Politics & Elections

What constitutes a political contribution from Deloitte?

At the August 18 Warwick Democratic Committee meeting Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo was asked by Providence resident Grant Metts, “will you return any contributions that [Deloitte] or their executives have given to your campaign?” (See: video below 22m00s mark) Deloitte is the company responsible for a new computer system, UHIP, that has led to serious problems with the State

Rhode Island News: What constitutes a political contribution from Deloitte?

April 19, 2018, 10:55 am

By Steve Ahlquist

At the August 18 Warwick Democratic Committee meeting Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo was asked by Providence resident Grant Metts, “will you return any contributions that [Deloitte] or their executives have given to your campaign?” (See: video below 22m00s mark)

Deloitte is the company responsible for a new computer system, UHIP, that has led to serious problems with the State of Rhode Island’s ability to deliver SNAP benefits and other public services to our state’s neediest persons. The debacle has led to lawsuits and even threatens Rhode Island’s ability to receive federal funding for such programs in the future. It is a big problem, one Raimondo inherited from previous administrations, but much of the blame for the disastrous roll out of the system lies with Raimondo, which she has acknowledged and apologized for repeatedly.

In answer to Metts’ question, Raimondo said, “I have not taken money from that company.”

In fact, Raimondo has taken money, $4250, from Mark Charron, who retired from Deloitte in July 2017 after working in various capacities for the company over 27 years of service. Charron is also finance committee chairman and treasurer of the Executive Board Member of the URI Foundation.

You can access that report here.

Here are the details of Charron’s contributions:

GINA M. RAIMONDO Charron, Mark Deloitte Consulting Individual $1,000.00 10/31/2016 ShowDetails…
GINA M. RAIMONDO Charron, Mark Deloitte Consulting Individual $250.00 09/28/2010 09/28/2010 ShowDetails…
GINA M. RAIMONDO Charron, Mark Deloitte Consulting Individual $1,000.00 09/14/2012 09/14/2012 ShowDetails…
GINA M. RAIMONDO Charron, Mark Deloitte Consulting Individual $1,000.00 07/17/2013 ShowDetails…
GINA M. RAIMONDO Charron, Mark Deloitte Consulting Individual $1,000.00 02/28/2014 ShowDetails…

In response to an inquiry, David Ortiz, who heads Raimondo’s re-election campaign, wrote, “The Governor has not and will not solicit from Deloitte. There are many individuals who contribute to the campaign on their own. If a person who works for Deloitte sends in a donation it’s coincidental. It’s a huge company with nearly 200,000 employees. No one with decision-making authority on UHIP has contributed, and in fact we aren’t aware of any Deloitte employee contributing since before UHIP became a concern.”


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