By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – House Democrats led by Speaker Gordon Fox on Thursday proposed a complete overhaul of the state economic agencies as they unveiled a sweeping set of bills they say will “improve the coordination and quality” of Rhode Island’s troubled economy.

The Democrats’ other proposals include bringing back the tax credit for historic buildings, this time capped at $5 million per project and potentially $30 million in total; allowing employers to pay workers biweekly; considering curbs on the overuse of jobless benefits by seasonal employers; and creating a new tax credit for local employers who add jobs after making major capital investments.

Read the rest of this story »

Capitol TV aficionados, get ready to feast.

Rhode Island’s General Assembly has added a new website that offers live Web streaming of its sessions and hearings, as well as an archive with videos of past proceedings – becoming the last state in the nation to do so.

In addition to Capitol TV live Web channels that can stream up to four committee hearings simultaneously, the website features a Capitol TV Video on Demand site that offers an archive of floor proceedings, committee hearings and other footage.

“Currently, Capitol TV airs a live House session and tapes the Senate session to broadcast after,” the Assembly’s leaders explained in a statement. “Without web-streaming, the channel could only broadcast one live committee meeting at a time.”

The launch comes just in time to provide a Web broadcast of Thursday afternoon’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where the panel will consider legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill has already passed the House, but top Senate Democrats are opposed to it.

WPRI.com reported last month that House Speaker Gordon Fox’s staff was in the final stages of adding streaming capability. The legislative video site is at rilin.state.ri.us/CapTV/default.aspx.

• Related: RI to stream legislative sessions online, joining other 49 states (Feb. 27)

By Dan McGowan

State Representative J. Patrick O’Neill isn’t taking his punishment from House Speaker Gordon Fox quietly.

The former House Majority Whip called Fox’s decision to remove him from the House Judiciary Committee “immature and shortsighted” and charged that members of the speaker’s leadership team have developed a habit of doing whatever they want without explaining themselves to rank-and-file lawmakers in recent years.

“I understand political retribution, but this is a complete lack of professionalism,” O’Neill told WPRI.com. “Loyalty is a two-way street, but it appears with this speaker, it’s a one-way street.”

(more…)

• Update: Common Cause blasts House Dems over ethics nullification (March 14)

---

House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Edie Ajello didn’t know what she was doing Tuesday when she voted with her colleagues to pass a proposed constitutional amendment reinstating the power of the R.I. Ethics Commission to police state lawmakers’ actions.

That’s how lawyers for House Democratic leadership kicked off their explanation for why Ajello nullified the vote on Wednesday afternoon when her committee reconvened.

The lawyers say Tuesday night’s surprise vote – which was orchestrated by rebel Democratic Rep. Patrick O’Neill – wasn’t allowed under the House rules [pdf] but Ajello didn’t realize that, so she voted along with the rest of the committee to pass the bill. “They did it in error,” House spokesman Larry Berman told WPRI.com.

Richard Raspallo, legal counsel to House Majority Leader Nick Mattiello, also said the votes taken by the committee Tuesday night will never be posted on the General Assembly’s website because the House rules don’t require committee votes to be recorded there unless the underlying bills are getting a floor vote.

(more…)

Rep. J. Patrick O’Neill got a taste of revenge on Tuesday night.

During what was looking to be an uneventful hearing, the Pawtucket Democrat apparently surprised House Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Edie Ajello and managed to get the 13-member panel to pass a proposed constitutional amendment [pdf] that would restore the R.I. Ethics Commission’s power to police state lawmakers. Rep. Doreen Costa, R-North Kingstown, seconded O’Neill’s motion.

A spokesman for House Speaker Gordon Fox wasn’t immediately available for comment, and the vote hasn’t been posted online yet. John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island and a longtime proponent of the ethics amendment, was shocked and elated by the sudden turn of events.

“They were intending to hold this bill for further study before Rep. O’Neill made a motion to reconsider,” Marion told WPRI.com. “We were caught off-guard, but we’re delighted because now the whole House of Representatives is going to have to vote on the resolution.”

(more…)

In 49 of the 50 states, citizens interested in their state lawmakers’ work can go to the legislature’s official website and watch what’s happening live online.

The one state where that’s not possible? Rhode Island.

