Projo Letters, Monday, 04.12.10

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, April 12, 2010

Vote on Irons loophole

David Carlin, the former majority leader of the Rhode Island Senate, says that “if the people of Rhode Island amend the state constitution in order to close the ‘Irons loophole,’ we will have struck a terrific blow against democracy.” [The Irons loophole is named for a case involving former Rhode Island state Senate president William Irons.]

He fears that this amendment would restrict the legislators’ speeches or votes in the State House. The new amendment would restore to the state Ethics Commission the same powers it has had since the voters passed a constitutional amendment, in 1986. If legislators use their vote to violate the state’s conflict-of-interest law, then they may be subject to Ethics Commission prosecution.

Mr. Carlin says that the Ethics Commission violates the principle of separation of powers because it has legislative and adjudicative functions in the area of ethics law. A 1992 Rhode Island Supreme Court opinion, No. 91-577-M.P., does not share Mr. Carlin’s view.

Mr. Carlin complains that the Ethics Commission has no authority because the commissioners are unelected. Using that argument, I guess that none of our municipal and state judges have any authority either, as they are unelected. The governor appoints five of the nine commissioners from lists provided by leaders in the General Assembly and four from the public at large. Does Mr. Carlin want the legislature to select all nine?

The only threat to democracy in Rhode Island will occur if either the Rhode Island Senate or House refuses to let the voters decide this issue this November. There are resolutions in both chambers (H7357 and S2391) that would place amendment language on the 2010 ballot to close this speech-in-debate loophole. If the legislators fail to enact these resolutions, then they will be free to break ethics laws that they themselves enacted in 1987. That really will be a blow against democracy!

Robert A. Benson Jr. Saunderstown

The writer is first vice president of Operation Clean Government.

In 2008 more than $20 million in taxpayer dollars was awarded by the Rhode Island General Assembly in the form of Community Service and Legislative grants. Even the severest recession in eighty years has not eliminated these grants for another $10.6 million was spent on them in 2009. They continue unabated in FY2010.

The general public does not know how these grants are awarded. The legislative grants are awarded by the House Speaker and the Senate President. These grants are identified by the name of the individual legislator who requested the money for them. Community Service grants are “buried” in the annual state budgets. They are not identified or voted on individually. The Community Service grants do not have a legislator’s name attached to them.

In FY 2009 38 state representatives received 235 legislative grants totaling $558,000, including $150,000 for WaterFire attributed to “House Leadership.” Rep. Mattiello (Cranston) received the most money ($25,000). Rep. Vaudreuil (Central Falls and Cumberland) received the most grants (17) totaling $15,500. 39 current state representatives, including all of the Republicans, did not request any grants. At least 6 agencies received more than one House grant from two different sponsors.

In 2009 the 38 state senators received a total of 478 grants worth $1,033,373. The seven newly elected Senators did not request or receive any legislative grants. Former Senate President Montalbano and current Senate President Paiva-Weed each received more than $75,000 in legislative grants. Senator Walaska (Warwick) received the most grants (25) totaling $28,500. Eight agencies received $10,000 or more with $20,000 to the Davinci Center (Sponsor: Senator Ruggerio). At least 17 agencies received more than one grant from two or more Senate sponsors. Senators Alves and Raptakis both requested a grant for the West Warwick Senior Center, but only Senator Alves received $12,500.

Community Service grants do not have a legislator’s name attached to them. The House Finance Committee is supposed to hear requests for these grants, but very few get an in-depth hearing. Various executive branch departments are used as a “pass through” for these grants. The departments are given orders for how these monies are to be spent and have no say in these decisions.

Community Service grants are not identified in the state’s annual budget. The General Assembly votes on the budget as a whole, not on individual grants. This appears to be a violation of Article VI, Section 11 of the R.I. Constitution.

In FY 2009 349 Community Service grants, totaling about $9 million, were made to various entities, some of whom also received House and/or Senate legislative grants, such as WaterFire which received another $1500,000 in addition to the House legislative grant of $150,000. The largest grant ($528,204) went to the Children’s Crusade. Others receiving grants in excess of $200,000 include the Veterans Memorial Auditorium Foundation, VNA Statewide (Visiting Nurses), Crossroads RI, and RI Meals on Wheels. Community Service grants encompass a wide range of fields including the arts, community centers, education, health, historic preservation, neighborhood associations, seniors, social services, sports, veterans, and more. Some of these grants seem worthy. At least 67 of the Community Service grant recipients also received legislative grants from the House and/or the Senate.

