
Sometimes, in the noise and rancor of politics and budgeting, one’s attention becomes monopolized by particular details. Consider the following: [The state’s public-employee unions’] chief target: a proposal to limit annual pension increases to the first $35,000 in retirement pay initially. The $35,000 would go up each year, in keeping with the Consumer Price Index,…
A recent speech by New Jersey’s new Republican Governor, Chris Christie, to that state’s League of Municipalities sounds some strikingly familiar chords: Our citizens are already the most overtaxed in America. US mayors hear it all the time. You know that the public appetite for ever increasing taxes has reached an end. So when we…