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House Speaker Gordon Fox says he will push for marriage equality in the next legislative session, according to Ted Nesi of WPRI.
“It’s one of those issues that I need to come back, we need to address, and I intend if I’m elected speaker to address it early,” Fox said during a taping of Newsmakers today.
Fox, who is gay, enraged the progressive community when he didn’t allow same sex marriage to come to a vote on the House floor in 2011. He has said it was a very difficult decision given his personal stake in the matter. Insiders say Fox didn’t call the vote because he knew it wouldn’t pass in the Senate, and many House members didn’t want to be put on record if the bill wasn’t going to pass.
Regardless, with his announcement today, he seems to have mended some of the fences he broke with the progressive community.
“We appreciate Speaker Fox’s commitment to finally calling a vote on marriage equality and look forward to working with him to pass this important civil rights legislation early in the next session,” said Ray Sullivan of Marriage Equality of Rhode Island. “Under Speaker Fox and Gov. Chafee’s leadership, all eyes will turn to the Senate, where there is a wide coalition working to ensure that a pro-equality majority is elected.”
Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed does not support marriage equality for Rhode Island, and there is substantial resistance to the idea outside of her in the Senate. Here’s the story we wrote about marriage equality in the Senate in early June.
And here’s my video from 2011 of Fox talking about why he didn’t push for marriage equality:
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Lt. Gov Elizabeth Roberts, who has taken the lead in implementing health care reform in Rhode Island, Christine Ferguson, who runs the new health care exchange in Rhode Island and Steve Constantino, the secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services explain how the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act will affect Rhode Island.
Here are some photos from the event … click on them to see a larger version:
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There is a major and potentially very ugly battle brewing in the Ocean State that has nothing to do with tax rates, struggling cities or bankrupt ballplayers: I’m talking about religious symbols on public property, and it’s getting out of control.
The most recent example (which you learned about first from RI Future), a cross that a car wash owner put on a strip of city-owned land that he has long taken care of, is an interesting example: is it a religious symbol, a memorial or an act of protest? The business owner, Peter Montaquila, told WPRO yesterday he put it up to stand in solidarity with the Woonsocket Cross, also a less-than-Constitutionally-clear case.
But issues of legality are relatively easy to sort out … the danger is that the non-legal battle lines are being drawn in the sand – and the situation is getting tense. Montaquila, like the owner of the flower shop who refused to deliver a bouquet to Jessica Ahlquist when she won her case against a religious symbol in Cranston West High School, said he doesn’t want to do business with those who don’t agree with him on this issue. Could we start seeing signs in business windows: “We don’t serve atheists.”
Politicians, like Rep. John McLaughlin of Central Falls, and shock jocks like John DePetro, are fanning the flames with angry rhetoric against those who see a line between church and state. Their colleagues should call them out and implore them to be leaders rather than instigators.
People take both their religion and their Constitution protections very, very seriously and this is the third such nasty fight over the nexus of the two in a year here in Rhode Island. Someone should step and act like a leader before something really ugly happens.
Speaking of John DePetro, he is inviting some interesting karma picking on Gov. Chafee’s 18-year-old son for having a party … the mean-spirited talk show host could find himself in a similar situation someday…
AP reporter Laura Crimaldi obtained the confidential documents that led to this very telling development. Unfortunately for Rhode Island, today is her last day with the Providence bureau as she is moving on to a job with Boston Globe … what a way to go out Laura and best of luck in Beantown!
Speaking of great local reporting … no one covered the local effects and reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act better than Ted Nesi yesterday (check out his blog for a variety of different stories). We pick on Ted often because of the pro-business/pro-establishment bias he sometimes displays, but it’s also well-worth pointing out that he is far and away the most talented journalist covering the Ocean State.
One more note about local reporting … here is Kathy Gregg’s lede from her story yesterday on campaigns for seats in the State House: “How many Rhode Island lawmakers will return to the State House next year without having to face an opponent? The answer is: very few.” And here is the lede on her story today: “One out of five General Assembly incumbents is running unopposed.”
