Ian Donnis: Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi, welcome back to The Public’s Radio.
Joe Shekarchi: Always a pleasure to be here, Ian.
Donnis: Rhode Island has an estimated $610 million surplus headed into the next fiscal year. How can the state best use that money?
Shekarchi: Well, I don’t like to call it a surplus. I just say we’re running ahead of revenue. Revenue is running ahead of expenses at the moment. We have our own logistical issues like everyone else, we have our expenses, we have energy costs in Rhode Island. That’s where it is. It’s one time revenue. A better barometer would be where we are in May, when we get the May revenue numbers, you’re referring to the November revenue numbers, which was showed us $600 million ahead on a $13 billion budget. It’s about 5%. I attribute that to good management and a good budget. I hope we have a similar type if not bigger surplus, hopefully, in May, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I’m also cognizant of the looming recession we have coming up before us, we have our bills like everyone else. We also have a lot of one time money that we allocated last year and for expenses, building a new hospital for … building a new South Port Quay. All of those I’m expecting to come in above budget, and they’re going to need extra revenue as well.
Donnis: If the surplus is similar by the time in May or June, when the House of Representatives starts revising Governor McKees next budget proposal, what would your guiding principles be in how where the bulk of that money should go and how it should be used and with the possibility of recession? How much of it should be saved or put off to the future?
Shekarchi: You made a very good point about saving, I think we should increase the rainy day fund. I think a portion of that should go there. I think we should look at whatever holes we need, or whatever the critical issues are at the moment. If there’s an opportunity to return some of that money to Rhode Islanders. I think we should look at that as well.
Donnis: The new legislative session starts January 3, what are your top priorities for this next session?
Shekarchi: I get that question asked all the time. This is my third year as Speaker I’m entering. And you’ve asked me that before a lot of other local media, and I say the same thing, which is the budget. The budget is the single most important thing we do as a House of Representatives, constitutionally, it emanates from the house, we’re obligated to pass a budget that’s balanced. So we’re going to take that responsibility very seriously. As we always do, we will try to pass a balanced budget that meets the needs of Rhode Islanders. Beyond that, personally, I’d like to see housing again, that’s always been a priority of mine since I became speaker. And I also like to look at the possibility of doing something in the bioscience field as well. So those would be my priorities.
Donnis: Do you support Governor McKee on his approach to the people living in tents in front of the statehouse, with his move to evict them?
Shekarchi: Nobody should be living outside in weather that we’re experiencing this week. It’s just dangerously close. I sympathize for those people. I — homelessness is a very complex issue. You have some homeless people who have some mental health issues, you have some homeless people who have addiction issues, and you have some homeless people who just don’t want to be housed for whatever reason. So it’s a really complicated formula. I applaud the governor’s efforts, I think we as a state as a community, and he as a governor our executive branch can do better. Having said that, we’re under a court order right now. And we’re under the jurisdiction of the Superior Court. So we have to wait and see what the judge decides. I believe he’ll be making a decision later this week as well.
Donnis: On a related note, you often cite how the legislature earlier this year approved $250 million in spending for a variety of housing programs.
Shekarchi: That’s correct.
Donnis: Where does that stand in terms of actually spending that money and living out the goal of those programs to create more housing?
Shekarchi: That you can ask the executive branch of where we are, we’re going to have those discussions when we reconvene in January. But I’m concerned about the program we passed two years ago for Pay for Success. That has not started yet. And that money has been allocated, it’s in the budget that is specifically targeted toward homeless people. I know also, I’ve met with the South Kingstown Housing Authority, and part of that 250 million is a $10 million allocation for housing authorities that has not been spent yet. And that is really on the housing authorities if they’re interested to come up and step forward to create more housing stock, we’re going to look at different ways of making sure that the allocations are going to be taken care of that we’ve made, making sure that the the executive branch follows through and does what they’re supposed to do. And want to make sure that all those new programs you mentioned that we funded are significant amount of revenue, that we make sure that the executive branch file says the Spirit the intent and the letter of the law, and the allocation of that money.
