![]() The public doesn’t learn details until it’s too late to make any changes. Once leaders release the final budget proposal, all that’s left is essentially an up-or-down vote by the rank-and-file. Her comments drew an angry rebuke from the speaker, whose support is critical to passing a budget.īut critics of the budget process say the governor spoke the truth. Gina Raimondo told a conference on state government in Washington that, “for too long,” legislative leaders and lobbyists have gathered “in the dark of night, in a quiet room,” to carve up the budget. Secrecy has long been a problem in Rhode Island, particularly in the annual closed-door deliberations in which legislative leaders hammer out the budget after months of public hearings. The two scores are not directly comparable, however, due to changes made to improve and update the questions and methodology, such as eliminating the category for redistricting, a process that generally occurs only once every 10 years. Rhode Island’s score actually declined from the first investigation, in 2012, when the state earned a C that ranked it 9th. The state’s grade did rank it 5th best in the nation, but that speaks more to greater problems elsewhere than a tailwind of progress in the Ocean State. It’s no surprise, then, that Rhode Island earned a grade of D+ in the State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven assessment of state government accountability and transparency conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. The cases reflect a seedy political culture that persists despite some improvements to transparency in recent years, such as strengthening the open records law in 2012. He paid a $1,000 fine and resigned a leadership position, but remains in office. In May, a state representative pleaded no contest to misusing campaign funds. ![]() Sadly, Fox was not the only lawmaker to run afoul of the law this past year. Reflecting on his downfall and the latest blow to Rhode Island’s tattered reputation, Fox quoted Hamlet at his sentencing – “thou canst not then be false to any man” – and added, “I hope this doesn’t create so much more cynicism that we keep good people running for elected office.” ![]() In June, Fox was sentenced to three years in prison after he admitted taking more than $50,000 in bribes from a Providence restaurant while serving on the city’s licensing board and using more than $100,000 in campaign money for personal expenses, including purchases at Tiffany’s and Urban Outfitters. ![]() So it felt like just another blow this summer, when the former state House speaker landed in prison after pleading guilty to corruption- related charges.įirst elected in 1992 and elevated to the state’s most powerful position in 2010, Gordon Fox had tip-toed through a series of scandals over the years - including an ethics fine, coziness with lobbyists and questions about his legal work for the City of Providence - before a federal corruption probe finally brought him down. Rhode Island has suffered from an inferiority complex dating back to colonial times, when Massachusetts minister Cotton Mather called it the “sewer of New England” and Connecticut tried to absorb the upstart colony. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |