May is almost here, bringing a closer read on state revenue and perhaps even more sunshine. So thanks for stopping by. As usual, your tips and comments are welcome and you can follow me though the week on the twitters. Here we go.
1. Given the way things work at the Statehouse, it’s only natural to think that House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s car-tax phaseout will be a bigger priority for state reps than Governor Gina Raimondo‘s college tuition plan. The outlook is complicated by an almost two percent drop in anticipated revenue for the first nine months of the current fiscal year, a shortfall of $43 million. Yet for now, before the May 10 revenue-estimating conference offers a more definitive look at state revenue, House Finance Chairman Marvin Abney (D-Newport) is mostly keeping a poker face. “The things that are important as we prioritize them, I think we’ll get them done,” Abney said, referring to the central question of how Raimondo and Mattiello’s respective priorities will fare. While Abney was portrayed as a support of the governor’s RI Promise program when she stumped at Newport’s Rogers High School in March, he said he was actually speaking more generally about the value of education. “I would say again that the concept is not bad of making sure kids can do that,” Abney said on this week’s RI Public Radio Political Roundtable, “but a specific plan is a whole different story.” Pressed on whether Mattiello’s antipathy toward the governor’s college tuition proposal speaks for itself, Abney was characteristically diplomatic response: “I don’t think he’s just dead-set on not looking at it as something that may be helpful, but I do think that we have to look at it in terms of the budget that we’re going to have.” (Meanwhile, in a sign of additional possible budget wrinkles, the Revenue & Estimating Conference has added a date of testimony and moved the time for the caseload estimating conference to 1 p.m. on May 5.)
2. So with Speaker Mattiello remaining cool, at best, toward Governor Raimondo‘s key legislative priority, the governor this week turned to a Republican counterpart from Tennessee, Bill Haslam, as part of her ongoing effort to build support for RI’s Promise. As we’ve noted, the Tennessee program is limited to just community and technical colleges. Still, it’s somewhat striking when a Tennessee Republican makes more common cause on an issue with the governor than a Cranston Democrat. For his part, Mattiello has cited a litany of concerns about Raimondo’s college tuition plan.
3. Former Cranston state Sen. Bea Lanzi is moving from General Treasurer Seth Magaziner‘s office to become director of the legislative internship program run by the Joint Committee on Legislative Services. The position has been vacant since former rep Bob Gemma retired in January. Lanzi joined the treasurer’s office as director of legislation and outreach in early 2015. LeeAnn Byrne, policy director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, is set to join Magaziner’s staff on May 15 as legislative director. Meanwhile, Charon Rose, who previously served as the treasurer’s director of constituent relations, is taking on a new title as director of outreach.
4. Cranston Mayor Allan Fung plans a preview “of great things to come” during “an intimate breakfast with dear friends” on May 13 at Chapel Grille, according to an invitation sent by Fung’s political organization. (Fung declined comment on the reason for the get-together beyond quipping, “Can’t a person have bacon and eggs w[ith] some close friends advisors.”) Meanwhile, fellow Republican Joe Trillo is squashing rumors that he’s mulling an independent run for governor in 2018, although he said he’s still “very much” considering a GOP campaign for the job. In fact, Trillo said, he plans to meet in D.C. in the weeks ahead with Corey Lewandowski’s firm, adding that the former high-level Donald Trump aide “promised to help me.” Trillo, who chaired Trump’s RI campaign, is also assembling an exploratory committee that he said will include some Democrats. The 73-year-old former Warwick lawmaker said his focus is determining if he has a realistic shot at winning the governor’s office.
5. House Finance Chairman Marvin Abney on cutting the car tax: “It’s one of those things — it’s a public trust issue,” he said on RIPR’s Bonus Q&A this week. ” ‘You put a tax on us to do X, you do it for a while, you get Y, then you put it back. I think people are fed up with that, you know. It’s making us — it’s certainly making me — look at what my priorities are to come up with enough money to make that happen. I do think that I’m going to work really, really hard to make sure that we’re keeping a public trust, rather than getting in the middle of a discussion between the speaker and the governor; I know that’s where people want to go ‘cus because it makes news and all that sort of stuff. But I do think that this is a public trust issue. And quickly, just two days ago a guy walked past my car at Shaw’s and said two things. ‘One, please, no more, you know, corruptions; and if you could do one thing, get rid of that stupid car tax.’ This is what the guy said to me. So I think there’s a sentiment that we’re actually forced to make sure that we do some things that the public wants done. That’s critical.”
