Thanks to a Rhode Island press corps that has been doing kick-butt investigatory work, developments are coming fast and furious in the “non-profit” entity aspect of the multi-tentacled Ray Gallison scandal.

To focus on just one new development, there were not one but two non-profit organizations affiliated with now-resigned Representative Ray Gallison that were receiving tax dollars. The new organization called “Man Up”, brought to light by WPRI’s Ted Nesi and Tim White, received tax dollars from what appears to be two sources within the Governor’s office: a grant from the new Real Jobs Rhode Island program and a grant from the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island. Following inquiries from Target 12’s Nesi and White, the Governor’s office announced yesterday it had frozen the Real Jobs grant. And the Providence Journal reports this morning that the Governor’s office had suspended the balance of both grants and would be auditing payments received by the two organizations affiliated with Gallison. (Important side note: is handing out tax dollars for this sort of baloney what constitutes the frequently referenced “education and training” part of Governor Raimondo’s economic development initiative?)

These are, of course, in addition to the $1.7 million in community service grants that Gallison’s other non-profit had received courtesy the General Assembly leadership … of which he was a member (*clutches head*).

All of this is still very much unfolding. And the public has yet to hear about the status of the criminal inquiry into other areas of former Rep Gallison’s activities. Two things, minimally, are already crystal clear:

1.) There are way too many state programs in existence whose sole purpose is to hand out tax dollars.

2.) The state is handing out way too much of the taxpayers’ money. This is all the more egregious because there appears to be little to no oversight or accountability that accompanies this public money.