The Uprising, January 25, 2017

“This is not a debate. This is a statement of our policy. Debate has ended.” -Rhode Island Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello The Rhode Island General Assembly has gotten underway for real this week, holding committee meetings on some fairly important and interesting legislation. But there’s also a fair amount of drama happening too. Let’s get into it: 1a.

Rhode Island News: The Uprising, January 25, 2017

January 25, 2019, 3:24 pm

By Steve Ahlquist

“This is not a debate. This is a statement of our policy. Debate has ended.”

-Rhode Island Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello

The Rhode Island General Assembly has gotten underway for real this week, holding committee meetings on some fairly important and interesting legislation. But there’s also a fair amount of drama happening too. Let’s get into it:

1a. Retaliation

When asked if his House Committee assignments, that placed members of the Reform Caucus on one committee each, and pretty uninteresting committees at that, were retaliation for opposing Representative Nicholas Mattiello (Democrat, District 15, Cranston)’s election as Speaker and for giving him a hard time on the House Rules, Mattiello told the Providence Journal, “Absolutely not. Everybody was given an assignment which in my judgment – and in the judgment of my leadership team – best serves the citizens of the state of Rhode Island on moving legislation along, and producing a good product for the public.”

This was of course a brazen lie.

There are no members of the Reform Caucus on House Rules or Finance. One member sits on House Judiciary, Joseph Almeida (Democrat, District 12, Providence). The rest of the Reform Caucus is sprinkled throughout the committees, and were given only one committee each. Five members of the Reform Caucus were stuck in House Special Legislation, a committee that almost never meets or actually works on legislation, special or otherwise.

This is a waste of talent, and can only serve to hurt the residents of Rhode Island, not serve their interests. One of the Reform Caucus members on House Special Legislation, Representative Teresa Tanzi (Democrat, District 34, Narragansett, South Kingstown) has served on House Finance for a long time, and has deep budget experience. Representative Edith Ajello (Democrat, District 1, Providence) has served on or chaired House Judiciary for well over a decade. She’s now on House Oversight, another committee that almost never meets, with Representative Arthur Handy (Democrat, District 18, Cranston) who formerly chaired the House Environmental Committee and has expedited some landmark environmental legislation through the House over the years.

Also, the first meeting of House Judiciary felt very different without the acumen of Representative Jason Knight (Democrat, District 67, Barrington, Warren) asking the interesting and probing questions.

1b. Solemnization of Marriage

As has been happening since Marriage Equality was passed in 2013, the General Assembly splits Solemnization of Marriage bills into two piles before passing them. One pile contains (presumably) heterosexual marriages, the other contains (presumably) non-heterosexual marriages.

This is done so that anti-LGBTQ bigots in the General Assembly can vote against or abstain from voting on gay marriages. This happens in the House as well, but was on full display during Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Wearing a stony face, Senator Frank Lombardi (Democrat, District 26, Cranston) a conservative Catholic theocrat who has long opposed LGBTQ rights, abstained from voting on the (presumably) lesbian marriage of Christy and Amber.

What’s most galling is that this act is done, as it must be, in full view of the public, but it is not explained. The bills are passed in a flurry of legislative jargon that makes it all feel very banal, what Hannah Arendt might have called the banality of bigotry.

The General Assembly does this to satisfy the needs of petty tyrants like Lombardi in the Senate, and Representative Arthur Corvese (Democrat, District 55, North Providence) in the House.

1c. Tanzi v Mattiello

Teresa Tanzi

Last week Speaker Mattiello denied Representative Tanzi the opportunity to have the reason for her absences recorded in the House Journal. Tanzi’s excuse was that she was traveling to celebrate her in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. Under questioning from The Public’s Radio‘s reporter Ian Donnis, Mattiello and House Spokesperson Larry Berman said that, “if Representatives miss session due to activity related to the legislature, the reason is specified, but not if the absence is due to a personal or family-based reason.”

Turns out that this was not true.

This week, Tanzi rose on the House floor to make a point of personal privilege. She read off a long list of excuses used by legislators that were recorded in the House Journal that had nothing to do with “activity related to the legislature.”

Mattiello reacted angrily. He blamed it all on Berman being inconsistent. He was so flabbergasted he couldn’t speak straight, saying at one point, “Okay Representative, I’m, all right, thank you.”

