What better way to kick off a new political year than by getting the party started on New Year’s Day? That was the case in the Biggest Little thanks to a quirk of how the first Tuesday of 2019 fell on the holiday (the General Assembly won’t start again on January 1 until 2030). So thanks for stopping by. As usual, your tips and comments are welcome, and you can follow me through the week on the twitters. Here we go.
The emergence of a group of 19 “Reform Democrats” is injecting a bit of fresh vitality into the new legislative session in the RI House. Usually, the presence of overwhelming Democratic super-majorities in both chambers gives legislative proceedings all the drama of a Moscow show trial. Now, the 19-member opposition bloc could potentially team with the nine-member GOP caucus to make some votes – perhaps even the outcome of the budget – more unpredictable. For now, the ‘Reform Democrats’ are calling for a series of changes to the legislative process, including 48 hours to review changes to bills, a pathway to move stalled bills to the House floor, and a two-year for considering bills. While the opposition bloc says these proposals are in the public interest, it’s worth noting how House GOP Leader Blake Filippi, a potential ally, offered mixed reviews: “Conceptually, some make sense, but a lot more thought needs to go into them. For instance, the proposed Sub-A process,” of requiring more time to review amendments, “would not work as many Sub-A’s are for stylistic or grammatical changes. Instead, it would make more sense to enable 25% of a committee to demand a 24-Hour hold on the Sub-A before it is voted on.” Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s leadership, meanwhile, has responded with its own 23-page rules proposal, including restrictions on releasing details from a complaint about sexual harassment. A committee hearing has already been posted for Tuesday. While the inside baseball of the legislative process usually flies well beneath the radar of public attention, the ‘Reform Democrats’ say a growing number of citizens are troubled by how the speaker uses that process to control legislation. Yet the leadership-backed rules for 2019-2020 appear poised for a relatively quick vote, leaving little time to spark a broader public debate.
2) Former Rep. Anthony Giarrusso (R-East Greenwich) was fond of citing the important role lawmakers have in stopping bad bills from becoming law. In defending leadership’s stance on potential rules changes, House Majority Leader Joseph Shekarchi uses similar reasoning. “The legislative process, as designed by our fore-founders, ha[s] always been a slow and deliberate process,” Shekarchi said on Political Roundtable on The Public’s Radio this week. He noted how it took his own job creation tax credit bill took three years to pass as an example of how worthy measures can eventually move ahead. And Shekarchi said the House already has a discharge petition that can be used to move stalled bills to the floor. During a news conference staged Wednesday by the ‘Reform Democrats,’ however, Rep. Edith Ajello (D-Providence) said the discharge petition hasn’t been used since former House GOP Leader Nick Gorham came up short in an effort many years ago to get Ethics Commissions revisions on the floor. “After that the rules were changed so the petition had to stay on the desk [on the rostrum],” she said, “which meant that it was right under leadership’s nose the whole time.”
3) Speaker Mattiello won his third full term as speaker Tuesday, and the 47 Democratic votes he received shows that he retains strong control over the House of Representatives. It was hardly coincidental that he was nominated for the speakership by Rep. Shelby Maldonado, a rising star from Central Falls, who touted Mattiello as an advocate for women, workers, and immigrants. The nomination was seconded by Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson of Warwick, who said she believes he takes a gender-neutral approach on issues involving women. But 74 percent of the 19 reps who abstained from voting for Mattiello are women, in contrast to the 23 percent of Democrats who supported him.
4) Will 2019 be the year when a bill to codify abortion rights in Rhode Island law gets a floor vote in the House? The response from Majority Leader Joseph Shekarchi, via Bonus Q&A on The Public’s Radio: “I think there’s a renewed focus on that. I will point out, just so everyone knows, that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. Abortion has been safe and legal in Rhode Island since 1973. So that access to women’s reproductive healthcare exists today. I don’t think necessarily that in the past that there was a great push for it; it seems to be more of a push because of what’s happening in Washington. The speaker has said publicly and privately that we’re going to look at it, and listen to what the caucus has to say and what the House has to say. We’ll make a decision between now and June.”
5) From Scott MacKay’s commentary on Gov. Gina Raimondo’s inaugural: “She mentioned a hot button subject –the failures of the state’s public education system—in only glancing ways. ‘We won’t stop until out students are set up to achieve their dreams from pre-K through high school and beyond.’ The recent round of dismal standardized test scores for most Rhode Island public schools wasn’t mentioned, naturally. As is the case in inaugural speeches, this one was scant on specifics or concrete policy plans. There was an exception: the governor’s ringing call for ‘common sense gun laws.’ ‘It is time to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,’ she said. ‘It is not enough to send our thoughts and prayers each time another act of gun violence takes away a life full of promise.’While the gun lobby is vigorous at the Statehouse, Raimondo is aware that public opinion in Rhode Island and other southern New England states favor reasonable gun restrictions. The more contentious parts of her second-term plans will wait for her budget”, scheduled for unveiling on January 17. “That’s when the constraints of the state budget inject a stern reality into the flowery rhetoric of progress and new spending programs.”
