RI Leaders React to General Assembly Budget
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The late night battle over the 2014 Rhode Island State budget took a number of unexpected turns. One big vote pointed to a lack of control by the House Leadership and created an out of balance budget as of 1:40 am when the House went into recess.
"They're going to take people out to the proverbial woodshed tomorrow and beat them, I'm sure," House Minority Brian Newberry Leader told GoLocalProv at 1:50 am. Newberry's comments were in reference to a loss by Speaker Gordon Fox on Article 5 of the Budget.
Big Issues
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There were two big surprises in the nearly 12 hour session. First, House members rejected the leadership's position on Article 5, a budget provision that eliminated the $12.9 million payment from the pension fund to the budget.
Article 5 was rejected 36 to 39, and was a surprise black eye to Speaker Gordon Fox. It leaves the budget with a $12.9 million budget hole.
The second, big issue was a delaying of the implementation of tolls at Sakonnet Bridge. The delay came in a tradeoff with Aquidneck Island legislators in exchange for their support for the House Leaderships push to make the $2.5 payment on the interest on the 38 Studios bonds. The pushback on the date of the tolls for Sakonnet could trigger a huge increase in the cost of tolls for the Newport Bridge as the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA) would be forced to drive revenue to pay the revenue bonds incurred.
As GoLocalProv reported over the weekend: According to a number of Representatives, House Majority Whip Stephen Ucci and Deputy Majority Whip Chris Blazejewski were making calls to Representatives who they saw as undecided on the budget.
The impact of the delay in the Sakonnet Bridge tolls creates a fiscal crisis for the RITBA - see a strongly written letter from RIDOT Director Michael Lewis below.
Reconvene
- The House will reconvene at 2:00 pm to try and bring the budget back into balance and restore the Speaker's power. Both were out of balance at 1:40 am. See what the expert have to say.
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