Donnis: One of your top aides John Conti resigned a few months ago after WPRI reported that he was secretly part of an illegal marijuana business with an organized as crime associate, you said you didn’t know anything about that does not raise the question of whether you are properly vetting your staff?
Shekarchi: So let me just explain that — I disagree with you. And I’ll push back when you said he’s a top aide, because he respectfully he was not a top aide. He was a director of operations. He was in the basement. My office is on the third floor. And Mr. Conti did not in any way, shape or form, participate in any legislative activities or duties whatsoever. He was not involved in the budget process. He was never involved in any legislation. And to characterize him as a top aide raises questions. Every year, we go through an evaluation process of staff or every two years I should say, we go through an evaluation of staff. When I became speaker, I inherited many employees, 250 some odd employees who worked for me, I immediately made some adjustments, we dismissed approximately 20 people from the house and it’s an ongoing evaluation, Mr. Conti was kept because he did a good job. And as Director of Operations, we had to move our entire house operation from the state house into the auditorium, the veterans auditorium, and he did an excellent job on that. And he was also very popular with the rank and file members because he attended to their needs. He did not participate in legislation. What I can tell you is when this information became known, within 24 hours, within less than 24 hours, Mr. Conte was no longer employed by the house. That’s really what I want to say on that I will continue to to evaluate staff as we go forward, and will obviously make the right decisions.
Donnis: When it comes to improving public schools in Rhode Island. It often seems like it’s deja vu all over again, there’s not a lot of progress that has been made this week, we see how the Rhode Island education department is feuding with the Providence teachers union and vice versa. And the issue of improving education seems largely unaddressed. What do you think needs to happen to move the ball forward here,
Shekarchi: I think communication needs to improve dramatically, and significantly, and the General Assembly passed legislation last year that really would require that to be done. Look, there’s no matter who the commissioner of education is, no matter who’s running the school system, and that is what I call institutional tension. It’s just the nature of the business. And unfortunately, it does not help it, at least in my opinion, does not help the education of minors. That’s what the whole goal of of education is to educate. And unfortunately, we’re not doing good job as a state, we can do better, we need to do better. And House Oversight later this week, we’ll be having a hearing and bringing in commissioner Infante-Green to explain what she has done, why she has done it, what’s working, what’s not working, the only way I can tell you is that the parties have got to communicate. Unfortunately the Providence school system was in such dire states, the state has stepped in and take it over. Now. It’s become a state problem and Department of Education. I met with the governor earlier this week, he has some of his own agenda regarding what he’d like to institute as educational proposals in the new year and part of the budget. And we’ll see what comes out of that and will act accordingly in the General Assembly.
Donnis: The legislature in its last session passed some of the most aggressive gun measures in recent memory, including a prohibition on magazines with more than 10 rounds. That’s the subject of ongoing litigation.
Shekarchi: It’s in the federal court. You are correct.
Donnis: And do you anticipate that the lawmakers this year that in 2020, do you anticipate that in 2023, lawmakers might pass a prohibition on what some people call assault rifles?
Shekarchi: So what I will tell you is that was certainly that’s a perennial issue. It’s been around since I’ve been in the General Assembly, 10 years. It’s been around for 10 years. We will see I want to see how the magazine Bill plays out in the federal court system. In addition to that, I want to collect the data around it. We’re going to report it was one of the gun measures we passed several years ago, require a report be given to the General Assembly. I believe it’s in May. I mean, every year, many people have said I’m not a gun person. So I don’t really know that if you address the capacity issue, you in essence address the assault rifle issue. I need to do a little bit more research. We’ll certainly we’ll have hearings on it. We’ll listen to what the general the General Assembly wants to move on it and will act accordingly.
Donnis: Another hot button issue is abortion. Activists have been pressing for lawmakers to extend abortion coverage to cover women who are in the state employee health plan and Medicaid. You expect the House to pass that measure in 2023.