Ultimately Mattiello shut off Tanzi’s microphone and pronounced new policy from the dais, policy that was quickly agreed to by the nodding heads of his sycophantic supporters in the House.

It was all very democratic.

1d. Actual legislation, maybe?

With all this going down, one wonders if the General Assembly ever gets around to, I don’t know, working on actual legislation?

Turns out they do, sort of.

The Rhode Island State Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee took up bills to financially help federal workers who have been furloughed or who have been working without pay due to the Trump shutdown.

The House Judiciary Committee met for the first time under the faux leadership of Representative Robert Craven (Democrat, District 32, North Kingstown), who will only act on bills in the manner he is directed to by Speaker Mattiello, like a puppet or a sad robot.

The Judiciary Committee heard some interesting bills. Perhaps the most important one was House Bill 5075, introduced by Representative Shelby Maldonado (Democrat, District 56, Central Falls that “requires the sealing of any district court file, where a resolution of a trespass and eviction complaint results in a verdict for the tenant and no appeal is taken.”

There was compelling testimony from people who live in apartments owned by slumlords who, when tenants exercise their rights to demand that their apartment be repaired and brought up to code, evict and blacklist them. Sealing the records of those tenants who prevail against these slumlords could prevent people from being blacklisted.

Of course, the bill was held for further study, a legislative move that means the bill will not be voted on during the committee hearing, but will vanish within the backrooms of the State House until blessed by the Speaker.

1e. Committee attendance

Here’s a little something I noticed this week: It appears that close allies of Speaker Mattiello skip committee meetings more than other legislators. During Thursday’s House Municipal Government hearing, Representatives Mia Ackerman (Democrat, District 45, Lincoln) and Charlene Lima (Democrat, District 14, Cranston) were no-shows. During Wednesday’s House Judiciary hearing, Representatives John Edwards (Democrat, District 70, Tiverton) and Dennis Canario (Democrat, District 71, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton) were absent.

Maybe those closest to Mattiello know just how unimportant and performative these committee meetings are?

Neither House Judiciary or House Municipal Government met in a room with television cameras, so those watching at home had nothing to watch, and no reason to believe that their elected representatives were not actually representing them.

1f. Respecting the Public

Don’t get me started on how late the House Judiciary meeting was to start. The meeting scheduled to start at the “Rise of the House” which should have been shortly after 4:30pm, but didn’t start until 6pm. People waited 90 minutes for the meeting to start, never mind the time spent waiting for the committee to get around to the bills the public was waiting to testify on.

When Committee chairs bring up bills for discussion, the public interest is the furthest thing from their mind. Instead, they prioritize their fellow legislators. Especially if they are friendly with those legislators. Since legislators usually introduce their bills to the committee, and presumably need to get out of the room for fundraisers or whatever, the chair calls them first.

An added benefit is that some members of the public get so frustrated they leave, some never to return. This means less of that public input and opinion that so annoys the General Assembly.

1f. Privacy Commission overrun with Lobbyists

The Rhode Island Online Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Commission met on Tuesday. The 11-member commission will “study and make recommendations on legislation and/or regulations for protecting individuals from disclosures of information, and will report back to the House no later than Feb. 5, 2019.”

The Commission is chaired by Representative Evan Shanley (Democrat, District 24, Warwick). The Tuesday meeting was organizational in nature, and the agenda said specifically that no public comment would be heard. This, said Shanley at the meeting, was a mistake and public testimony would be heard. Too bad members of the public, who might have wanted to testify at the meeting, stayed home because of the official notice.

Meetings such as this, held at 3pm on a weekday afternoon , un-televised and improperly noticed are not really for the public though. Meetings like this are for special interests and lobbyists. The room was chock full of business lobbyists, and the commission itself is overstuffed with them.

The only cameras in the room were mine.

The Rhode Island Online Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Commission

The enabling legislation requires that the 11-member commission be assigned five Representatives chosen by Speaker Mattiello, a member of the Attorney General’s office chosen by the AG, and five other people, also chosen by the Speaker.

Each of the five remaining members must satisfy the following criteria:

  1. a representative of an Internet service provider
  2. a representative from a commercial website operator
  3. a member of a trade association or designee whose membership includes companies from the information technology, e-commerce, the sharing and gig economies, advanced energy, cybersecurity, venture capital and finance
  4. a representative of a data transparency and privacy advocacy organization
  5. a member of the general public

Who did the Speaker choose to fill these roles? [Note that the people below have a number that corresponds to the criteria above.]

  1. Michelle Cinquegrano, representing internet provider Verizon
  2. Christina Fisher, a representative of TechNet, a web service for IT professionals
  3. Tom Wilkerson, representing the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association
  4. Dr Cedric Priebe of Lifespan
  5. John Simmons from the conservative Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC)

John Simmons is a member of the general public, but only in the basic way that anyone is a member of the general public. But Simmons also leads RIPEC, a powerful, conservative and business focused lobbying force at the State House. Sitting nearby Simmons was lobbyist Elizabeth Seuver, who Simmons works with. Simmons can always be counted on to lead the charge against raising the minimum wage, or arguing against the fair pay bill that Mattiello killed last year, or any number of other anti-worker, pro-business initiatives.

Simmon’s sole contribution to Tuesday’s meeting was to caution against implementing policies that may hurt Rhode Island’s business competitiveness. That’s not the kind of thing a member of the general public is prone to say as much as a member of a conservative pro-business group like RIPEC.

And while we’re at it, Lifespan is not “data transparency and privacy advocacy organization.” When I asked what data transparency and privacy advocacy organization Dr Priebus was representing, Representative Shanley did not answer.

He did write, “Perhaps you noted that the meeting room has been filled with lobbyists –obviously they have been hired by the various companies potentially affected by any potential legislation. Rest assured that any potential legislation will not be subject to industry approval. Rather, I am hoping to collaborate where possible and exhaust any reasonable opportunities to compromise.”

I tweeted this from the meeting:

The person on the phone was Tom Wilkerson, ostensibly representing the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association, but speaking on the phone about the concerns of less reputable businesses he doesn’t represent who may be hurt by the legislation developed by the Commission.

As I noted earlier, the tiny meeting room was chock full of lobbyists and business interests. The only member of the general public in the room was Randall Rose, who represents an actual data transparency and privacy advocacy organization, Rhode Island Rights. He was there to advocate for the people, the only one there for that reason.

As for the elected State Representatives assigned to the Commission, a group that includes Representatives Evan Shanley (Democrat, District 24, Warwick), Alex Marszalkowski (Democrat, District 52, Cumberland), John Edwards (Democrat, District 70, Tiverton), Jean Philippe Barros (Democrat, District 59, Pawtucket) and Michael Chippendale (Republican, District 40, Coventry, Foster Glocester), Chippendale was a no-show and Marszalkowski stayed long enough for attendance to be taken and then booked it out of there.

Attorney General Peter Nerhona‘s designee at the meeting was Ryan Holt, a recent addition to the AG’s office. Holt, a former lobbyist, unsuccessfully ran for Providence City Council, Ward 2 last year.

A few of the lobbyists at the commission meeting, not one wearing their lobbying badge

2a. Reproductive Health Care Act

Hundreds of people crowded the Rhode Island State House rotunda to celebrate the introduction of the Reproductive Health Care Act (RHCA), legislation that would codify the federal protections of of Roe v Wade into state law and protect access to reproductive health services, including abortion. The event, organized by the Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Freedom (RICRF) also served as a call to pass this act in the General Assembly, which has declined to pass the bill for over two decades. Governor Gina Raimondo supports the bill.

There were a number of stand out speeches delivered, but I’m going to highlight two here:

“Reproductive Justice was founded by black and POC folk because there is no choice without access and there is no access without resources,” said Tiara Mack, an educator and boardmember of the Women’s Health and Education Fund. “Passing the Reproductive Health Care Act will preserve the right to safe, legal abortion, but it is just the first step towards reproductive justice.”

