Update: Well, there you have it, Doug Gablinske has been appointed to House Finance and as Chair of the Education Subcommittee, exactly as predicted.

The other 3 appointments are: former Speaker William Murphy, Chris Fierro (YAY!!!), and Mary Ann Shallcross Smith.

What's interesting is that I hearing two different stories about the Chairmanship:

1. I heard from a reliable source tonight that William Murphy was appointed to the House Finance Committee in order to chair the committee when Steven Costantino steps down (giving Costantino more time to run for Mayor of Providence).  My guess is that Costantino will stay through the FY 2010 Supplemental Budget which should be voted on in about 2 weeks.  This doesn't entirely make sense to me because why would Murphy want to step down from the suckiest job in the House (Speaker), to go to the 2nd suckiest job in the House (Finance Chair)?  Although passing a budget is pretty critical...
2. Alternatively, I'm hearing that Ray Gallison might become Chair when Costantino steps down.  This makes more sense to me.

The House Finance Committee is now comprised of the following 16 people:

Joe Almeida
Ken Carter
Steven Costantino
Laurence Ehrhardt
Chris Fierro
Doug Gablinske
Raymond Gallison
Joanne Giannini
Russell Jackson
Helio Melo
William Murphy
Eileen Naughton
William San Bento
John Savage
Mary Ann Shallcross Smith
Agostinho Silva

I hope (and am quite certain) Chris Fierro will use his new position to be a strong advocate for Progressive issues in the committee.

Original Post (March 2, 2010): I’m hearing some alarming news about a specific appointment that the new Speaker of the House Gordon Fox is planning to make.  I’m hearing that Fox will be appointing Doug Gablinske on the House Finance.

For someone who claims to be a Progressive, it is startling to me that he would put someone who is one of the worst conservative DINOs (Democrat in Name Only) in the General Assembly on a committee already stacked with conservative DINOs.

Gablinske voted against reducing mandatory minimums, against probation reform, against the gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination bill, against the national popular vote bill.  He voted for criminalizing prostitution (although most of the General Assembly did), and voted for voter ID for elections.  And more to the point, Gabinske voted against every single flat-tax amendment put forth during last year’s budget fight that would have frozen or eliminated it.

This is not what we need, another conservative Democrat put on a Finance Committee already stacked with economic conservatives.

Also, I’m hearing that Fox is planning on appoint Gablinske to be Chair of the Education Subcommittee.  Doug “teachers are like pigs at the trough” Gablinske as Chair of the Education Subcommittee?!?!  I understand that there will always be conflicts between labor and management and it seems in Rhode Island, those conflicts are more severe than in some (most) other places.  This single piece of legislation, however, sums up Gablinske’s view of education perfectly: 2010 -- H 7091. 

This act would codify and set forth certain management authority of school committees, which authority could not be bargained away through collective bargaining agreements.

Having someone like Gablinske as Chair of the Education Subcommittee will make labor very unhappy specifically because Gablinske, like Gist, is not only unconcerned and dismissive of labor concerns generally, but is downright hostile and antagonistic to labor when it matters most.

I put a call in to Fox’s office and spoke with Larry Berman to confirm all this, but unfortunately he was unable to do so, telling me he “isn’t at liberty to say,” and Speaker Fox “hasn’t finalized his appointments.”  My sources tell me it’s likely this appointment will happen today.

I was originally very optimistic when I heard that Fox was being elevated to Speaker.  But his appointments have been a mixed bag.  Mattiello has Majority Leader was a bad choice, although I can’t criticize Fox since it was Murhpy’s condition.  Art Handy as Chair of the Environment Committee is a great pick and we’ll see some important bills coming from there.  Patrick O’Neill as whip was a good choice.  Granted, there's only so many Progressives in the General Assembly, and being on Finance, honestly sucks.

Gablinske on Finance is the worst yet, and I hope that Fox reconsiders this appointment.