House Approves Record Spending, GOP Fail In Effort to Add DCYF Staffing
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Months late, the Rhode Island House approved record spending on Wednesday. Rhode Island was one of the last states to approve a budget and the debate was limited. The only major fight was when House Republicans submitted amendments to the proposed FY21 budget to address cuts in frontline staffing at DCYF by the Governor.
The Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 59-6 Wednesday to approve the $12.75 billion state budget for the 2021 fiscal year. House Democratic leadership says that restores funding to cities and towns, uses federal coronavirus relief funds to aid struggling Rhode Islanders and does not raise taxes or fees.
The budget also includes a series of seven bond referendums totaling $400 million - see the list below.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe budget now is transferred to the Senate for consideration.
The Biggest Battle - GOP Fights for Increased DCYF Staff
The House Republican Caucus submitted a budget amendment totaling $2.6 million to add 25 full time equivalent (FTE) employees to the DCYF personnel appropriation to address the shortage of workers licensing and evaluating children in foster care, those being supported in adoption proceedings, and children eligible for kinship placements. These monies would be moved from a percentage of appropriations to non-contractual employee raises across state government. The average proposed raise for state workers in the FY21 budget is approximately $3,200.
“Some of the most vulnerable children in our society are being left behind,” said House Minority Leader Blake Filippi. “We have taken on the role of keeping them safe and in many respects, have failed in this duty. If government can’t fix DCYF, it has little business doing much else.”
"What's more, the national average for cases is 14 per case worker. Federally, 'cases' are measured as one child in the care of the agency. Rhode Island actually measures ‘a case’ as one 'family,' which has resulted in 30 – 38 children assigned to each caseworker, which is very concerning. We need to address this in DCYF immediately," said Representative Sherry Roberts.
A pre-accreditation study of DCYF was released in October 2020. That report indicated that DCYF would need to hire an additional 90 frontline workers to meet the basic litmus test for accreditation. The restoration of 25 FTE’s, as proposed by House Republicans is woefully under this standard and will need to be addressed in the FY22 budget.
“In a time of great stress for Rhode Island’s children living in state care, not only did the Governor remove the urgently needed and promised 21 frontline workers from her budget, she also eliminated 4 other positions as DCYF, said Minority Whip Michael C. Chippendale, the sponsor of the amendment. “That is unconscionable and indefensible. We have children dying. We have reports of a sickening uptick in child abuse during COVID. Of all the necessary and prudent cuts that need to happen in this budget – such as the 117 communications positions across state government –the Governor chooses to eliminate positions at DCYF? It has been over a year and DCYF is still without a permanent Director. It has been almost two years since it was revealed that our most vulnerable children were not receiving proper investigations and social worker interactions. We cannot pass this budget in good conscience without fully funding these positions.”
Democrats fought back the GOP effort and rejected the effort to increase staffing.
Shekarchi's First Budget
“This budget is about making sure we take full advantage of the federal funding available to help take care of Rhode Islanders and get us through this pandemic. We are just a few weeks away from the start of a new session in January, and at that time we look forward to a full discussion of new policies and ideas,” said House Speaker-elect K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick). “For now, we need to hold the line and fully support our schools, our cities and towns, and our existing efforts to help the people of Rhode Island, and I’m proud of the way we have come together to do exactly that within the resources we have. With this budget in place, we will be able to turn our focus to the future, to economic recovery as the vaccine rolls out, and to helping provide resources as well as hope to the people of Rhode Island in 2021.”
Said House Finance Committee Chairman Marvin L. Abney (D-Dist. 73, Newport), “Like so many aspects of our daily lives in 2020, this year’s budget is different than years past, but it differs out of necessity and with the goal to support the state and its residents as best as possible during these trying and uncertain times. This ‘skinny budget’ will keep our crucial services and supports running, it will provide much-needed relief to our cities and towns, and most importantly, it will help our struggling families and small businesses during the pandemic. We are going to have plenty of challenges to confront in next year’s budget, so I am thankful we were able to put together a document this year that continues to serve the people of Rhode Island without raising taxes or cutting crucial services to our residents.”
Referendums
The bond questions include:
· Question 1 — $107.3 million for higher education, including $57.3 million for a fine arts center at URI, $38 million for the Clarke Science Building at RIC and $12 million to renovate CCRI’s campuses.
· Question 2 — $74 million for the environment and recreational projects, a total of $10 million over the governor’s original proposal.
$4 million for local recreation projects
$3 million for natural and working lands
$15 million for clean and drinking water
$7 million for municipal resiliency projects
$33 million for state beaches, parks and campgrounds
$4 million for the proposed park on the former I-195 land in Providence
$6 million for Providence River dredging (included in the 2018 green bond, but funding proved insufficient)
$2 million for the Woonasquatucket Greenway
· Question 3 — $65 million for affordable housing, an increase of $40 million over the original proposal, included in the amendment offered by the governor in July.
· Question 4 — $71.7 million for transportation initiatives
· Question 5 — $15 million for early childhood care and the educational capital fund
· Question 6 — $7 million for arts and cultural infrastructure, including $6 million for the cultural arts and economy grant program, and $1 million for the state preservation grants program.
· Question 7 — $60 million for commerce infrastructure, including $20 million for the Port of Davisville at Quonset and $40 million for industrial site development.
