NEW: Binder Rips Fox on 38 Studios; Taveras Endorses Fox
Friday, November 02, 2012
House District 4 candidate Mark Binder on Friday praised the state for moving forward with a lawsuit against more than dozen key players in the 38 Studios deal, but he also criticized House Speaker Gordon Fox for not being more transparent with the legislation that paved the way for Curt Schilling’s now-bankrupt video game company to move to Rhode Island.
“This lawsuit focuses on what took place after the EDC bestowed $75M in loans to 38 Studios,” Binder said. “But the injustice started much earlier—when that $75 million was mysteriously dropped into a long-dormant EDC bill and rushed through the legislative process in a last-minute deal arranged by Speaker Gordon Fox. This injustice would never have happened if the legislature, under Speaker Fox’s direction, had not made public monies available to EDC in such a careless manner.”
Binder and Fox are locked in one of the most heated local races in the state. Binder has made 38 Studios the central focus of the race while Fox’s campaign has accused Binder of committing multiple campaign finance violations.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSeparately, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras on Friday announced his support for Fox.
In an e-mail titled, “He Was There For Us,” Taveras listed the work Fox has done for to help the capital city over the last two years.
“He enacted a fair and equitable school funding formula which has resulted in $18 million in additional funding for Providence schools in the past two years,” Taveras wrote. “He made sure that Providence received substantially more aid through the PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) program and helped me in negotiating with our non-profit institutions to increase their contributions to our city. He was instrumental in making certain that Providence had a strong voice in the development of the I-195 Knowledge District. We asked for state relief and he worked with us to close a $110 million structural deficit.”