“You might be able to see why the Reproductive Health Care Act is important to me,” said Audrey O’Donnell, a junior at MET High School. “Particularly as a young person who’s going to be affected if this bill is passed…”

2b. Reproductive Privacy Act

The RHCA has a bad cousin, the Reproductive Privacy Act (RPA) which doesn’t cut it for reproductive rights advocates. Introduced by Representative Anastasia Williams (Democrat, District 9, Providence), the bill, “does not achieve the goals of the RHCA to preserve and protect the current state of access to care in Rhode Island,” said Amanda Skinner, PPV!RI PAC member and CEO of Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island. “We are calling on our endorsed candidates to withdraw their support of the Reproductive Privacy Act unless it is amended to resolve its deep flaws.”

Planned Parenthood writes, “Neither Planned Parenthood nor any of our partners in the Coalition were consulted in the drafting of the RPA and only learned of the legislation after it was formally introduced on Tuesday. We are deeply disappointed that this flawed bill was created and introduced without the participation of the many organizations that have worked to protect safe, legal abortion in Rhode Island.”

2c. June Speakman

The Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island Political Action Committee (PPV!RI PAC) has announced its endorsement of June Speakman for State Representative, District 68, Bristol and Warren.

“June Speakman is the best choice for District 68,” said Craig O’Connor, Chair of PPV!RI PAC. “June is committed to passing the Reproductive Health Care Act of 2019 and protecting the reproductive freedom of Rhode Islanders, including access to safe, legal abortion, from the attacks by President Trump and his allies in Congress.”

2d. Pie-Corner Talks

Jennifer Rourke, former Democratic candidate for Rhode Island State Senator (District 29, Warwick) is hosting a new podcast with The Womxn Project “that will break down the mystery of what happens at the State House through the lens of reproductive freedom. She will host perspectives from guests across the state about issues that matter to them and how they intersect with reproductive freedom.”

The podcast, Pie-Corner Talks, just released its first episode entitled “Cherry Popped” and is co-hosted by former State Senator Jeanine Calkin (Democrat, District 30, Warwick). This episode explains “what this podcast is all about, and what you should expect from us on a weekly basis.”

2e. Turn Off 10

Turn Off 10, a campaign coordinated by the Rhode Island ReSisters, protested outside Warwick Mall on Saturday afternoon, to call attention to Sinclair Broadcast Group‘s continued ownership of local television station Channel 10/WJAR and the right-wing slant to their news that is mandated by the corporation.

Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company. The company is the largest television station operator in the United States by number of stations and total coverage. Since taking ownership of WJAR, Sinclair Media Group has mandated that WJAR include two minutes of right-wing or pro-Trump propaganda in local news broadcasts nine times a week.

This protest is somewhat different from those conducted by Turn Off 10 in the past. Scheduled on the second anniversary of the March Against Trump, the protest expanded to address more than just the issue of Sinclair, with signs signalling support for environmental and immigration concerns.

2f. Women’s March

Despite controversy and division, over 175 people gathered on the windy and cold south steps of the Rhode Island State House for a Women’s March Rally.

3a. Invenergy

The unrelenting hellscape that is the Invenergy permitting process continues, and has been extended. Hearings were to end in mid-Febraury, now they are extending into March. Invenergy is the Chicago-based company that wants to construct a $1 billion fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant amid the pristine forests of northwest Rhode Island.

Hearings will resume on January 30, with re-direct and re-cross of Burrillville’s witness on need, Glenn Walker. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF)’s expert on biodiversity, Scott Comings, switched from January 30 to January 31. Four additional hearing dates have added to the schedule: March 12, 13, 20, and 21. Invenergy’s project manager, John Niland, originally scheduled to be cross-examined on February 7 will probably, but not definitely, appear on March 20 or 21.

At issue for the last two weeks has been the question of whether or not the proposed power plant is needed to keep the lights on in New England.

For the first time, we are seeing signs that Invenergy’s case is cracking and that Invenergy knows this.

“We saw something new at the EFSB when Mr Blazer was cross-examining Mr Fagan,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “I believe that Invenergy now believes (possibly for the first time) that the EFSB may deny the permit application, and that Invenergy is preparing for a possible appeal. Yesterday, when Mr Blazer was cross-examining Mr Fagan, several times I just said ‘Objection’ (with no reason stated, because the reason for the objection was so blindingly obvious) and Chairperson Margaret Curran immediately said, ‘Sustained’ before I was even finished (because the reason for the objection was so blindingly obvious) – but Mr Blazer insisted that the grounds for the objection be stated for the record. This suggests that Invenergy anticipates that it could lose the case; that it plans to appeal an adverse decision; and is carefully making a record in the EFSB of errors that could form the basis of an appeal. That is why Mr Blazer asked that the exact reason for the objection be stated for the record – to make a record for a possible appeal.”

Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) appeals go to the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Elmer adds, “the legal standard that the Supreme Court applies in reviewing appeals from the EFSB is very, very deferential to the EFSB. For that reason, it is very difficult to get an EFSB decision reversed on appeal. (N.B.: This fact would also apply to opponents in the event that the EFSB grants a permit to Invenergy.) Thus, if the EFSB denies a permit to Invenergy, I am fairly optimistic that Invenergy would not be able to get the denial reversed in the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Nevertheless, it is revealing that Invenergy may, for the first time, sense that it could lose the case.

3b. $26 Million

Invenergy has already generated $26 million in the New England energy markets, without having a power plant, without beginning construction on a power plant, and without producing so much as a watt of energy.

How is this possible? Burrillville’s expert witness Glenn Walker explains in the videos below:

3c. Skiing Weather

At the EFSB hearings on Thursday, during the heavy rains, I overheard two of Invenergy’s lawyers complaining about the effect the rain was having on skiing conditions in New England.

Irony is fighting to build a fossil fuel power plant and complaining about the effects of climate change.

3d. Recipes v Invenergy

Opponents of Invenergy’s proposed power plant are selling a cookbook to raise the funds needed to fight it.

“Its hard to imagine that selling a cookbook could ever help stop a multi-national, multi-billion dollar fossil fuel power plant company. But it just might,” says Stephanie Sloman creator of the No New Power Plant (NNPP)’s Northern Rhode Island Red Barn Common Sense Cookbook. With over 273 recipes, submitted from 20 communities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, the No New Power Plant group hopes the message of “common sense” permeates the culture right down to the dinner table.

The cookbooks are being offered for a donation of $25 each and available at East Coast Artisans, 78 North Main Street, Pascoag, Rhode Island or have one mailed for an additional $4. Call (401) 568-0357 for more information.

3e. National Grid

Thousands of people are still without gas or heat in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth. Governor Gina Raimondo declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard. National Grid may still be a week away from getting people back into their homes.

The disaster may have far-reaching consequences for Rhode Island’s energy future.

In the video below, EFSB boardmember Janet Coit asks Burrillville’s expert witness, Glenn Walker, about the issue.

4a. Health Care in Rhode Island

Dr. J Mark Ryan writes,

“Over the past 5 years, in order to balance the budget, Governor Raimondo has cut state funding for Rhode Island Medicaid twice, putting even greater financial burdens on families and upon the state’s nursing homes, 60 percent of whose income comes from Medicaid. The governor says the number of uninsured has fallen 50 percent, but most economic analyses show the rate of underinsurance, defined as the number of families who pay greater than 10 percent of their income for health care, has actually risen.

“The system we have is financially unsustainable, unstable and crashing…”

4b. ConvergenceRI

Richard Asinof on the new Neighborhood Health Station built by Blackstone Valley Community Health Care on Broad Street in Central Falls.

“The new Neighborhood Health Station will be the first of its kind in an urban setting in the nation, providing primary care and urgent care to about 75 percent of the nearly 20,000 residents of Central Falls, integrating dental care, behavioral health care, physical and occupational therapy and a pharmacy, all at one site, in walking distance for most Central Falls residents…”

Continue reading

5. David Cicilline

United States Representative David Cicilline (Democrat, Rhode Island) held a “community conversation” with constituents at Hope High School in Providence on Saturday morning. The two main topics Cicilline wanted to cover were the government shutdown and HR 1, the For the People Act of 2019.

“It is my view that it is never appropriate to shut the government down over a policy disagreement,” said Cicilline. “It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world.” Cicilline plans to sponsor legislation to allow the government to stay funded at the same level as the previous month in the event of future shutdowns. This will remove “this stick that is being used by the President to get a policy that he agrees with.”

David Cicilline

6. The Bartholomewtown Podcast

6. ACLU of Rhode Island

Providence Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune (Ward 3) emcees a rally for Reproductive Health Care Act at the Rhode Island State House

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