Isn't this exactly the debate that should happen on the House floor? Why can't they speak openly? We send them to the Statehouse to represent us. https://t.co/DdW53htO9n
— Patrick Laverty (@plaverty24) January 17, 2018
Providence City Councilman Luis Aponte continues with campaign finance reporting issues in not following through with a pledge he made last week.
Some are upset about the fact that Chafee and Raimondo won their election to Governor by receiving fewer than 50% of the votes cast. Is this a problem? Does it need to be fixed? I say no.
Will the ballots involved in a State Police investigation be counted on Tuesday, or are they seized as evidence? And how closely does the Board of Elections examine the signature on mail-in ballots?
Am I surprised that at least one outside political group isn’t following Rhode Island’s campaign finance laws? Not at all. Based on our recent history, why should they?
The Providence Journal said they want change. I think they missed a great opportunity to advocate for change in at least one of their endorsements.
Don’t let people scare you into what “could” happen at the Constitutional Convention. Vote YES on Question 3 and let’s take this opportunity to fix the government and improve the way Rhode Island works.
Why is one mayoral candidate allowed to flout city ordinances with oversized campaign signs. It’s not the biggest problem facing Providence, but it is indicative of his lack of interest in following laws.
Why do lawmakers get away with having unpaid campaign finance fines? Why don’t we actually enforce the laws that they were elected to create? This is an affront to all voters and taxpayers of the state.
Is it OK to have a Governor that needs to be away from his duties to fulfill his required US Coast Guard Reservist obligations?
Just an open thread for the commenters. Buddy’s back and there are about a dozen declared candidates for Governor, including one from the Moderate Party (not Ken Block) and one from the Compassion Party. Have at it.
RIPR’s Scott MacKay tries to make the case that just because all parts of Providence used the master lever in the last two elections, it’s not any specific district. Also interesting is that no one has made the case that it’s just one part of the state that uses it. It’s used in all parts of the state, but let’s take another look at the data. What happens in presidential election years compared to mid-term elections? How is the master lever used then?
About a month ago, I wrote here about whether the 38 Studios bondholders should be repaid. At the time, I didn’t think so. In part because I believed the insurance would cover it, but later found out the policy is held by the bond buyers, not the state. Also because it was a moral obligation […]
The 38 Studios bond buyers got an extremely high interest rate on the bonds because of the risk they took, and the state purchased insurance against the chance of default. But should we still repay the full amount of the bonds?
Both GOP candidates, Ken Block and Allan Fung have appeared on WPRI’s Newsmakers. Here’s both videos. Enjoy!
Two things struck me today about the master lever bill and Senator Harold Metts’ words and actions. I wish I had an exact transcript but he made two comments about it that I will do my best to paraphrase and others are more than welcome to correct me if they have the exact words. He […]
I like Speaker Mattiello’s talk about being pro-business and wanting to improve the economy but I think he may already be contradicting himself when he says he wants to give power back to the members of the House while also saying he may not have time to consider certain issues.
As Justin earlier noted, Senator Joshua Miller was recorded on camera and audio (possibly also to the dismay of Rep. Dickinson) saying an expletive to a person commenting about the Second Amendment. I don’t have anything to add there, but my question now is whether the Senate will look into it themselves. I wonder this […]
What if the RI House of Representatives worked as hard to put Rhode Islanders back to work as they are to fill the recently vacated Speaker position? Why don’t they work this much to get everyone working? It’s a real shame on them.
The only option on the ballot sent to retirees on whether they accept the pension settlement deal is “no”. If they don’t return the ballot, it counts as a “yes”. What if we did that in other elections too?
On March 29th, from 9 am to 1 pm, the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University, Roger Williams School of Law, League of Women Voters of Rhode Island and Common Cause Rhode Island will be hosting a symposium about Constitutional Conventions.
Right. A bill is being submitted in the General Assembly to force Cox Communications to keep an RI call center open, and force cable companies to provide service to one RI town.
Which way should the General Assembly go on taking up the pension settlement bill? That’s got to be what Speaker Fox and President Paiva-Weed are wondering now. Or maybe not. In a joint message reported by Ian Donnis: “We will await the votes to be taken by both union and non-union members before we weigh […]
What is corruption in your mind? Can it be fixed?
The “People’s Pledge” is an agreement between political candidates that lessens the effect of outside, indirect spending on a political campaign. The three Democratic gubernatorial candidates all seem willing to discuss such a pledge in Rhode Island.
Congressman Cicilline recently had personal items stolen from his personal vehicle, one bearing used dealer license plates. Attempts to get an explanation from the Congressman have been unreturned, so we ask it again here.
Another report gave RI schools a bad grade for their schools, relative to spending. WPRI’s Dan McGowan covered it today and wrote that Educacation Week gave Rhode Island a D+ for student achievement. There are a couple places where RI students have improved in the last 10 years, like math achievement and advanced placement scores. But […]
Looking at the data in the article from the Cranston Patch, is there any other explanation? The number of parking tickets issued per day jumped from 1.2 per day for the first 14 days of November to 68.5 per day for November 15th and 16th. Additionally, the jump only occurred in the home districts of […]
Major League Baseball has decided to ban the ability of a baserunner to intentionally collide with a catcher in an attempt to score a run. Personally, I’m in favor of this. It never made any sense to me. If people want to see those kinds of collisions, go watch football. A catcher is all geared […]
The Daily Show takes a look at gerrymandering and talks to the best at it, Kimball Brace, the same guy who drew up RI’s Congressional and State House districts.