6) During her inaugural, Raimondo said, “As I stand here looking out on our Capital City I’m filled with optimism because I’ve seen what we can accomplish together in just four short years, and I know that even more is possible.” But the governor’s to-do list for term 2 does not include assisting Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza in seeking a solution for the city’s looming pension crisis. “No, but I sure hope the mayor’s does,” Raimondo told me during a recent end of year interview. While the governor could theoretically advocate on Elorza’s behalf with legislative leaders, she said cities and towns still need to catch up with the state in scaling back healthcare costs and things like longevity pay.
7) It’s not every day when a Democratic state senator makes an opening day floor speech opposing the nomination as president of someone like Dominick Ruggerio, who has been a fixture in the chamber for almost 40 years. In his prepared remarks, freshman Sen. Sam Bell of Providence acknowledged the unusual quality of his stance: “I understand that in casting my ballot against this nomination, I will be doing something that is typically not done. So I am asking my colleagues to understand — even if they will not join me — why this is a vote I must take.” Bell’s reasons included his own campaign pledge, policy differences, and how Ruggerio during a 1992 primary “championed his own willingness to stand up to leadership.” While Ruggerio has dismissed the idea of punishing critics, the view around Smith Hill is that Bell and Sen. Donna Nesselbush of Pawtucket, who has joined Bell in criticizing the status quo in the Senate, face diminished prospects for their legislative priorities.
8) Across the rotunda, Reps. Katherine Kazarian of East Providence, Art Handy of Cranston, and Kathleen Fogarty and Teresa Tanzi of South Kingstown are among the Democratic state reps who have lost committee assignments, offices or chairmanships since abstaining from the vote for Speaker Mattiello. So how does that square with Mattiello’s suggestion, following a caucus in November, that reps who vote against him will not be punished? “Obviously, the people who support the speaker are the people who he would want to have as his committee chairman,” Mattiello’s top deputy, Joe Shekarchi, said on Bonus Q&A. “If you can’t vote for the speaker on that – and that’s everybody’s personal decision, I don’t fault anybody for that – but you’re really saying, ‘I disagree with your philosophy. I disagree with the way you are basically the speaker. And therefore I’m basically volunteering I don’t want to be your chairman.’ And that’s what the process is …. That’s not retribution.”
9) Short take, via Common Cause of RI executive director John Marion’s Twitter, on highlights of the new House rules: “Creates a new ‘Committee on Special Legislation; Creates a new ‘Committee on Conduct’; Puts in place a policy for handling sexual harassment complaints with few details and no apparent independence.”
10) Disappointing test scores have led to a renewed General Assembly focus on Rhode Island’s under-performing schools. In his opening day remarks on Tuesday, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said, “we must focus more attention on making sure our children receive first-rate public education. The recent Rhode Island test scores were totally unacceptable. We have already begun to review the best practices that are working so well in Massachusetts — and this House will look to adopt some of those measures so our students will succeed at a much better rate than they are now.” Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has sounded a similar message. But RI GOP Chairman Brandon Bell said Democrats bear part of the blame. “The Department of Education and Commissioner Ken Wagner should be held accountable and resign,” Bell said in a news release. “But will Governor Raimondo and the General Assembly take any responsibility for our low performing school system? Let us hope they adopt the Massachusetts approach for Rhode Island: high standards, high-stakes testing, and accountability at all levels. All we have gotten for the last five years are excuses.”
11) Speaking of the RI GOP, another prominent Rhode Island Republican, Steve Frias, seems cool to the idea of running to succeed Bell as party chairman. “I have no plans right now of giving up my national committeeman spot,” Frias tells me. The two-time challenger to Speaker Mattiello said he doesn’t have someone in mind as a suitable successor to Bell, but Frias said that person should be able to raise money, have a strong voice and not be afraid to challenge the status quo.
12) Gov. Raimondo used her inaugural address to reiterate her support for banning sales of semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. While Speaker Mattiello and Senate President Ruggerio have been unwilling to support that stance, Raimondo will now have a high-profile ally in Attorney General Peter Neronha.
13) Larry Flynn, longtime Providence and North Providence political fixture, is retiring. Flynn began his political career in 1974 with election to the Ward Eight City Council seat in Providence. He served eight years and became in 1983 executive secretary and later chairman of the capital city’s Board of Canvassers. Flynn left Providence in 2011 and served with the North Providence canvassing board until his retirement last week. He will remain as chairman of OMNI Development Corp., a volunteer post.
14) Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia faces a recall election on March 12.
15) With a bit less than $880,000 in his campaign account, Joe Shekarchi has one of the most formidable war chests in Rhode Island politics. Is he open to running statewide in 2022, or more likely to remain in the House? “I keep all my options open, but I will tell you, I enjoy being in the House — it’s my primary focus,” Shekarchi said on Roundtable.
16) Can tending grudges help you to be a better person?
17) Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy will return to Rhode Island on Monday for a summit on supporting the mental health needs of post-secondary students. The daylong event will take place at the RI Nursing Education Center, 350 Eddy Street, Providence.
18) Kara Swisher on how the winding down of the iPhone innovation is affecting the wider economy: “This is a big issue not only for Apple but also for all of tech. There is not a major trend that you can grab onto right now that will carry everyone forward. The last cool set of companies — Uber, Airbnb, Pinterest and, yes, Tinder — were created many years ago, and I cannot think of another group that is even close to as promising.”
19) Move over, Almacs. Now you can give directions based on where the Cranston Cycledrome used to be.