6. The PawSox are getting closer to unveiling financial details for their envisioned new Pawtucket stadium, judging by how the team this week unveiled a “park within a park” concept for the Apex site. The Raimondo administration is backing what it calls a revenue-neutral approach. So if the PawSox are willing to pay, say, half the cost of developing a new ballpark, where does the rest of the money come from? If a workable deal emerges, it could lend a boost to Pawtucket, what with the city’s growing profile as a beer mecca and a new train station planned on the border with Central Fall. Yet in contrast to 2015, Speaker Mattiello has been virtually silent on the stadium issue, Governor Raimondo seems extremely wary of backing a subsidy, and some observers question if the chilling effect from 38 Studios will ultimately cause the PawSox to leave Rhode Island.
7. Sixteen years ago, it was quite unusual when leaders of the Providence police union wound up sharing drinks at the Biltmore with activists from Direct Action for Rights and Accountability (DARE) after they bumped into each other at the Biltmore. “I still say I was dreaming — that the FOP would even be in my company,” DARE organizer Mary Kay Harris, now a city councilor, told me at the time. “A few months ago, we never would have been able to put that together.” Now, though, in the aftermath of the Providence City Council’s surprise vote to table the Community Safety Act, supporters reacted with anger, some of it directed against police. The FOP, meanwhile, has a series of concerns about the CSA, including the name of the act. The Providence Police Department has improved significantly since the dysfunction of Buddy Cianci‘s second tenure; Chief Hugh Clements and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare are widely respected. At the same time, racial profiling and related concerns remain an issue in many cities. The acrimony in the CSA fight raises the question, at least for now, of whether there’s room for meaingful compromise.
8. Layoffs have become an increasingly common part of Rhode Island’s healthcare landscape, and there could be more ahead with Care New England’s envisioned merger with Partners HealthCare. So here’s an excerpt from a timely read on “Our Costly Addiction to Healthcare Jobs“: “Administrative costs for the American health care system are the highest in the developed world, according to a January report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. More than 8 percent of domestic health spending is tied up in administration, while the average globally is about 3 percent. America spent $631 for every man, woman and child on health insurance administration for 2012, compared with $54 in Japan. America’s huge investment in health care and related jobs hasn’t always led to better results for patients, data show. But it has provided good-paying jobs, which is why the talk of deep cuts in federal health spending has many people concerned.”
9. The student-run Undergraduate Finance Board at Brown University has reversed a decision to cut funding for the print edition of The College Hill Independent, through the spring of 2018. Supporters say happened after 400 people made calls to object to the cut. Backers of the Indy, including alums like Matt Sledge, are creating an alumni network to strengthen the publication’s future.
10. The Providence Journal newsroom isn’t expected to face layoffs after four newsroom staffers — Deputy Executive Editor Peter Phipps; John Kostrzewa, assistant managing editor for business, commerce and consumer issues; and reporters Karen Lee Ziner and Gregory Smith — took the latest buyout. Management has succeeded in its goal of cutting payroll, albeit at the cost of a lot of institutional memory and skill walking out the door. Under departing editor Dave Butler, the ProJo re-dedicated itself to reporting more news from outside Providence. That seemed like a smart strategy, since there are many sources for national and international news and many Rhode Island communities get little routine media coverage of city/town government. Smith kept a close eye on Cranston before more recently being reassigned to the East Bay. For now, it remains unclear how the ProJo will square a smaller staff with readers’ desire for news from around the state.