The General Assembly is the country’s only state legislature that doesn’t offer live audio or video webcasts of its floor proceedings, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many of them offer even more than that, including live webcasts of committee hearings and archived videos of older business.

But that’s about to change, according to House Speaker Gordon Fox’s spokesman Larry Berman.

(more…)

Never led it be said that House Speaker Gordon Fox isn’t open to suggestions.

After Fox read a WPRI.com post suggesting that the House of Representatives’ economic summit on Thursday should have included someone who understands startup companies, the speaker agreed – and invited Owen Johnson, co-founder of startup accelerator Betaspring, to join the list of speakers.

House spokesman Larry Berman said the lack of startup representation was “inadvertent.”

“When it was pointed out to us that there was no startup, Speaker Fox said immediately that was an oversight – we really need to hear the perspective of a startup company, to see the hurdles that are necessary to start businesses – because we want to attract more businesses – so it’s important to get that perspective from startups,” Berman said.

Johnson will speak on the first panel. The economic summit is Thursday at Rhode Island College.

• Related: Few from private sector invited to RI House economic summit (Jan. 11)

The guest speakers at House Speaker Gordon Fox’s big economic conference next week are drawn heavily from the government and nonprofit sectors, with few representatives from private companies.

The agenda released late Friday lists 16 guest speakers, only five of them from private companies. And of those five, one is a former candidate for governor (​Ken Block) and two are government officials as members of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation board (Cheryl Snead and Karl Wadensten).

The two other speakers from private firms work for companies that are headquartered in Massachusetts: John Sheets Jr. from Natick-based Boston Scientific and Gary Ezovski, who sold his firm Lincoln Environmental to Woburn-based ATC Group Services back in 2007.

Speaker Fox said the summit is designed so lawmakers can “listen to key people in the trenches,” but the list doesn’t include any Rhode Island business owners or startup executives without ties to government. (Hopefully House members will supplement the summit by watching episodes of Executive Suite.) As for the Senate, Teresa Paiva Weed will lay out her recommendations for improving the economy in a report on Tuesday.

The full agenda for the House summit is posted after the jump. (more…)

​By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Disgraced state Rep. John McCauley resigned from the House of Representatives on Friday morning, just before a judge sentenced him to serve time in federal prison, WPRI.com has confirmed.

Read the rest of this story »

The taxpayer-funded vehicle Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed has admitted to using for a ride home from a Democratic fundraiser is just a small part of the legislative branch’s eight-figure annual budget.

The legislature’s annual spending on its own behalf grew from $28.7 million in 2002-03 to $35.3 million in 2011-12, and its budget is set to rise again to $38.8 million this fiscal year, according to documents obtained from the R.I. Office of Management and Budget.

Where does all that money go? There are at least two ways to look at it.

One way is by type of spending. The vast majority of the legislature’s budget is spent on people – salaries, wages and benefits for personnel, which has grown from $22.4 million a decade ago to more than $30 million:

Another way is by line item. This shows about half the budget goes to the speaker-controlled Joint Committee on Legislative Services, with lawmakers themselves (the General Assembly) getting about $6 million:

• Related: Target 12: ‘Taxpayer taxi’ took Paiva Weed home from Dem gala (Nov. 13)

Providence Rep. Gordon Fox won renomination for another term as House speaker overwhelmingly on Friday night at the first caucus meeting of the House Democrats whom he’ll have to herd starting in January. The speeches were ideologically diverse: Fox was nominated by Providence Rep. Edie Ajello, a staunch liberal, and seconded by conservatives Arthur Corvese of North Providence and Karen MacBeth of Cumberland.

Democrats will hold 69 of the House’s 75 seats in the next session, and 60 of them showed up for Friday’s caucus at the Asian Palace in Providence. Two of the nine absentees – Woonsocket Rep.-elect Stephen Casey and Lincoln Rep.-elect Gregory Costantino – sent their regrets because of prior commitments.

That leaves seven potential dissidents: Woonsocket Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, South Kingstown Rep. Spencer Dickinson, Coventry Rep. Scott Guthrie, Cranston Rep. Charlene Lima, Cranston Rep. Peter Palumbo, Pawtucket Rep. J. Patrick O’Neill and Providence Rep.-elect John Lombardi.

Baldelli-Hunt, Dickinson, Guthrie, Lima and O’Neill have all clashed publicly with Fox, while Palumbo is a staunch conservative who lost his party’s endorsement this year but prevailed anyway. Lombardi is a mystery.

