2018 was a great year for Gov. Gina Raimondo, who surfed the wave of a decent economy to a comfortable reelection. She gained national media traction and won plaudits as a relentless fund-raiser and savvy campaigner.
The second-term Democrat was rewarded with the chairmanship of the Democratic Governors Association, a post sure to enhance her national profile. The last New Englander to hold this position, Vermont’s Howard Dean, used it as a fulcrum for a 2004 presidential campaign.
Summer 2019 hasn’t been kind to Raimondo. Her losing streak rivals the Red Sox bullpen. Like the Sox, Raimondo didn’t shake things up much after her victory; she has much the same team around her.
Raimondo has contracted the disease known as second-termitis faster than most recent Rhode Island governors. Any chance of a second Statehouse honeymoon has been washed away by an angry tide of tough topics: The breakdown of merger talks between the state’s warring hospital chains. The continuing mess at the state’s child welfare agency. The state’s takeover of Providence’s faltering schools. Poor test scores at public schools across the state. Democratic lawmakers who scuttled her budget proposals.
It doesn’t end there. Another baleful ranking of the state’s business climate by CNBC, the cable business network. Rocky relations between the 195 Commission and the developer of a proposed luxury Providence tower hated by many of her East Side neighbors. A nasty joust between two gambling companies – IGT and Twin River – that generate a huge slice of state money. The continuing river of pension red ink that runs through too many of the state’s cities and towns. Appointment of a top utility regulator who appears not to be a qualified state resident.
Then, just as a reminder of what was lost during her first term, Worcester begins construction on a fancy new baseball stadium that will become the new home of Rhode Island’s beloved Pawtucket Red Sox.
Some of these issues are around because Raimondo neglected them during her first term. Both DCYF and the failed hospital merger fall into this category. Neglected children seem an intractable problem in states from New England to California. Yet that’s no excuse for inaction.
The failure of hospital negotiations between the two largest Rhode Island hospital systems, Care New England and Lifespan, leads directly to Raimondo’s office. Nothing much was done in her first term to forge a Rhode Island-based academic medical system. Then in June she jumped in to stop a deal that would link up Care New England and a Boston health care behemoth.
The talks quickly broke down, putting the future of the state’s hospital industry and its thousands of jobs in jeopardy. The Boston chain, Partners, can still try to vacuum up Care New England. This we know: The Boston hospital giant’s budget of $13.5 billion dwarfs Rhode Island’s $10 billion state budget.
At the Statehouse, some of the governor’s priorities got scant consideration before being left on the cutting room floor. These include expanding her free college tuition plan to the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College. Even her minimum wage hike got crushed in a capitol ruled by her fellow Democrats.
One hurdle the governor hasn’t figured out how to scale is House Speaker Nick Mattiello, a Cranston Democrat. He has consolidated power and is the most influential speaker since John Harwood in the 1990s. Mattiello tamped down a rebellion from progressives by allowing an abortion rights vote that he personally didn’t care about. Then he took iron control of the budget.
As summer turns to fall, the Providence school takeover looms. On this, she would be wise to deflate expectations; fixing this will take years. Raimondo still gets adoring reviews from New York Times scribblers seeking centrists, but few people between Woonsocket and Westerly read these bouquets.
In baseball, a losing season usually means changing things in the dugout or front office. The questions for Raimondo: Can her current team turn things around? Or is it time to bring in some new players?
Scott MacKay’s commentary can be heard every Monday morning at 6:45 and 8:45 and at 5:44 in the afternoon.
