News Clips

Amid an uptick in member dissent, Senate leaders are proposing changes to its rules that would enshrine longstanding customs, consolidate power in the hands of the Senate president and prevent a filibuster from ever happening in Rhode Island again.

At least one senator denounced the proposed changes, and Common Cause called them ‘disappointing.’ Amid an uptick in member dissent, Senate leaders are proposing changes to its rules that would enshrine longstanding customs, consolidate power in the hands of the Senate president and prevent a filibuster from ever happening in Rhode Island again.

It’s time for the cynicism and the games to end. Gov. Gina Raimondo and the General Assembly should use their clout this year to make sure a strong line-item veto appears on the 2020 ballot. As we have long noted, this reform currently benefits 44 states. Rhode Island is one of only six that refuses to provide this check on corruption. A 2016 poll by Common Cause Rhode Island found that 66 percent of voters support the line-item veto.

The number of patronage jobs from House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s Cranston district has almost tripled during Mattiello’s time as speaker. Patronage jobs are one of the tools that a legislative leader like Mattiello can use to reinforce his own political power at the Statehouse.

Congressman Cicilline is holding out hope that the 2020 Census will turn up enough Rhode Islanders to hold onto one of the state's two U.S. House seats. "I actually don't think it's settled," Cicilline said on this week's Newsmakers. While that's true -- and a famously aggressive effort by Massachusetts in 2000 helped the Bay State keep a 10th House seat -- it's safe to say most other observers sound far more pessimistic.

John Marion says Rhode Island represents the “ghost of Christmas future.” Last spring, the Ocean State was home to the first and only trial run for the 2020 census, which was conducted in 637,000-strong, immigrant-heavy Providence County.