My colleague Steve Nielsen caught up with Fox outside the caucus and asked about the next session:

An earlier version of this post identified Rep.-elect John Lombardi incorrectly.

Good luck finding a narrative in the results of this year’s 40 primaries for General Assembly.

There was no rhyme or reason to who won and who lost on Tuesday evening. Look at the scorecards for various groups that endorsed: Marriage Equality Rhode Island had nine wins and 10 losses. The unions’ Working Families Coalition won 10 and lost nine. The K-12 reform group RI-CAN won two and lost two. The Rhode Island Latino Political Action Committee was an exception, claiming a great night with eight wins in 10 races.

Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed and House Speaker Gordon Fox both had good nights. Only one incumbent senator in Paiva Weed’s Democratic caucus lost – and it was Michael Pinga, whom insiders never liked. She won’t face much pressure to push gay marriage next year. Fox’s caucus also had a decent run.

Here’s a scorecard. Incumbents are in bold. Winners in italics face no opposition in November.

House

In the House, 18 incumbents faced primary challengers – all Democrats except Rep. Laurence Ehrhardt.

• District 2 (D): Chris Blazejewski (Hennessey loses)
• District 6 (D): Raymond Hull (Wasylyk loses)
• District 8 (D): John Lombardi (Tarro, Kimzey lose)
• District 11 (D): Grace Diaz (Perez loses)
• District 12 (D): Joseph Almeida (Medina loses)
• District 16 (D): Peter Palumbo (Bergin loses)
• District 18 (D): Art Handy (McKenna loses)
• District 30 (R): Antonio Giarrusso (Bolton, Fachon lose; Watson retires)
• District 32 (R): Laurence Ehrhardt (Gamba loses)
• District 34 (R): Christopher Wilkens (Tetzner loses; Tanzi is incumbent)
• District 35 (D): Spencer Dickinson (Fogarty loses)
• District 39 (R): Clay Johnson (Picillo loses; Valencia is incumbent)
• District 40 (D): Lauri Archambault (Restivo loses; Chippendale is incumbent)
• District 44 (D): Gregory Costantino (Petrarca loses)
• District 45 (D): Mia Ackerman (Menard loses)
• District 46 (D): Jeremiah O’Grady (Barr II loses)
• District 49 (D): Lisa Baldelli-Hunt (Gitlow, Morin lose)
• District 50 (D): Stephen Casey (Brien loses)
• District 52 (D): Karen MacBeth (Uht loses)
• District 54 (D): William O’Brien (Mantia, Pellegrino; Schadone retires)
• District 56 (D): Agostinho Silva (Faria loses)
• District 58 (D): William San Bento Jr. (Tobon loses)
• District 59 (D): J. Patrick O’Neill (Arcaro loses)
• District 63 (D): Katherine Kazarian (Britto, Lovett, Tsonos loses; DaSilva retires)
• District 65 (D): Gregg Amore (Chapman, Miller lose; Savage retires)
• District 68 (D): Kenneth Marshall (Hanley loses; Morrison retires)
• District 73 (D): Marvin Abney (Carlin loses; Jackson retires)

Senate

In the Senate, eight incumbent Democrats and one Republican face primary challengers.

• District 3 (D): Gayle Goldin (Butke loses; Perry retires)
• District 5 (D): Paul Jabour (Kelly loses)
• District 9 (D): Adam Satchell (Pinga loses)
• District 14 (D): Daniel DaPonte (DaSilva loses)
• District 16 (D): Elizabeth Crowley (Moran loses)
• District 17 (D): John Cullen (Azar loses; O’Neill is incumbent)
• District 19 (D): Ryan Pearson (Spooner loses; Moura is incumbent)
• District 24 (D): Marc Cote (Pryeor loses)
• District 25 (D): Frank Lombardo (Acciardo loses)
• District 26 (D): Frank Lombardi (Dyszlewski loses; Lanzi retires)
• District 29 (D): Michael McCaffrey (Pisaturo loses)
• District 33 (D): Leo Raptakis (Gorman loses; Shibley is incumbent)
• District 34 (R): Frank Maher (McFadden loses)

• Related: The lucky 30 who’ve already won their General Assembly races (July 23)

There are 113 seats in Rhode Island’s General Assembly, and more than half of those House and Senate seats are being contested this year – just not necessarily in November.

