January 9, 2013 – RI Future

January 9, 2013January 10, 2013

Tom Sgouros To Talk Public Banking

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Public banking is something every good progressive should know about. To that end, I’m going to listen in on a conference call being led by esteemed RI Future contributor and local progressive economic expert Tom Sgouros.

It’s the first of a two-part, over the phone lesson “for anyone who wishes to learn the basics about banking in order to become better advocates of public banking.”

Thursdays call will deal with bank accounting and operations, while the call next week’s will be more about the nuts and bolts of actually starting a community-owned bank.

You can register for the call here.

January 9, 2013January 10, 2013

Help Pass Tax Fairness For Rhode Island Tonight

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rite rally — Sen. Josh Miller and Rep. Maria Cimini, sponsors of a bill that would raise taxes on the richest 2 percent of Rhode Islanders.

Tonight’s your chance to help bring tax fairness to Rhode Island. Ocean State Action is holding a phone bank party its headquarters at 99 Bald Hill Rd. in Cranston from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

“We’ll be mobilizing Rhode Islanders from Woonsocket to Westerly to contact their elected officials in support of tax fairness,” said Kristina Fox, who is leading OSA’s tax equity campaign. “Every phone call counts, and we need your help to reach as many folks as possible.”

Last session, Ocean State Action lobbied hard for the legislature to pass Rep. Maria Cimini and Senator Josh Miller’s tax equity bill. That legislation would have increased taxes on those who earn more than $250,000 annually but also tying that tax rate to the unemployment rate to encourage job growth.

January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

GoLocal Hires Paul J. Spetrini from Standard Times

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RI Future would like to extend a big giant progressive welcome to Paul J. Spetrini, the new news editor at GoLocalProv.

The Providence native who grew up on Atwells Avenue, comes to the Capital City journalism scene after serving as the editor of the Standard Times, the North Kingstown weekly paper owned by Southern Rhode Island Newspapers.

“I’m really excited about it,” he told me. “I’ve never done the daily grind before. I think it’s going to be a challenge but it’s going to be a fun challenge.”

Spetrini replaces the well-respected Dan McGowan, who is off to become the second digital reporter at WPRI. McGowan launched his journalism career as a blogger for RI Future.

Spetrini was the editor of the Standard Times for two years. Prior to that, he covered sports for Southern Rhode Island newspapers for four years. He went to college at RIC, where he majored in criminal justice and says he stumbled into journalism by accident.

“I went to the wrong meeting,” he said. “I thought I was going to the RIC TV meeting.”

Instead, he was at the school newspaper meeting. So he started covering sports for The Anchor.

Spetrini started for GoLocal on Monday, he said. He is on Twitter at: @PaulSpetrini

January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Photos: ‘Idle No More’ Flash Mob in Providence

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Here are some pictures from the Idle No More flash mob in that took place in Providence yesterday afternoon. Similar flash mobs have occurred across the country and Canada as a sign of solidarity with indigenous peoples’ rights.

January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

William Conley Gets to Lead Marriage Equality Politics

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Teresa Paiva Weed gave new state Senator William Conley the worst job in the legislature. He gets to be the fall guy for marriage equality this session as the x factor on the newly constituted Senate Judiciary Committee.

Five Senators will likely support marriage equality and four won’t. Conley is holding his cards tight for the time being. If he votes against it, it dies as a tie. If he bucks the Senate President, leadership can still intervene and kill the bill in a 6 to 6 tie. This scenario would be politically ugly for Paiva Weed.

But Conley is a former East Providence city councilor, so he’s not stranger to politics. Or voting on same sex marriage politics. In April 2011, the East Providence City Council debated a resolution to endorse marriage equality legislation at the State House, according to East Providence Patch.

Councilwoman Katie Kleyla introduced a resolution supporting the passage of marriage equality legislation by the General Assembly. “This is an issue of fundamental fairness,” she said. But several speakers, including the pastor of First Baptist Church in Rumford, opposed the resolution. “I don’t think you have the right to speak for me or for the people of East Providence on this issue,” one woman said. Kleyla then asked for the resolution to be tabled, which passed 3 to 2.

The post does not indicate which way Conley voted.

Kleyla told the Providence Journal that she thinks Conley will vote against marriage equality.

Conley is a former Townie city solicitor who was elected to the council in 2010. Patch has more on him.

January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Brown May Cost More But Grads Have Less Debt

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All else being equal, if a URI and a Brown grad both apply for the same job, the kid with the Ivy League degree is probably going to get the gig. That Brown diploma ought to be more valuable; at $54,000 a year, Brown costs a lot more than does URI, which runs the average student about $24,000 a year.

But it shouldn’t also be easier for the average Brown grad to pay for the premium! According to the Project on Student Debt, it is.

In 2011, the average Brown grad owed $20,455 for their degree while the average URI grad owed $25,973. At Brown, only 45 percent of 2011 graduates had student loan debt while 73 percent of URI grads did.

The Project on Student Debt Rhode Island ranks Rhode Island as having the fourth highest average student loan debt in the nation at $29,097. RISD didn’t report its data for the study, but here are some of the others:

Salve Regina ……………..$43,237
Roger Williams ………….$38,365
Bryant University ………$37,813
Providence College …….$32,850
Rhode Island College …$21,384

The Brown Daily Herald had an article about this back in November with a great lede: “Despite having the highest tuition in Rhode Island, Brown had the lowest average debt of all reporting colleges in the state for class of 2011 graduates, according to the Project on Student Debt, a report published by the Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit.”