Operation Clean Government (OCG) recommends eliminating the legislative grants as there is no process for legislators to vote on these grants, and many of the legislative grant recipients already get Community Service grants. There is no public record of how these grants are made nor any explanation for why one Boy Scout troop gets a legislative grant, but another does not.

OCG also recommends an in-depth review of each Community Service grant. OCG also recommends that all the Community Service grants be included in a separate budget article, not hidden in various parts of the 700-page annual budget.

Larry Valencia, OCG President, says, “In light of the projected $200 million budget shortfall reported in today’s (11/11/09) Providence Journal it is imperative that our legislators eliminate this grant process, which is wasteful, non-transparent, and creates opportunities for abuse by the General Assembly leadership.”

August 26th, 2009 jmarion

Common Cause Rhode Island and the A. Alfred Taubman Center at Brown University are pleased to announce a panel discussion:

“The Rhode Island Ethics Commission in the Wake of the Irons Decision.”

Description: Please join us for a panel discussion about the decision of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in the case of Irons vs. The RI Ethics Commission and the future of the Commission in the decision’s wake. Hear from leading experts on the decision, as well as authorities on the Commission and advocates working to make changes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s opinion.

Moderator:

Ross Cheit–Professor of Public Policy at Brown and member of The Rhode Island Ethics Commission

Panelists:

Barbara Binder–Attorney and Chairwoman of The Rhode Island Ethics Commission
Mark Freel–Attorney and author of RI ACLU brief in the Irons vs. RIEC case
Tom Bender–Attorney and author of Common Cause RI brief in the Irons vs. RIEC case
Jason Gramitt –Staff attorney RIEC, and author of RIEC brief
John Marion–Executive director of Common Cause RI
John Roney (tentative) –Attorney and parliamentarian of Rhode Island Senate

Where: Smith-Buonanno Hall, Room 106 at 95 Cushing Street on the Brown University Campus.

When: Wednesday, September 16th at 7 pm.”

———————

Anyone interested in ethical government in R.I. should attend this forum which will explore the future of the R.I. Ethics Commission in the wake of the June 2009 R.I. Supreme Court decision that blocks Ethics Commission prosecution of state legislators when they use their vote to violate our state ethics laws.  The Supreme Court decision says the the “speech in debate” legislative immunity in the state constitution prevents the Ethics Commission from questioning the legislators’ core legislative actions (voting and debating bills) even when the legislator uses his/her vote in their own self-interest.  The Supreme Court decision has essentially created a double standard for implementation of R.I. Ethics Laws as ALL elected and appointed starte officials are still subject to the code of ethics EXCEPT our 113 state legislators.

Posted by Administrator on 9-12-09.

Now that the R.I. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of former Senator William Irons, they have in effect granted each legislator a lifetime Get Out of Jail card. Because of this ruling, the Ethics Commission has been stripped of the ability to go after legislators whose votes may be for sale.

House Resolution 6070 is a proposed Constitutional amendment sponsored by Rep. David Segal (and cosponsored by others) that is languishing in committee. This amendment specifically addresses the conflict between the “speech in debate” clause and the Ethics Commission language. H6070 would restore the ability of the Ethics Commission to investigate, and if necessary, prosecute legislators for participating and voting on legislation where they have a clear conflict of interest. Legislators would continue to have the full protection of “speech in debate” from any person or entity except the Ethics Commission. We need to persuade the Democratic leadership to allow H6070 to reach the floor for debate and a vote. If passed, voters will decide in 2010 whether to add this crucial language to the Constitution.

Please call as many state representatives as you can and ask them to SUPPORT H6070. The phone numbers for members of the General Assembly House can be found at:

Be sure that you call House Speaker Murphy and Majority Leader Gordon Fox first. Their phone numbers are 222-2466 and 222-2447, respectively.

If you are interested in the details of the Irons’ case, you can visit our web site, www.ocgri.org and read up on how Operation Clean Government initiated the complaint about Senator Irons back in 2004. You can catch up on how Senator Irons resigned almost immediately, and how he has managed to avoid any major repercussions through this latest technicality. If you’d like to read the decision, that’s also available on our web site. You might enjoy Justice Suttell’s well-reasoned dissent, a refreshing counterpoint to the strained logic of the majority decision.
Posted by OCG Blog Administrator on July 5, 2009

