Gencarella: RI Stands Apart From a World Where Change Is the Only Constant
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Eighty percent of Rhode Islanders claim that they are dissatisfied with state governance. Yet, looking at last week’s election results for state-wide offices, it is difficult to see how Rhode Islanders voted for change.
The more things change.....
The new Governor has big plans for spending and indebting our state all in the name of growing our way out of our economic stagnation. In step with our current Governor, Raimondo has a big focus on non economic issues, like affordable housing (using gimmicks like social impact bonds) and mortgaging our future in the name of green energy. In an effort to maintain RI’s sanctuary status, similar to Chafee, she is insistent on providing drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens. The incumbent Attorney General won re-election, despite his inaction when faced with RI’s most notorious government debacle - 38 Studios. The new Secretary of State, who has the ability to sway the General Assembly on election issues, believes that Voter ID should be repealed, even in the face of glaring problems in the voter rolls. And the new Treasurer, with a few years experience in the investment world, will be handling RI’s billion dollars in assets.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEvery year since the great recession, our General Assembly’s Speaker of the House and its Senate President have stated that ‘Jobs and the Economy’ are the priority. But the budgets and legislation that they have passed for the last six years do not reflect that. They nibble around the edges with a corporate tax reduction and a small increase in the estate tax credit or they give lip service to reviewing business regulations, but nothing earth shattering. If anything, they walk things backward, like combining the two Boards of Education only to subsequently restructure it again to create three. Or, without any forethought, establish tolls on the Sakonnet Bridge, only to turn around and reverse that decision after immense public push-back, but not before spending roughly $5-$6 million on wasted set up costs. Or they produce something like 38 Studios, and then to add insult to injury, they do nothing to investigate the mess that was created from this deal.
The RI disconnect between sentiment and vote.
A Brown University poll, taken last month, demonstratively indicated that an overwhelming majority of people (8 out of 10) said they were dissatisfied with how the state is governed. Another 6 out of 10 people said RI’s government is doing a worse job than other states. So why is it that we have elected basically the same players in the General Assembly? And why is it that we have elected people for state-wide office that have the same ideas as previous office holders - spend more and add more debt?
The wave across the nation.
Looking across the country, people were fed up with the pace of the economic recovery. At both the state and the federal levels they elected people who believed that getting government out of the way would lead to job creation. Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker, whose claim to fame is that he took on special interest public sector unions and he reduced the size of government, not only won a recall election, he won this November’s election. That’s quite a feat in a state that, according to the local paper, voted for a Democrat in both the US Senate and for the President in the 2012 election. The Green Bay Press Gazette, notes that Walker claims to have “balanced a $3.6 billion budget shortfall, taken on special interests, such as the [public] unions, cut taxes $2 billion and presided over the addition of more than 110,000 private-sector jobs.” It is clear that the people of Wisconsin are happy with the results.
I recently met a gentleman in a parking lot as he was getting in his car. His car had a Wisconsin license plate so I was compelled to ask him how he felt about Governor Walker. He said that he mostly agreed with his policies. The gentleman told me that he believed the public sector unions had gone too far, that politicians should not be making future promises for things that they are not held accountable for today. He has been on both sides of the bargaining table and he had a clear vision of how difficult it was to be on the ‘other side of the table.' Notably, this Wisconsin gentleman was a retired firefighter.
A glimmer of change.
The one bright spot in RI’s 2014 election may have been the defeat of Representative Guthrie (a retired firefighter), 65% to 35%, and Representative Tomasso, 52% to 48%, both associated with backing the special interest public sector unions at a time when the people of the Central Coventry Fire District demanded change. If you aren’t familiar with the issue, this bankrupt District had an out-of-control budget that required exorbitant taxes to provide fire safety for its residents. Those residents had a plan to take back their Fire District. Representatives Guthrie and Tomasso ensured that would not happen with the legislation they supported and pushed through the General Assembly, with the sponsorship of Speaker Mattiello. Last week, the residents of Coventry turned to the ballot box. They wanted their government back.
Back to the Governor.
The other bright spot in this year’s election was Raimondo’s lack of blanket support from special interest public sector unions. In the primary, of course, NEARI-backed candidate Pell lost. In the general election, because of her earlier accomplishment of public pension reform, the public unions were not exactly in love with Raimondo. She was able to win the governorship in spite of this lack of support. Another glimmer that perhaps the time has come for politicians to take notice - less pandering to public sector unions and more governing for all of the people of RI. We won’t know if the Governor-elect takes notice until her appointments are made and her agenda is set.
Expect more, get more.
So over the next 4 years, we can all expect what the candidates promised - more spending and more debt. This policy, combined with the projected billion dollars in deficits over the next 4 years, along with the additional debt for which the public voted in favor of last week, will certainly lead to more taxes. Perhaps at some point when the last person with wealth has left the state and the taxes are just too high for those remaining, even those who once voted for more, will vote to live with less.
Pam Gencarella is a member of OSTPA, a taxpayer advocacy organization in Rhode Island.
Related Slideshow: Gina Raimondo CGF Campaign Donations
A well-connected network of wealthy and powerful donors who have pumped tens of thousands into the campaign coffers of General Treasurer Gina Raimondo are linked to a nonprofit promoted by her office. They include the former chairman of one of the largest toy makers in the world, the nation’s oldest auto insurance company, and other deep pockets from the banking and investment world. Below is a breakdown of all the key donors with ties to the nonprofit, the Capital Good Fund.
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