Did Speaker Mattiello Just Blink in Budget Fight?
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Despite his claims of never backing down and boasts of “see you in January,” it looks as if Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello has blinked in his standoff with Senate President Dominick Ruggerio. Now, the Mattiello is asking for a meeting with Ruggerio, according to his spokesman Larry Berman.
But, for the past two weeks Mattiello claimed the Senate had to reverse course and remove an amendment from the budget and send the budget to Governor Gina Raimondo for adoption before the House would return. Only then would the House reconvene.
“If the Senate takes up the budget and passes it, we can talk about a fall session perhaps. We’ll see how that develops. If there’s no change, the first Tuesday in 2018 is when the House will be back,” Mattiello said during a 10 News Conference.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTChanging Tune
On Friday, the tune had changed. A statement from Mattiello’s office to GoLocal said, "We have been at a budget impasse and two weeks have gone by. It's appropriate to have a discussion as to what occurred, why it occurred, and hopefully find a pathway for the Senate to fix it."
Mattiello is now calling for a meeting with Ruggerio. After two solid weeks of pounding by Progressive Democrats, fiscal expert and former Administration director Gary Sasse, and more recently the mayors and town administrators from across the state, it looks like Mattiello is rethinking his “see you in January” position.
First, in a series of blistering attacks by the RI Progressive Democrats of America, the group said in one statement, “Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello in his latest example of conservative gamesmanship, putting the House in recess immediately after hearing that his Senate colleagues might actually put their two cents into the budget. Mattiello’s childish, thuggish action mimics Trump and is an embarrassment to Democrats and the state of Rhode Island."
This was just one of a series of criticisms of Mattiello by the Progressive Democrats over the past ten days.
On Monday, July 11 on GoLocal LIVE, former Rhode Island Director of Administration Gary Sasse raised a number of concerns about the failure of the State House leaders to pass a budget and warned that the rating agencies may take a dim look on Rhode Island's political stalemate, as rating agencies like Moody's, Fitch, and Standard and Poor's could see the political impasse as destabilizing.
Sasse said the rating firms are difficult to predict. Regardless, Sasse said the budget delay is not good for the cities and towns, their budgets, and school departments, as it leaves uncertainty about how to handle the implementation of the car tax.
Pressure from Cities and Towns
Then, the League of Cities and Towns in a letter signed by Mayors Scott Avedisian of Warwick, Allan Fung of Cranston, Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien, and seventeen other municipal leaders wrote, “The longer it takes to complete action on FY2018 budget, the greater the impact on our schools, municipal services and our residents.”
The municipal leaders went on to say, “We ask your support in enacting the FY2018 budget as quickly as possible…”
While the mayors and administrators were more gentle in wording then the progressives, the message was clear — Mr. Speaker, you are going to screw-up our budgets and you know who will be to blame.
Related Slideshow: FY18 House Finance Budget
Related Articles
- Raimondo Solicits Twin River, IGT for NGA Mtg & Pushed for Millions in Budget for Companies
- Sasse Say Budget Stalemate Could Impact State and City and Towns Bond Ratings in the Long-Term
- RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity Calls FY18 Budget “Deceptive & Destructive” to RI
- Raimondo’s Economic Priorities Take the Biggest Cuts in the New Budget — Over $20M
- Where is Regunberg on RI Progressive Democrats’ Opposition to Budget? UPDATED
- Save the Bay Criticizes Raimondo and Mattiello for Budget Cuts to Environment
- Moore: Rhode Island’s Budget is Bloated
- 1-on-1 With Mattiello on 2017: Car Tax, Marijuana, 38 Studios, and More
- Mattiello Calls Raimondo “Tone Deaf” on Public’s Support for Elimination the Car Tax
- UPDATED: Mattiello Proposes Major Changes to Car Tax Structure
- Mattiello’s Car Tax Bill & Ban on Conversion Therapy: This Week at the State House
- RI Ranks Highest for Car Tax
- Mattiello on LIVE: Marijuana Dead, Car Tax Repeal Extended to 6 Years
- House Approves Controversial RI Budget Despite Progressives, Enviro, and Taxpayer Group Opposition
- RI Has Highest Car Tax in U.S. Says New Study
- EcoRI’s Carini on Impact of Budget “Scoops” on Environment, Invenergy Setbacks, and More
- Sasse Say Rhode Islanders Are the “Losers” in this Year’s RI Budget
