Chamber News

This is your RISC-Y Business email for July 29, 2010

A reminder from RISC to Rhode Island Voters...

Have you seen RISC TV?

Meet RBN's first group of General Assembly Candidates!

RISC Business Network Endorsements
Who We Endorsed and Why

RSVP Right Away!!

Space is now limited with only 9 days to go! Don't miss Steve Malanga (Manhattan Institute) and Arlene Violet (RISC Business Network, Election 2010) at the RISC Annual Summer Meeting on August 7th!

RSVP to cat@risc-ri.org today!!

Click here for information and your invitation!

Today's News!

Rhode Island Statewide Coalition is on FaceBook and myRISC.com

RISC Business Network is on FaceBook , Twitter, LinkedIn, and myRISC.com

THE RACES ARE ON!!

SEE RISC TV FOR MORE INFO!

SENATE AND HOUSE SEATS ARE SEEING CHALLENGES IN ALMOST EVERY DISTRICT! THIS IS AN HISTORIC MOMENT FOR RI, AND RBN 2010 IS AN HISTORIC IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS ARRIVED!!!

We've reached the $100,000 mark in funding and campaign pledges, but we need EVEN MORE PLEDGES to elect a slate of pro-business, pro-jobs candidates!

THIS IS AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO CLEAN UP RI AND GET SOME FRESH BLOOD FLOWING IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE! ARE YOU IN?

WE MAY NOT HAVE SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY AGAIN!

TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW:

RBN2010.COM IS GOING TO CHANGE THE R.I. GENERAL ASSEMBLY!!

FIND OUT MORE!

Vote on this week's poll: www.statewidecoalition.com:

Independent candidate for Governor Lincoln Chafee was recently endorsed by one of the state’s two major teacher’s union groups, the RI chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Chafee did not have a record of challenging union contracts as a former Mayor of Warwick. Does a Union endorsement of a gubernatorial candidate matter to you?

Public Employees Get More Benefits

An annual scorecard on benefits shows that public employees continue to have richer benefits than their private-sector counterparts, but squeezed state and local budgets could push governments to start cutting back.

As of March, 88% of state and local government workers had access to employer-sponsored medical plans, compared with 71% of private-sector workers, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday.

Governments also picked up a larger share of the health-care tab. Public employers paid 89% of the premiums for policies covering individual workers as of March, compared with 80% at private-sector companies.

Click here to read more...

Solution to RI Economic Malaise Has a Political Basis

Rhode Island has been through a great deal over the last three and a half years. I don't need to cite the statistics. All of us have had to live with them. Suffice it to say that after a truly horrendous year in 2008, our economy regained its "pulse" as of mid-2009. By the middle of this year it appeared that we were about to bottom at long last. Then, in April came the floods, which very likely postponed that bottom for several months. The question has now become what type of recovery will Rhode Island eventually have?

The vast majority of persons who attempt to answer that question, many of whom are politicians, will no doubt restrict their analysis either entirely or largely to cyclical factors. That is unfortunate since far too much of Rhode Island's unsatisfactory performance over the past several years has been driven by structural factors. Cyclical forces did matter, but they became the "afterburners" for a direction materially dictated by our state's structural deficiencies.

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Arlene Violet: Pro-jobs candidates endorsed by RISC group

Last week, the RISC Business Network (RBN) endorsed nine General Assembly candidates. Incumbents endorsed include representatives Doug Gablinske (D-Warren), Brian Newberry (R-North Smithfield), Lisa Baldelli-Hunt (D-Woonsocket), Jon Brien (D-Woonsocket), and Senate officeholders, Ed O'Neill (I-Lincoln, North Providence and Pawtucket) and Mike Pinga (D-West Warwick) plus three challengers: Dr. Chris Ottiano, (R Portsmouth); Sean Gately (R-Cranston); and Stephanie Santos Sivalinham (R-East Providence). Here's why:

Click here to read more...

Tom Ward: Finally, spending beginning to subside

It is certainly good news that teachers, who earn the lion's share of municipal revenue, are finally accepting this unhappy new era of fiscal austerity with professionalism and are signing contracts that offer them no raises - and in some cases, pay cuts - for the next three years. It began in Woonsocket a few weeks ago when educators there gave themselves a 1 percent cut, then accepted flat wages for the next two years. On top of that, they agreed to pay 20 percent of their health care premiums.

Now North Providence teachers have followed suit, with a similar deal of pay freezes and higher health insurance co-pays.

Click here to read more...

Joe Baker: Voters do have choices, so listen up when candidates speak out

In between elections, it seems there are an awful lot of disgruntled people willing to point their fickle finger of fate at elected officials, blaming them for everything wrong in their lives. Personally, I think it’s just that we are hearing from the disgruntled because the gruntled — yes, it is a word — are perfectly happy to keep their satisfaction to themselves. And we all know about the squeaky wheel.

Sometimes, voters complain they don’t have choices. Again, I think that means that the complainers don’t like the choices ultimately made by all the voters, but the plaint does have some truth in legislative races, where it is not uncommon for many incumbents to run without opposition.

Not so this year.