The RI Ethics Commission used a R.I. Supreme Court decision to dismiss ethics charges against John Harwood after he was accused of representing clients in cases before state agencies (“Leaders defend paying ex-Speaker Harwood’s bill (ProJo, May 22, 2009). The reporter then asks our legislative leaders if they will also pay Ex-Senate President Bill Iron’s legal fees in his case before the same court. There is a huge difference in the Supreme Court’s role in each case. It had no active role in the Harwood case. However, in the Irons case the Ethics Commission’s ability to prosecute state officials depends on the Supreme Court’s decision. Irons is using the speech in debate clause in our constitution to say he can not be prosecuted when he uses his vote to violate state ethics laws. But our constitution was amended in 1986 to give the Commission this power. The speech in debate protection prevents the other branches of government from harassing legislators when they don’t like the legislators’ votes. It wasn’t meant to protect legislators when they use their vote to break the law. A Jan. 11, 2009 ProJo commentary by Carroll Morse points out the U.S. Supreme Court Justices have left open the question of whether this legislative immunity would hold when a member of Congress violates either the Senate or House Codes of Conduct.

If the R.I. Supreme Court takes this power away from the Ethics Commission, there will be a double standard for these ethics laws. All state officials except state legislators will still be bound by these laws. Was this the intent of the constitutional convention delegates that drafted the 1986 ethics amendment or the intent of the R. I. voters who ratified this amendment? No! Let’s hope our highest court decides in favor of the Ethics Commission, in favor of honest government, and in favor of the state’s voters. Published in Providence Journal on may 30, 2009 and written by Robert A. benson, Jr.

At the OCG forum, RI General Treasurer Frank Caprio, pointed out that the special interests (aka – unions) have spent years and a goodly sum of money up at the statehouse lobbying for their causes. Governor Carcieri says he doesn’t fault them for it, because they are very good at what they do. Both agreed the problem is that their has been no equal counterforce acting on behalf of the people/taxpayers across the table from the unions. My question: Isn’t that supposed to be the role of our elected representatives. It seems to me the problem lies in that we keep re-electing representatives who don’t represent us, and we send the message that it’s okay to keep giving the special interests what ever they want. The special interests have the money and the campaign workers to keep whomever they choose in office, and to our elected officials that is what it is all about, staying in office.

About all you have, folks, is your vote? When are we going to start using it to our advantage?

Submitted by Fed up with Rhode Island

Rhode Island was founded on religious freedom, the concept that any person was free to worship any god or any way they wanted. Roger Williams believed that man could communicate directly with God and did not need to do so via an intermediary. Economically, New England flourished because of the Protestant “work ethic,” the concept that if one works hard they will succeed. How far we have drifted from the latter concept here in Rhode Island. At the recent Operation Clean Government Fiscal Forum, two economists—Prof. Len Lardaro and Gary Sasse—said that the problem with RI’s economy today is that RI is an “entitlement” state. That is the exact word they used.

What does this description mean for RI? It means in RI the citizens have come to expect the state and local governments to take care of them. That is, they expect the state to supply jobs rather than private industry. They expect the state to pay them if they lose their job, and to even pay them if they don’t work. Taking these expectations to the extreme results in socialism. What evidence it there to back this up?

First, the biggest employer in RI is the state and local governments; they employ somewhere between 55 and 65 thousand workers. No company in RI even comes close to this number. The biggest employers of RI workers in the private sector are companies like Raytheon, CVS, Fidelity, BOA, MetLife, Home Depot, Wal-mart, etc., and they at most only provide a couple of thousand jobs each

Why aren’t there more big businesses, especially hi–tech businesses in RI? The answer is really quite simple. RI’s business climate is dismal. In 2007 the Tax Foundation ranked RI’s business climate the worst in the country for the third year in a row. The most recent data from Forbes.com ranks RI the 6^th worst state for business. See http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/30/virginia-georgia-utah-biz-cz_kb_0731beststates_table.html .

Forbes says RI’s business costs rank 42^nd (a long way from the best). The state’s regulatory environment ranks 49^th (next to last), and its workforce ranks 35^th. The workforce ranking is based on three factors—educational attainment, net migration and projected population growth. So what this says is—that compared to a lot of other states RI workers need to be better educated and RI is losing citizens rather than gaining them. This should come as no surprise as the state’s unemployment rate is over 10%.

RI has lost 2% of its population since 2003 while 47 other states had increases, according to U.S. Census data. This trend would be even higher if not for two factors—RI has generous unemployment benefits and social welfare programs. For instance, Providence RI is ranked 2^nd best in the nation for unemployment pay per Forbes. That is, unemployment pay in Providence covers “41% of the annual cost of living” according to Forbes.com.  Businesses in the state pay a share of these high unemployment costs.