That’s because there are 18 state legislative districts with a primary contest but no general-election race. These are all places where more than one Democrat filed to run in the primary, but no Republican or third-party candidate filed to run against the winning Dem in November.

Put another way, voters in these 18 districts have a choice on Sept. 11 but not on Nov. 6; barring a highly improbable victorious write-in campaign, the winner of tomorrow’s primary will be these districts’ next lawmaker.

Between the 18 primary-only districts and the 30 districts with no competition at all, nearly half of the General Assembly’s membership for the 2013-14 term will be known on Wednesday morning – 48 of 113 seats.

After the jump, a look at which districts have contested primary elections but uncontested general elections. Incumbents are in bold. If the current lawmaker isn’t in the primary, I put the name in brackets.

(more…)

There are 113 seats in the General Assembly’s two chambers, and 30 of those elections are over before a single vote is cast because one candidate is running unopposed. But not everyone on Smith Hill was so lucky – some politicians must fight off challengers in the Sept. 11 primary to keep their seats.

Here’s a district-by-district look at which districts have primary elections. Incumbents are in bold. If the current lawmaker isn’t in the primary, I put the name in brackets.

House

In the House, 18 incumbents face primary challengers – all Democrats except Republican Rep. Laurence Ehrhardt, who’s opponent says she was told he’d be retiring and then surprised her by deciding to run again.

• District 2 (D): Chris Blazejewski vs. Dirk Hennessey
• District 6 (D): Raymond Hull vs. Peter Wasylyk
• District 8 (D): Michael Tarro vs. Libby Kimzey vs. John Lombardi
• District 11 (D): Grace Diaz vs. Laura Perez
• District 12 (D): Leo Medina vs. Joseph Almeida
• District 16 (D): Peter Palumbo vs. Michelle Bergin
• District 18 (D): Art Handy vs. William McKenna
• District 30 (R): Robert Bolton vs. Emil Fachon vs. Antonio Giarrusso [Watson]
• District 32 (R): Laurence Ehrhardt vs. Sharon Gamba
• District 34 (R): Stephen Tetzner vs. Christopher Wilkens [Tanzi]
• District 35 (D): Spencer Dickinson vs. Kathleen Fogarty
• District 39 (R): Clay Johnson vs. Michael Picillo [Valencia]
• District 40 (D): Lauri Archambault vs. Jon Restivo [Chippendale]
• District 44 (D): Peter Petrarca vs. Gregory Costantino
• District 45 (D): Rene Menard vs. Mia Ackerman
• District 46 (D): Jeremiah O’Grady vs. John Douglas Barr II
• District 49 (D): Lisa Baldelli-Hunt vs. Stuart Gitlow vs. Michael Morin
• District 50 (D): Jon Brien vs. Stephen Casey
• District 52 (D): Karen MacBeth vs. Augustus Uht
• District 54 (D): Lance Mantia vs. David Pellegrino vs. William O’Brien [Schadone]
• District 56 (D): Agostinho Silva vs. Joseph Faria
• District 58 (D): William San Bento Jr. vs. Carlos Tobon
• District 59 (D): J. Patrick O’Neill vs. John Arcaro
• District 63 (D): Robert Britto vs. Katherine Kazarian vs. Sam Lovett vs. Charles Tsonos [DaSilva]
• District 65 (D): Gregg Amore vs. Timothy Chapman vs. James Miller [Savage]
• District 68 (D): Kenneth Marshall vs. John Hanley [Morrison]
• District 73 (D): Marvin Abney vs. David Carlin [Jackson]

Senate

In the Senate, eight incumbent Democrats and one Republican face primary challengers.