Is 20 percent “very few”? On the contrary, we think it’s a great many. Perhaps the Projo can report this yet another way tomorrow…
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On Wednesday, I filed the papers to become a candidate for State Representative from the Fourth District in Providence, RI. I’m running against House Speaker Gordon Fox.
Today, I’m blogging about it. Welcome to the third turn of the 2012 political race.
This blog will follow my campaign. I’ll be writing about the challenges, triumphs and breakdowns as they happen.
Disclosure: Yes, I’m running for office, so everything I write will probably be self-serving and “designed” to get me elected. Take it all with a grain of salt. (Or sodium substitute.)
Asking For Votes – “Mark Your Ballot for Mark Binder”
The worst part of the job, aside from fundraising (see below), is asking for votes. I have to ask you—and all your friends— to vote for me. It’s the job. If I don’t ask, chances are, you won’t vote for me.
This morning, as I was meditating down by the river in my favorite part of my district, two lovely ladies sat in the chair behind me. When I was done, we chatted for a while, I asked for their votes. Turns out, neither was in my district. Oh well.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, in the last Presidential Election, my opponent received 4,899 votes to the 1,271 of his challenger. I’ll need about 3,500 votes to win. There are roughly 10,000 registered voters in District Four. That’s one out of three.
Mark your calendar, November 6, 2012. Mark your ballot for Mark Binder.
Logistics
To get on the ballot in Rhode Island is a two-part process.
You need to file a “Declaration of Candidacy” in a 3 day period.
On July 3, I have to pick up nomination papers and begin to collect signatures. For the office I’m running (Representative in General Assembly), I need to collect a whopping 50 signatures of registered voters in my district. (When I ran for US House of Representatives it was 500 signatures. US Senator takes 1,000.) These signatures need to be returned to City Hall by the end of business, July 19.
That’s it. Seems easy, doesn’t it. So why am I the only person running against Gordon Fox?
Why am I running?
I watched a TV news interview of Gordon Fox being asked about the 38 Studios disaster. Yes, Mr. Fox was put on the spot. No, he doesn’t know how a video game company run by an ex-ball player blew through millions of dollars in such a short period of time.
But it was my money and your money and his money that was gambled away.
One thing I know is that I never would have voted for the 38 Studios guarantee. I have been working with and around computers my whole life. I have watched the dot-com bubble burst. Plus I’m sick of corporations extracting tax benefits and giving back squat.
Well, how would I boost the RI Economy?
I don’t know. Not yet. Over the next few months, I’m going to be talking with a lot of people, and listening. And thinking.
There are so many issues that become more challenging when you think about actually doing the job.
For instance, a recent article in the Providence Journal challenged that the State of Rhode Island wasn’t promoting tourism enough. Is that government’s job? If “The State” had created an ad campaign that failed, whose fault would it be? And so on.
I’m a liberal-progressive-leaning Chafee-style independent. I reserve the right to change my mind. So…
Since the first political piece I published for RI Future was called, “Why I’m (not) Running for Congress,” I thought I should at least address the “I don’t really want the job” component.
1) One of the more distasteful aspects of politics is the fundraising and the web of IOUs it creates. While I am not swearing off fundraising, I don’t plan on making that my job.
The area of my district is small. I live here. I will be walking the district, door to door, introducing myself, asking questions, answering questions, and listening.
Currently, I am not accepting contributions, but I would like help, support and encouragement.
2) My ego hasn’t changed significantly. It’s big, but I’m neither politically hungry nor ambitious. I would like to serve my country, my state and my community and help change the political climate here in Rhode Island. Perhaps there are better qualified candidates, but I don’t see them stepping up.
Maybe it’s an impossible task — to take the entrenched system, work with in it to fix it, and leave our state in a better place to cope with the 21st Century.
Maybe. But I know it’s not going to happen unless we begin to stop complaining and start rising to the challenges.
More to come.
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