Considering the state’s welfare program, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council reports that RI’s spending on cash assistance (welfare) is 7^th highest in the country. A 2004 CATO Institute study ranks RI’s welfare program 44^th out of 50 states and gives it a “grade” of F. It goes on to say that the American Institute for Full Employment describes RI’s welfare program as a “celebration of dependency.” RI ranks in the “bottom 10 states for caseload reduction, decline in the birthrate for minors and percentage of births to minors, and reported work participation.”

Somehow, RI must change its ways. The state must attract more and higher-paying businesses by reducing its business and personal tax rates. It must reduce the size of government at all levels. Even though the number of state workers has decreased over the last decade, the number of city and town workers has grown, and this is one reason for RI’s high property taxes. Government in RI must find ways to privatize all but the most critical positions. The state and its cities and towns must contract out (on a competitive basis) all but the most critical functions and consolidate common operations at both the state and local level to achieve economies of scale. Reducing both the size and cost of government in RI will allow the state to reduce its tax burden and attract more businesses. It must also reduce business regulations and fees and scale back its entitlement programs.

This will not happen unless the current members in the RI General Assembly are replaced with fiscal conservatives who believe that government’s mission is to provide the best service at the lowest cost and not simply to provide jobs.

Operation Clean Government plans peaceful demonstration to raise awareness of court decision that threatens to kill effective ethics oversight in Rhode Island

At 9:30 am on May 13^th, the R.I. Supreme Court will hear the RI Ethics Commission appeal of an October 2008 Superior Court decision that dismissed ethics charges against ex-Senate President William V. Irons. The state’s Ethics Commission found “probable cause” that Irons violated R.I. General Law 36-14-5 when he used his position as head of the Senate Corporations Committee to “kill” pharmacy-choice legislation opposed by the drugstore chain CVS while CVS was paying him hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable health insurance commissions for CVS workers.

When the Ethics Commission moved to prosecute Irons for this conflict of interest, his lawyers filed suit in Superior Court claiming the “speech in debate” clause in the state’s constitution protects him from being “questioned in any other place” by the Ethics Commission for his actions in the legislature. The Superior Court Judge ruled in Irons favor even though the Ethics Commission contended that a 1986 amendment to the state’s constitution nullifies the speech in debate legislative immunity in the area of ethics.

This 1986 amendment says all elected state officials are subject to the state’s code of ethics. It specifically applies to legislators as it gives the Commission the power to remove from office those state officials not subject to impeachment and the only state officials not subject to impeachment are state legislators.

The 1986 ethics amendment to the state’s constitution was drafted by a Constitutional Convention and ratified by voters in Rhode Island who were fed up with political corruption so prevalent at the time. The Superior Court decision reset the clock, taking us back to an era where legislators were free to enact special pension bills favoring their friends, back to an era where legislators blocked bills that would have forced credit unions and banks to be federally insured, and back to an era where political insiders were able to secure low interest home mortgages from RIHMFC even after RIHMFC said it had run out of money.

To let legislators use the speech in debate protections to avoid prosecution when they violate our ethics laws is NOT justice. We as citizens from many organizations will participate in the OCG demonstration for corruption-free government on May 13 at the Licht Judicial Complex, 250 Benefit Street, Providence, RI and also at the Main St. entrance. See the OCG web site at http://ocgri.org for more information on this demonstration. Contact OCG Board Member Al Benson if you are willing to join this demonstration.  Mr. Benson’s email address is bensonra60@verizon.net.

Free bottled water will be available at the Licht complex for all volunteers from 9 am to 3 pm.  Handouts will also be available, explaining why this Supreme Court decision in the Ethic Commission’s appeal is so important to honest government in R.I.  This is your chance to do something to make your state a better place to live.  Don’t just sit back and complain that R.I. government is corrupt and can’t be changed.  It can be changed, but you must make your voice heard.  Our state leaders will take notice if you join us to make a statement at this May 13th demonstration.  Already, volunteer marchers are signing up for one and two hour stints on this day in May.

OCG officers and speakers from the various organizations supporting this demonstration are scheduled to speak to the volunteers at various times during the demonstration.

This is an issue that cuts across the whole political spectrum.  Who doesn’t want honest, responsive and responsible government?  Let your voice be heard on the 13th.