• District 3 (D): Maryellen Butke vs. Gayle Goldin [Perry]
• District 5 (D): Paul Jabour vs. Maura Kelly
• District 9 (D): Michael Pinga vs. Adam Satchell
• District 14 (D): Daniel DaPonte vs. Roberto DaSilva
• District 16 (D): Elizabeth Crowley vs. Joseph Moran
• District 17 (D): Louis Azar vs. John Cullen [O'Neill]
• District 19 (D): Ryan Pearson vs. James Spooner [Moura]
• District 24 (D): Marc Cote vs. Lewis Pryeor
• District 25 (D): Frank Lombardo vs. Nicole Amelia Acciardo
• District 26 (D): Frank Lombardi vs. Gene Dyszlewski [Lanzi]
• District 29 (D): Michael McCaffrey vs. Laura Pisaturo
• District 33 (D): David Gorman vs. Leo Raptakis [Shibley]
• District 34 (R): Frank Maher vs. Paul McFadden

Update: WPRI 12 political analyst Joe Fleming calls to say it’s actually surprising to him that there are four Republican House primaries. ”It’s a rarity that there are so many,” he said. “Usually there’s only one or two.”

• Related: The lucky 30 who’ve already won their General Assembly races (July 23)

An earlier version of this list incorrectly classified the Senate District 34 race as a Democratic primary and missed the Democratic primary in House District 56.

More than two dozen General Assembly races are already over before a single ballot is cast because only one candidate filed for the seat. Here’s who is currently listed as running unopposed and therefore won’t have to campaign this fall, according to the secretary of state:

1. Sen. Maryellen Goodwin (D), District 1
2. Sen. Walter Felag (D), District 10
3. Sen. Chris Ottiano (R), District 11
4. Sen. Lou DiPalma (D), District 12
5. William Conley (D), Senate District 18
6. Sen. Roger Picard (D), District 20
7. Sen. Erin Lynch (D), District 31
8. Sen. David Bates (R), District 32
9. Sen. Dennis Algiere (R), District 38

1. Rep. Maria Cimini (D), District 7
2. Rep. Anastasia Williams (D), District 9
3. Rep. John Carnevale (D), District 13
4. Rep. Charlene Lima (D), District 14
5. Rep. Joseph McNamara (D), District 19
6. Rep. David Bennett (D), District 20
7. Rep. Eileen Naughton (D), District 21
8. Rep. Frank Ferri (D), District 22
9. Rep. Joe Trillo (R), District 24
10. Rep. Jared Nunes (D), District 25
11. Rep. Samuel Azzinaro (D), District 37
12. Rep. Stephen Ucci (D), District 42
13. Rep. Arthur Corvese (D), District 55
14. Rep. James McLaughlin (D), District 57
15. Rep. Elaine Coderre (D), District 60
16. Rep. Raymond Johnston (D), District 61
17. Rep. Mary Duffy Messier (D), District 62
18. Rep. Helio Melo (D), District 64
19. Rep. Raymond Gallison (D), District 69
20. Dennis Canario (D), House District 71
21. Rep. Peter Martin (D), District 75

Among the most surprising names on this list is Rep. Carnevale, who survived calls for his resignation last fall when he was charged with sexual assault; the case against him was dismissed after the alleged victim died. Also lucky are Democrats William Conley (Senate District 18) and Dennis Canario (House District 71), who aren’t even incumbents but don’t face opposition. Canario is actually a pickup for Democrats, since that seat was previously Dan Gordon’s and John Loughlin’s; Republicans couldn’t get someone on the ballot this time.

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – House Speaker Gordon Fox will call a vote next year on legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island, he announced Friday during a taping of WPRI 12′s Newsmakers.

Read the rest of this story »

The R.I. House of Representatives didn’t adjourn until about 3:30 a.m. What were they doing lo those many hours? Here’s a sample of what the House passed (excluding duplicate bills) in its final hours, from a crackdown on charitable gift cards to a bill to protect the Woonsocket cross memorial.

- 3:28 a.m.: Require the R.I. Resource Recovery Corporation to create “an off-site air quality monitoring system.”

- 3:12 a.m.: Create a citizens advisory board at the R.I. Resource Recovery Corporation, add a third commissioner from Johnston to the agency’s board.

- 3:10 a.m.: Give legal immunity to dam management districts in disputes over lake beds.

- 3:07 a.m.: Order Health and Human Services Secretary Steven Costantino to create a new system of state reimbursement rates for nursing homes.

(more…)

The big day is here. The Rhode Island House of Representatives will take up the finance committee’s $8.1 billion tax-and-spending plan for 2012-13 this afternoon, with the debate scheduled to start at 2 p.m. – a likely story – and expected to continue for hours.

Most of the buzz is about whether Speaker Fox will be able to beat back attempts to add a tax hike on upper-income Rhode Islanders to the budget proposal. Legislative leaders and Governor Chafee have made clear all along they won’t support that, but many rank-and-file Democrats are queasy about voting against a populist measure with strong labor backing.