11. Meanwhile, unionized workers at 29 newspapers owned by ProJo parent GateHouse Media and Digital First Media plan to stage a joint day action next Wednesday, May 3, which is World Press Freedom Day. According to a news release about the effort, “It will support the fight for quality journalism at those papers and highlight the damage wrought by draconian cuts in their newsrooms and other departments. Now, union leaders say the focus on profits threatens journalism at a critical time of politicized attacks on the news media. ‘Reliable information is the foundation of our democracy,’ said Bernie Lunzer, president of The NewsGuild-CWA, based in Washington, D.C. ‘Corporate owners have a duty to invest in the essential work done by newspaper workers and not to simply strip-mine newspapers for profits.’ “
12. Former ProJo reporter Gina Macris publishes a web site called Developmental Disability News. She did some thorough digging to root out this story about a 2011 memo asserting developmental disability providers could do the same job for 13 percent less money.
13. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, a Brown University alum, is set to return to College Hill next Friday and Saturday for a conference on 125 Years of Women at Brown. With about 700 alums expected, the BDH reports, “The conference offerings will include panels led by Brown alums and faculty on subjects ranging from ‘Work and Life: How Working Women Manage Demands on Their Time in a 24/7 World’ to ‘Celebrating Brown’s Female Athletes’ to ‘The Value of Gender Diversity in STEM Fields.’
13. Two former Rhode Island politicians, both from prominent families. One seems reluctant to completely walk away from politics, even if that might be the thing to do. The other has made a clean break from the game, and has since devoted himself to an important public policy issue.
14. Civil libertarians have long opposed the concept of a national identity card. Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza had something different in mind when he proposed a municipal ID card while unveiling his latest budget this week: “[P]eople are flocking to cities that value diversity and embody progressive values. It is in that same vein, that I propose that we join cities such as San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and many others and institute a municipal ID program where people have access to an ID card that tells them that they belong.Whether you’re an immigrant who’s looking for a way to legally identify yourself, you’re homeless and don’t have the means, you’re transgender and want to self-identify, you’re a young person who wants your first bank account, or you’re just a resident who wants to display your Providence pride, this helps bring us together. Municipal IDs have been endorsed by police departments, supported by immigration advocates, [and] applauded by the LGBTQ community ….”
15. Read the report from Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea‘s office on how to improve elections in Rhode Island.
16. While a legislative vote on the line-item veto seems unlikely this year — since Speaker Mattiello is backing a post-session study commission — the Senate has a 5 pm hearing slated for the issue on Wednesday, May 5. It’s on for the first meeting of the Senate’s reshaped Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight. Ken Block, a driving force on the line-item veto issue, senses an opportunity. As he writes in an email blast, “Good government reforms don’t happen in Rhode Island without a fight …. The more people we pack into the State House, the more our message will be heard. You do not need to speak unless you want to, but there is just no substitute for a big crowd of people demanding change in person.”
16. The Black Sheep, the new bar created by lobbyist/bon vivant Will Farrell and the team from the Brass Monkey, is opening in the Providence location at Empire and Westminster formerly known as Finnegan’s Wake.
17. “Is it time to break up Google?“
18. Guy Dufault is doing some consulting work the PawSox. Dufault, who has worn many hats during his lengthy career — including state Democratic Party chairman — said the effort represents a return to his roots. That’s because McCoy Stadium was part of Dufault’s purview during long-ago days as Pawtucket’s parks and recreation director.
19. Listen to an interview on the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s battle to bring a long-deceased leader back to his initial burial site in Warren.
20. Via The Economist: “The paradox of modern medicine is that people are living longer, and yet doing so with more disease”
21. The orate original ProJo Building, which helped give rise to the diner, is up for sale again.
22. Rest in Peace, director Jonathan Demme, who died this week at 73. His efforts included the Talking Heads film “Stop Making Sense,” in which David Byrne does a dance supposedly based on his time arm-stacking wieners while at RISD. Byrne offers this account: “I did work at a hot dog stand, a place called New York System, where you put the hot dogs on your arm like that. But I got that thing from, I saw these Japanese kids dancing in the park in Tokyo, these kind of rockabilly dancers, and then there were these kind of space cadet kids that had a completely different set of movements. I videotaped a bunch of them, and that’s where I got that.”