The one area where RI leads the nation in spending is in firefighting services on either a per capita or per $1,000 of income basis.  Why?  Does RI have more fires than the other 49 states in the nation?  I doubt it.  Ok, how about our spending on welfare, RI spending in this category ranks 7th highest in the country on a per capita basis.  I really don’t want to debate why the state spends so much on cash assistance benefits.  I just think this spending category could be reduced to maybe 25th instead of 7th.  I know RI’s welfare system has been criticized in the past because unlike many states where the welfare recipient must be working at least part-time to collect welfare, here you can collect as long as you are just looking for work.  A 2004 CATO Institute study ranks RI’s welfare program in the botton 10 states for caseload reduction, decline in the birthrate for minors and percentage of births to minors, and reported work participation.  Ok, here’s another area where RI might just spend a bit too much–elementary and secondary education.  According to RIPEC, RI’s per pupil education cost is 9th highest in the country at $11,503 per pupil.  I wonder if RI students are the 9th best educated in the country.  In summary, RI’s state and local (city and town) government expenditures of $7,725 per person are the 10th highest in the country.  Based on this one statistic alone, I would think Rhode Islanders have good reason to protest state spending and taxation.

Here is another telling statistic from the book, RICH STATES, POOR STATES, that Mr. Sgouros mentions in his email critique of the Providence Tea Party–”Rhode Island ranks 4th in average pay for public sector employees, but 23rd  in average private-sector wages.”  “Coincidentally, R.I. has one of the highest rates of public-employee unionization–62%, compared to the national average of 37%.”    The next time you wait for fours to renew your driver’s license or car registration, just remember how well paid the RI DMV workers are compared to their peers in the rest of the country!

Oh, you say we get government services at the state and local level that are above average thus justifying above average spending.  If things are so rosy in RI, how do you explain these economic warning signs:

– The Tax Foundation rated R.I.’s Business climate the worst in the country for the third year in a row in October 2007.

– The Providence Journal recently reported that one in ten businesses in RI either shutdown or moved away in 2008.

– RI has lost 2% of its population since July 2003 while 47 other states had increases.

–RI has the countries 5th highest unemployment rate at 10.5%.

–The state’s two largest pension plans for teachers and state workers have an unfunded liability of seven ($7,000,000,000) BILLION dollars.

–RI taxpayer contributions to these two pension plans for teachers and state workers  will grow from the current $371 MILLION per year to $836 MILLION a year by 2017 unless these plans are reformed.

But Mr. Sgouros says we should not protest unless we know where the state and municipal budgets should be cut.  I think Mr. Sgouros is preaching to the wrong crowd.  Rhode Islanders know spending and taxes in this state are out of control.  He should be directing his message to the members of the RI General Assembly.  Our lawmakers, not the Governor, have enacted inflated state budgets year after year.  These lawmakers have enacted laws that favor unionized government workers at the expense of the state’s taxpayers and businesses.  These are the same lawmakers who wanted to enact a law to “unionize” daycare workers by making them state workers.  These lawmakers do not want to change their spendthrift ways even as the state and its cities find it harder and harder to balance their annual budgets.  Mr. Sgouros, why don’t you tell the RI lawmakers they are spending and taxing too much unless you don’t think it is true.     Al b.

Were you surprised, as were many, that the RI Tea Party would attract over 2000 energetic people who want to be recognized? What a great event for the taxpayers of Rhode Island. Now the question is where do we go from here to keep these people motivated until the next election. We have made our voices HEARD, but ultimately we have to make them COUNT.

Here’s an excellent opportunity to KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING! Operation Clean Government is sponsoring a Public Affairs Forum on Saturday morning, 8:45 – 11:45,   April 25th at the Quonset “O” Club for breakfast and a provocative discussion on our sick state economy - Rx for Rhode Island: Restoring Our Fiscal Health.

This is a great opportunity to continue the discussion, learn the facts, network and organize.  It will be a rare chance to meet state officials, economists, and Rhode Island business people, and ask questions letting them know what you care about.

Dan Yorke, 6:30 WPRO/99.7FM will moderate the discussion.  Panelists include:

Frank Caprio, General Treasurer, Gary Sasse, Director, Department of Administration,

Rep.Elizabeth Dennigan, seven year member of the powerful House Finance Committee,

Dr. Leonard Lardaro, URI Economics Professor and

John Hazen White, Jr., CEO/President Taco, Inc. who is the creator of LOOKOUT, a TV program and newspaper column that offers insightful commentary on RI’s economy and politics.

Reserve now - $20 per person – online www.ocgri.org or call 861-3900 to continue this movement of concerned citizens who want to be represented.

Submitted by:  Sandra Thompson, 2nd Vice President, OCG