I’ll have live coverage of the budget debate on my Twitter feed (@tednesi) this afternoon and evening, and I’ll post a full article wrapping up what lawmakers do after the day’s events are done. And, of course, we’ll have live coverage on WPRI 12 at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., as well as on Fox Providence at 10 p.m.

If you really want to wonk out, dive into the budget analysis briefings written up by the House Fiscal Office [pdf] and the Senate Fiscal Office [pdf]. This chart from the Senate staff, for example, shows Democratic lawmakers are leaving yawning future deficits:

Update: Well, it was a nice idea anyway. I’ve been pulled off budget coverage to tackle all today’s 38 Studios developments, so no budget coverage from this corner tonight.

• Related: Budget on autopilot gives Rhode Island permanent deficits (June 13)

(photo: Ted Nesi/WPRI)

And you thought Woonsocket had problems at the State House?

Last Thursday, the R.I. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution “supporting the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s efforts to develop as a free and independent nation.” House Speaker Gordon Fox himself was the lead sponsor and 33 Democrats and Republicans seconded the motion; nobody objected.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a breakaway region of Azerbaijan with a mostly Armenian population that experienced a brutal civil war in the early 1990s. Azerbaijan – a key U.S. military ally – wants the region back but Armenia isn’t budging, and peace talks are stalled.

Rhode Island has a sizable Armenian population, and Congressman David Cicilline is among the politicians who’ve taken an active interest in their concerns. But the Azerbaijani government is apparently less pleased with local lawmakers’ meddling.

(more…)

By Tim White

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A Rhode Island state representative’s business that the FBI raided last year is at the center of an arson and mail fraud case against a Warwick woman, the Target 12 Investigators have learned.

Read the rest of this story »

It’s been clear for a long time that a majority of Rhode Island House Democrats (and likely a Republican or two) support legalizing same-sex marriage, and Governor Chafee has always said he’d sign such a bill into law.

That’s kept all eyes on the Rhode Island Senate – particularly Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, a devout Catholic who opposes gay marriage, and the conservative Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Sen. Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick, a Catholic who belongs to his city’s Knights of Columbus.

There are signs the Senate’s opposition may be softening. In February, Paiva Weed and McCaffrey met with lobbyists from Marriage Equality Rhode Island at the lawmakers’ request; last year they never got a meeting at all. And at least two Senate Republicans, Dawson Hodgson of North Kingstown and Christopher Ottiano of Portsmouth, say they’d make a vote to approve gay marriage bipartisan.

Ray Sullivan, the former lawmaker who heads MERI, said there’s “no doubt” gay marriage would pass the House, which is led by openly gay Speaker Gordon Fox. “We have more support now in the General Assembly than we’ve ever had before,” Sullivan told WPRI.com. “That’s not spin. That’s the reality. People are recognizing that it’s time to take action on this issue.”

(more…)

State Sen. James Sheehan is a little peeved about some recent publicity seeking by state Rep. Lisa Tomasso.

Tomasso, D-Coventry, sent out a press release April 5 with the (oddly worded) headline: “Tomasso impresses importance of exports in Rhode Island.” The release, which got picked up by PolitiFact, laid out some of the testimony at recent hearings before the Permanent Joint Committee on Economic Development.

That didn’t sit well with Sheehan, D-North Kingstown, the committee’s co-chair. “I would request that you please speak to the chairs prior to doing a statewide release on what is the work of an entire committee, especially the chairs who have literally planned such hearings over the past so many months,” Sheehan told Tomasso in an email April 18 obtained by WPRI.com.

“I am confused by your request,” Tomasso replied the next day, CC’ing the committee’s other eight members. “It was not my intention to slight the Chairs or the hard working members of the committee.” She noted that Mark Hayward, the Small Business Administration’s district director, had urged lawmakers to “spread the word” about exports and that she had held the release for three days after the hearing.

(more…)

Common Cause Rhode Island says state Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt should withdraw her sponsorship of a bill to crack down on potential competitors to her brother’s check-cashing company after WPRI.com revealed the business pays rent to her.

