Economists say R.I. not poised for swift recovery

Where Rhode Islanders work has changed dramatically in the last decade.

Fewer people are collecting paychecks from factories, retail stores and construction sites, more are earning a living at hospitals and financial service companies. Overall, fewer Rhode Islanders are working at all.

Between December 1999 and December 2009, the state lost 18,200 jobs, with employment falling from 472,000 to 453,800, a drop of 3.85 percent. Rhode Island lost a higher percentage of jobs than any other state in the region, although Massachusetts and Connecticut came close. Of the six New England states, only New Hampshire gained jobs in the past decade.

Cranston: Parents propose a return to BASICS

CRANSTON — Faced with the School Department’s $9-million deficit, parents Kerri Mullen-Kelleher and Pam Tcath Schiff are proposing a return to the BASICS..

Benefiting All Students In Cranston Schools bids itself as a “blame-free” organization that aims to find “practical solutions” to the city’s financial crisis –– a novel solution in a city where finger-pointing and political bickering may just be an Olympic sport.

Full Text of Gov. Chris Christie's speech on fiscal 'state of emergency'

Mr. President, Madame Speaker, members of the Senate and Assembly, fellow citizens of New Jersey.

Twenty three days ago, I was honored to take the oath of office as your governor and promised you and the people of New Jersey a new direction.

The old ways of doing business have not served the people well, I said, and I asked for your help in bringing about change.

Today, I have called you together because it is time to take the first major – and urgent -- step in delivering the change we promised, in the critically important area of the state budget.

New Jersey is in a state of financial crisis. Our state’s budget has been left in a shambles and requires immediate action to achieve balance. For the current fiscal year 2010, which has only four and one-half months left to go, the budget we have inherited has a two billion dollar gap. The budget passed less than eight months ago, in June of last year, contained all of the same worn out tricks of the trade that have become common place in Trenton, that have driven our citizens to anger and frustration and our wonderful state to the edge of bankruptcy.

Woonsocket Taxpayer Coalition Meeting Tuesday

Date: February 16, 2010                                 

Place:  Bocce Club
            226 St.. Louis Ave.
            Woonsocket, RI  02895

Time:  6:30 p.m.

Speaker:  Steve Laffey, Former Cranston Mayor

Agenda:  Click Here

Jim Baron: Don’t laugh: Ethics reform amendment may soon be coming

It looks like we are going to get a Bill Irons Amendment to the RI Constitution.

Such an amendment was called for in this space more than a year ago, when Irons was still wran­gling with the Ethics Commission over the Constitution’s speech in debate clause. I renewed that call after Irons prevailed in the state Supreme Court last year and now it looks like it may be happening. The amendment — which would bring the behavior of General As­sembly members under the juris­diction of the Ethics Commission, the speech in debate clause notwithstanding — was drafted by Common Cause and Operation Clean Government (OCG). They gave it to then-House Majority Leader Gordon Fox to introduce. The legislation to put the pro­posed amendment on the ballot may have to be amended itself, be­cause it does not specify the exact language of the referendum ques­tion to be put before voters for them to accept or reject. But that is a housekeeping detail that can be left for another time.

Fox was at once a natural and a curious choice to submit this par­ticular amendment. Natural be­cause he was the powerful Major­ity Leader of the House who was soon nominated for Speaker by the Democratic caucus as Speaker William Murphy made an abrupt exit. If anyone has the oomph to get such a provision on the ballot, it is Fox.

It seems lately that every time there is a new Speaker of the House, there is a major step for­ward in government reform. When Murphy succeeded John Harwood, a separation of powers amendment was finally put before voters after a decade of reformers’ efforts to do so. Now, with Fox succeeding Mur­phy, General Assembly members will once again be subject to being called on the carpet by the Ethics Commission.

That, too, was predicted right here. In the July 6, 2009 Politics as Usual it said: “House Speaker William Mur­phy has been saying for years that he would likely serve eight years as speaker, then move on. If he holds to that — and yes, that is a BIG if — that means next year would be his last. When politicians see the end of their term coming, they tend to look for a legacy.

Closing the ethics loophole would be a good legacy for Murphy. Murphy took the speakership in 2003 and soon after the long­stalled separation of powers amendment finally made it to the ballot. If Murphy goes out by clos­ing the Irons loophole, he can go down in Rhode Island history as Mr. Ethics.”

OK, Mr. Ethics might have been a bit carried away, but I’m claim­ing the prediction nonetheless. By the way, Murphy had earlier told me he would stay on as Speaker “at least through the budget,” but now he bailed in February. The general laws say that if a General Assembly seat be­comes vacant after the first Mon­day in February of an election year, there is no special election to re­place him or her, the seat stays empty. It’s not clear whether Mur­phy would remain in the House af­ter stepping down as Speaker, but that almost never works — it is too awkward for everyone in­volved.

Fox is a curious choice because at one time he had been the re­cipient of the biggest fine ever met­ed out by the Ethics Commission — before Sen. John Celona came along and really rang the bell — on a complaint filed by OCG, in fact. So much for the House, but a bill to put the amendment on the bal­lot would also have to pass the Senate (the governor has no say in this; the constitution does not give him a veto over proposed amendments because the people get to vote on them). That could be another story altogether.

Sen. J. Michael Lenihan will be introducing an identical measure in the Senate. That could be a good and a bad thing. Good because Lenihan is a reliable reformer. If he sponsors a bill, you can trust there is a good government reason behind it.

It could be a bad thing because, possibly for the very reasons cited above, not everything Lenihan puts his name on passes, or even comes up for a vote. So be prepared for this to not see the light of day in the Senate.

One idea put forward is for the Senate to — don’t laugh, now — form a committee to police the ethics of its own members. I said don’t laugh! But I guess you could­n’t resist. I still give a sardonic chuckle at the thought myself.

But with Fox pushing for the amendment in the House, that might give it the boost it needs to clear the Senate as well.

If the amendment does get on the ballot, I will be surprised — and disappointed — if it doesn’t get approved by at least 85 percent of the voters. For the life of me, I can’t think of more than 113 people who might vote against it.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: No strikes by government employees

Letter to Luther C. Steward, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, from President Franklin Roosevelt, on April 16, 1937:

All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and employees alike are governed and guided, and in many instances restricted, by laws which establish policies, procedures, or rules in personnel matters.

Capers Jones: Union mouthpiece is out of touch with R.I. reality

In his Jan. 21 letter, teachers-union official Patrick Crowley defended the cost of living increases (COLAs) in Rhode Island government pensions.

Over the past 15 years, Rhode Island’s student population dropped by 3 percent but the number of Rhode Island teachers increased by 30 percent. As of 2009 Rhode Island had the lowest ratio of students to teachers in America, with about 10.4 students per teacher versus national averages of 15.5 students per teacher ( www.eiaonline.com).

Escape from Taxation; A new study shows that wealth flees after taxes rise.

New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie must be following the economic news from Greece. Its tattered reputation for fiscal control has turned Greece into an international financial nightmare and laughingstock. Perhaps tiring of New Jersey jokes, Governor Christie this week handed down a stiff freeze on spending.

Announcing the freeze on $1.6 billion of unspent money, Mr. Christie was blunt: "Today, we come to terms with the fact that we cannot spend money on everything we want. Today, the days of Alice in Wonderland budgeting in Trenton end."

Not a day too soon, judging from the striking data that a just-released ...