VIDEO: Shekarchi in 2020 Promised to Have JCLS Meetings, Now He Is Refusing
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
In 2020, Joe Shekarchi — then the House Majority Leader — said if asked he would hold meetings of the controversial Joint Committee on Legislative Services which has not met in more than 10 years.
But, now as Speaker of the House, Shekarchi has reversed course.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocal’s News Editor Kate Nagle on January 23, 2020, had asked if he would hold a meeting of the JCLS — the legislative committee empowered to oversee the General Assembly’s approximately $50 million budget.
In the interview, Shekarchi said, “.. if he [Rep. Blake Filippi], if he asks for a meeting we'll have a meeting.”
But as Speaker, Shekarchi, like his predecessor Nick Mattiello, has refused to hold meetings of the JCLS. Critics have called the JCLS which is controlled by the Speaker's office a "private fiefdom spending public funds."
House Minority Leader Blake Filippi who has been advocating for a public process for years tells GoLocal that, “All I want to do is follow the law and have JCLS meet in order that it's $46 million per year budget is properly managed. Unfortunately, their refusal to meet perpetuates the continuation of the lawsuit.”
“Speaker Shekarchi obviously is not Speaker Mattiello. I’m happy he’s professionalized the General Assembly, including trimming our bloated payroll. With that said, regrettably little has changed as it relates to the structure of JCLS. Most all decisions are still made on the 3rd floor with no meetings, discussion, or votes. But it’s not just Speaker Shekarchi. President Ruggerio, who claimed for years to want JCLS to meet, has taken the lead in court opposing our lawsuit that seeks to force JCLS to meet. The only thing that makes sense is that they don’t want to meet as public scrutiny of JCLS would reduce their power. In that respect, little has changed,” added Filippi.
But, Shekarchi claims that legal action by Filippi -- to try to open up the JCLS process -- is the barrier.
“I was planning to have regular public meetings of JCLS after Leader Filippi lost his first lawsuit. But after Leader Filippi filed a second lawsuit, personally suing all of the current members of JCLS, the public hearings have been put on hold upon the advice of our respective legal counsels until the pending lawsuit has been resolved,” said Shekarchi.
Shekarchi refused to respond to follow-up questions from GoLocal. Governmental agencies are sued regularly but continue to meet and take action.
In a landmark case, the Rhode Island General Assembly faced litigation over separation of powers from July of 1997 and concluded in June of 1999. The General Assembly continued to operate during the nearly two years of litigation.
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