“Recent media attention around your sponsorship of this legislation raises questions about the potential for a financial conflict of interest that cannot be answered before tomorrow’s hearing, and therefore we believe the best course of action is to withdraw the bill,” John Marion, Common Cause’s executive director, wrote Tuesday in a letter to Baldelli-Hunt [pdf].

Marion noted that a 2009 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision removed the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction over lawmakers’ official duties, “and until that jurisdiction is restored we believe that members of the General Assembly should take a wide course of recusal.”

The House Corporations Committee is scheduled to take up the check-cashing bill this afternoon. A copy of Marion’s letter was also delivered to House Speaker Gordon Fox. Baldelli-Hunt, D-Woonsocket, scoffed at the idea that there could be a conflict of interest with the legislation last month.

“If I for one minute thought that I was doing something wrong, why would I put this [bill] in?” Baldelli-Hunt said. “Why wouldn’t I give it to somebody else? That happens all the time – you know, ‘You want to put this bill in?’”

The lead co-sponsors of Baldelli-Hunt’s bill are Reps. John Carnevale, D-Providence; Leo Medina, D-Providence; Rene Menard, D-Woonsocket; and Jon Brien, D-Woonsocket. Carnevale and Medina were two of the state lawmakers who faced criminal charges last year.

• Related: Baldelli-Hunt gets paid rent by brother’s firm her bill could help (March 7)

By Ted Nesi

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WPRI) – State Rep. Lisa Baldelli-Hunt has acknowledged she earns rent from her brother’s check-cashing business but says she takes offense at the suggestion her ties to the industry led her to introduce a bill cracking down on his potential competitors.

“If I for one minute thought that I was doing something wrong, why would I put this [bill] in?” Baldelli-Hunt, D-Woonsocket, told WPRI.com. “Why wouldn’t I give it to somebody else? That happens all the time – you know, ‘You want to put this bill in?’”

Baldelli-Hunt and her husband paid $410,000 in 2006 to buy 1173 Social Street in Woonsocket from a company incorporated by her brother, Dan Baldelli, who owns the pawnbroking and check-cashing firm The Gold Loan Company, city records show. Gold Loan operates one of its five locations at a kiosk in 1173 Social Street.

Asked how much her brother pays to rent the kiosk from her, Baldelli-Hunt replied: “Quite frankly, that’s none of your business.”

(more…)

The Rhode Island Republican Party says it may go to court in an effort to overturn what the GOP sees as a blatant attempt to save a vulnerable incumbent Democrat in Burrillville by redrawing his legislative district.

What has Republicans riled up is “the Keablemander” – the redrawing of House Districts 47 and 48 that would move Donald Fox, the Republican who lost to State Rep. Cale Keable by 196 votes in 2010, out of Keable’s district. The plan would shift four times more people than the 360 required by the Census, said Patrick Sweeney, the GOP’s executive director.

“From the testimony last night, it’s a purely political move with no independent basis,” Sweeney told WPRI.com. “There’s no natural, historic, geographic or any other consideration. It’s just, ‘We’re going to shift 1,500 people.’ It just doesn’t make sense.”

(more…)

House Republicans and a bipartisan Senate majority are still deadlocked over how to extend the Social Security payroll tax cut that’s set to expire for 160 million workers on Jan. 1.

I asked two Rhode Islanders who want to join the House Republican caucus – Brendan Doherty and John Loughlin – whether they think the chamber should pass the two-month extension approved by the Senate over the weekend or hold out for a full-year extension.

Doherty spokesman Robert Coupe said his candidate thinks “it was irresponsible for anyone in Congress to enact a short-term fix for this crucial issue then abruptly leave for vacation.”

(more…)

On Friday, I posted an item about the redistricting commission’s apparent effort to redraw State Rep. Scott Guthrie’s District 28 to include the Republican who’s challenging State Rep. Lisa Tomasso in next-door District 29. While that’s definitely happening, my reading of which map does what was a little off. Let’s go to the video.

While any error on Nesi’s Notes is my sole responsibility, sometimes the explanation for how it happened can shine a light on another issue. In this case, I think it may reveal how difficult the redistricting commission is making it for members of the public to drill down and figure out exactly what’s going on in their precinct.

Here, for example, is the map of Guthrie’s current district posted by the commission. Drawing the boundary lines with a thick black magic marker makes it impossible to tell exactly which houses are on which side of the border, which is exactly what’s at issue in this case:

(more…)