On a 64 to 9 party-line vote, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed a $9.9 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that increases education funding, triples the number of medical marijuana dispensaries and strips local control of the I-195 District in Providence while boosting the controversial Fane Tower project.
The House finished voting on the spending plan around 1 p.m. Saturday, in the second installment of a two-day budget debate.
One of the longest arguments Saturday was about the expansion, from three to nine, of the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. Critics said the expansion is unfair and will disadvantage smaller entrepreneurs at the expense of better-funded out of state interests.
In other news, the House removed $1 million initially planned for the business of a Cranston chiropractor, after the funding attracted media attention last week. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello has continued to defend chiropractor Victor Pedro’s Cortical Integrative Therapy as an alternative approach that has helped Pedro’s patients, but critics questioned the funding.
The House also restored, from the legislative budget, $200,000 for the Nonviolence Institute in Providence.
The spending plan, which will move to the state Senate early this week, attracted support from some reps for boosting education funding and continuing the phaseout of the car tax. But House Minority Leader Blake Filippi (R-New Shoreham) said the spending plan perpetuates a reliance on central planning at the expense of free enterprise.
Meanwhile, the ‘Reform Democrats’ who opposed Nicholas Mattiello’s return as speaker in January voted for the budget. One critic of the speaker, Rep. Moira Walsh (D-Providence) said she wanted the state to have an orderly budget process, but she questioned whether there are other hidden pockets of questionable spending in the budget. “I’d be willing to be the million dollars,” initially geared to Pedro, “isn’t the only million,” she said.
On Friday, Mattiello maintained the typical 10:30 p.m. curfew he’s imposed on budget debates due to the negative perception of lawmakers making spending decisions when most people are sleeping.
Yet during a tense exchange, Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-South Kingstown), a leading Mattiello critic, said the House budget process could have been completed Friday if the session had begun on time, rather than more than two and a half hours after its 2 p.m. scheduled start.
“Our fiscal staff had things to finish up,” Mattiello responded. “Are you requesting that we stay until 1 in the morning to finish this budget?”
Tanzi said she wanted the House to vote on the session to resume debate Saturday, rather than having Mattiello make the decision after a brief conversation with Majority Leader Joseph Shekarchi and Filippi. Mattiello rejected her request, although a show of hands appeared to indicate that a majority of lawmakers backed his decision.
While Saturday sessions are rare, something similar happened with the budget a few years ago.
One flashpoint during the budget debate was a plan to create new economic districts overseeing state land, like the I-195 District in Providence, in a move meant to boost the controversial Fane Tower project. Such districts would be overseen by seven-member commissions, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state Senate.
The budget also increased the cap on a tax credit program that can be used by the Fane project to $25 million.
Critics, like Rep. Edith Ajello (D-Providence), said that equates to giving more power to fewer people, since a four-member majority of a commission would have precedence over municipal zoning and planning authority.
Another Providence Democrat, Rep. Walsh, said the plan smacked of big government.
“It makes me very concerned that if we are willing to do this in a capital city, with expressly not the permission of the capital city, that there’s nothing to stop us from doing it in any other city,” Walsh said. “So this is a start, but just because it’s not your backyard now doesn’t mean it won’t be next year.”
Supporters said the new economic zones are needed to boost lagging economic development in places like the I-195 District. They noted that the commissions created to oversee the zones can coordinate permit approvals with state or municipal officials.
Another spirited debate involved the state Department of Children, Youth and Families.
GOP lawmakers tried to use amendments to require the creation of more caseworker and child protection positions at DCYF.
“They are down to bare bones,” said Rep. Sherry Roberts (R-West Greenwich). “Every day is critical – we don’t have time to wait. And I find it very offensive for anybody to say we’re wasting our time or resources. These are our children, and they’re worth every dime. They are worth all of our time and all of our resources.”
Democrats responded by saying that DCYF already has 40 job openings. And they said the legislature can not order the executive branch of government to fill jobs at an agency under executive control.
The General Assembly is expected to finish its 2019 session in the coming week.