Shekarchi: I expect the house to will take up that measure. I wouldn’t predict anything. I don’t like to predict legislation. That’s up to the membership of the body. But I will tell you there are several versions of the bill. I expect the governor will put one in his budget. I expect in addition to that there probably be one or two or possibly three standalone bills. And we will have a public robust public hearing and vetting process and will come to hopefully a conclusion and that’s where we’ll be on it. And but that’s opposition. We’ll see what the Senate does and we’ll address the issue like we have always ever yet as we do every other issue, open-minded.
Donnis: The incoming Secretary of State step, State Representative Greg Amore favors moving Rhode Island’s primary election from September to June, do you support that?
Shekarchi: I will listen to that. I don’t like round to be the last primary last state in the union for primary, I think we can and maybe should move it up. I’m not I don’t necessarily know when I don’t know what Secretary-elect Amore is thinking, are we talking about a week or two? Are we talking about, you know, a month or two or three months? I don’t know. So I have to have the discussion. Those decisions, again, will be made through a public vetting and hearing process will be very transparent. And all stakeholders will be involved in it. That is just one issue of many election issues, which were, I would say raised in the cycle. In terms of early voting do we have? Is it too early? Or is it too long? I had some concerns from the Board of Public Canvassers that it was too long of a, you know, early voting period. Maybe that needs to be shortened. You know, in addition to that, we need to look at indexing. There was an issue against the you know, residency, can someone be a resident 30 days and run for statewide office and he’d be a resident for longer period, there was a whole host of election issues that we’ll consider and we’ll have a wonderful process and invite the public to participate as well as all the stakeholders.
Donnis: We’ve seen how President Biden has presided over some very successful election efforts for Democrats this year, Raphael Warnock won in Georgia, the midterm election was in a historical measure very good for Democrats against expectations. Do you have any concerns that this will foster a sense of inevitability about Biden seeking reelection in 2024? And that he could perform less well, against a possibly younger, more vigorous Republican opponent?
Shekarchi: What would he who is the younger, more aggressive Republican opponent? Are we talking about DeSantis? In Florida? Are we talking about Donald Trump in Florida? I don’t really know. But look, when you enter public life, there is such an incredible sacrifice on your family, your friends, your whole way of life changes. These decisions are very personal. Now I understand he’s the president, I understand he’s running a country, which is the single biggest job any person could ever ask for. I don’t know if he has the proverbial fire in the belly or not. But that’s his decision. And whatever his decision is, he’ll have my support. If he runs again, if he doesn’t want again, I look forward to a whole nother new generation of presidential candidates. What I would point out is Nancy Pelosi and her entire leadership team stepped aside. So the house, the Democratic House leadership could change. And I think change is good. It’s healthy, it makes the party stronger, it makes the country stronger. So I’ll defer to the president whether he’s going to run it or not. It’s way too early. We finished the last election cycle 30 days ago, and now you’re already talking about something that’s two years away.
Donnis: But what about you think? What about what you think personally? Do you think Joe Biden is the best choice to lead Democrats into 2024?
Shekarchi: I think at the present time, Joe Biden is the best choice because there’s no other candidates. But if you asked me personally, I don’t think he should run. That’s my just personal opinion. It’s because he’s accomplished so much in his life. He’s done so good, so much good for the country. He’s had some personal sacrifices, that terrible tragedy with his wife and family. And then his losing his son. He became the president. He was the Vice President was a US senator. It’s time but his point is at his age in his life, to stop smell the roses and enjoy his family a little bit and relish in his accomplishments that he’s had over his lifetime. But like I said, that’s his decision to make and I’m sure quite frankly, he’s not going to listen to the speaker of the house or Rhode Island when he makes that decision, that’ll be his own personal decision.
Donnis: That’s all the time we have. Thank you for joining us for it on House Speaker Joe Shekarchi a Warwick Democrat.
Shekarchi: Thank you very much, Ian. Always a pleasure to be on your show.
Donnis: As usual, you can find a lot more on our website at the public’s Radio dot O R G. This is the final political roundtable of 2022. We’ll see you early next year. I’m Ian Donnis.