For the first time in my memory — and I’ve been covering state politics for The Daily News since 1984 — only one Newport County legislative incumbent is running unopposed: Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, D-Middletown. It’s a win-win for DiPalma. Not only does he not have to work for re-election, but traditionally, it is precisely during their first re-election campaign that incumbents are the most vulnerable.

Anyway, this year, every other legislator will have to pound the pavement and wear out some shoe leather as he or she seeks the approval of constituents. It remains to be seen if this competitive atmosphere will translate into wholesale changes at the legislative level, but at the very least, it will give voters a choice.

It is heartening that there are so many citizens willing to step up to the plate and run for public office. Let’s face it: Most residents want no part of government service. They have families and regular jobs and other pursuits that keep them too busy to serve in public office.

That’s fine. But they should, at the very least, stop and give credit to those willing to give up part of their own lives in their desire to make their imprint on public service. You don’t have to agree with someone to respect his or her willingness to represent the rest of us who, for whatever reason, choose not to serve. Public officials and our representative democracy are what allow the rest of the electorate to live in relative freedom from day-to-day governmental decisions.

But after stopping to give kudos to those willing to step up to the electoral plate, voters have to pay attention. They have to dissect candidates’ rhetoric and make some value judgments on just what kind of government they want. Once those choices are made, the voter also has to acknowledge some measure of accountability for choices made.

It was a majority of Rhode Islanders that put Ed DiPrete into the state’s top position; as governor, he accepted cash from contractors. It was the voters of North Providence that bought into what former Democratic Sen. John Celona was selling — turns out he was selling his state office. Since I’ve been here — confession: I am transplanted from Warwick — I have been impressed with the overall quality of voters in Newport County. I have had the privilege of covering some respected and impressive lawmakers who have left an indelible imprint on state government.

There have been some lessthan heavyweight lawmakers, too, but it is no coincidence that no John Celonas have emanated from our part of the state.

So enjoy the summer. But pay attention to what the candidates are saying. They will be your voice in the debate of state affairs. The quality of your preparation before casting your vote will have a direct impact on the quality of people representing you under the Statehouse dome.

Joe Baker is a Daily News staff writer. Send him e-mail at Baker@NewportRI.com

Jay Goodman: Accountability needed to lift schools above mediocre

We regularly hear about NECAP scores, and if you’re like me, you probably ask what it means. Are our kids doing well? Are they getting better? Where does Westerly stand in comparison to the 32 other school districts in Rhode Island with middle schools and high schools?

It’s not pretty. Our fifth-graders rank 21st in reading and 23rd in math. Our eighth-graders rank 22nd in reading and 22nd in math. Our eleventh-graders rank 16th in reading, 16th in writing, 13th in math and 19th in science.

To make matters worse, Rhode Island was ranked 40th in 2008 in educational achievement, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual report, despite ranking 6th in per-pupil spending on education. So the Westerly school district currently ranks in the bottom half — at all three school levels — in a state that ranks in the bottom fifth of all states.

We shouldn’t accept mediocre results as the expectation for our children. We shouldn’t blame poverty and other factors for the test results. Eighthgraders in Woonsocket, where 7 in 10 students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, ranked higher in math test scores than Westerly, where only 3 in 10 qualify. Both eighth-graders and eleventh-graders in Newport, where 6 in 10 students qualify, ranked higher in reading test scores than Westerly. The new superintendent has made improving educational outcomes the school district’s highest priority, and I applaud him for that. He has asked that he be evaluated on how well he does at achieving this priority, and that too is laudable. There needs to be a much higher level of accountability for achieving educational outcomes in Westerly than there has been in the past few years. The results we are seeing now show what happens when there is no accountability or ownership.

Jay Goodman Westerly

Federal lawsuit challenges R.I. straight-party voting option

PROVIDENCE –– Robert J. Healey Jr., an independent (Cool Moose) candidate for lieutenant governor, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Wednesday seeking to abolish the straight-party voting option on Rhode Island’s ballot for November and all subsequent elections.

Healey is one of 11 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which names Governor Carcieri, A. Ralph Mollis, secretary of state, members of the state’s Board of Elections and the heads of the state’s Republican, Democratic and Moderate parties as defendants. Among the plaintiffs is Republican Warwick Mayor Scott Avedesian.

Click here to read more...

Providence mayor vows to veto City Council’s property-tax increase

PROVIDENCE — The City Council Wednesday night narrowly voted to approve a $284-million tax levy for the fiscal year that started July 1, a proposal that increases the rate by 25 percent and repeals a break for some non-owner-occupied multifamily dwellings.

But Mayor David N. Cicilline has promised to veto the plan, a move that the council says might prevent the city from sending out tax bills on time.

Click here to read more...

John J. Igliozzi: Firefighter deal sets back pension goals

Recently, Mayor Cicilline and Local 799 of the International Association of Firefighters presented to the City Council two collective-bargaining agreements: one for the years 2007-10 and one for the years 2011-13, both of which include compounded cost-of-living adjustments, and a reduction in employee contributions to the pension system. The agreements are pending before the City Council’s Committee on Finance, and will be voted on by the full council shortly.

Compounded COLAs and an unfunded pension system are longstanding problems in Providence. Indeed, a major factor in the exponential growth of Providence’s $1.2 billion pension liability, threatening to bankrupt the system, are the compounded COLAs implemented during the 1990s.

Click here to read more...

RISC
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