The bill now moves to a full House vote, possibly as early as Thursday.

Rep Marcello was one of two representatives to attend the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues Breakfast Thursday morning where Invenergy‘s director of development John Niland was the guest speaker.

The bill, if it becomes law, will allow voters in Burrillville the ability to check the power of their Town Council, which has the authority to set the rate of taxes to be paid by Invenergy, which has proposed a fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant for that town.

The bill, H8240a, is a modified from the version heard in committee last week. The main change is that the number of EFSB members is to be seven, not nine as originally proposed. The original bill included the chairperson of the Commerce Corporation and the director of the RI League of Cities and Towns as board members. These have been removed.

The original bill scheduled the vote on the tax agreement during the next general election. The new bill allows for special elections, to be paid for at the applicant’s expense. Near the end of the bill a section was added, at the behest of National Grid, that would exempt any transmission line project that was filed with the Energy Facility Siting Board prior to June 1, 2016.

The bill now heads to the House for a full vote by the chamber.

Meanwhile, the fate of the Senate bill, S3037, which has been referred to Senate Judiciary, is unknown. The bill awaits being heard in committee and time is running out in this session to pass the bill. The bill was introduced by Senator Paul Fogarty.

With the exciting news that Kate Brock is moving on from Ocean State Action to take a policy position in Governor Chafee’s administration, I was thinking about who could be the next Director of Ocean State Action.  I say this because Ocean State Action is probably one of the most important, if not the most important, progressive organizations in the state.  Over the years, they have been able to shape the debate in Rhode Island, elect progressive candidates to the General Assembly, and push for more progressive policies that benefit all Rhode Islanders.  Admittedly, they have not been 100% successful, but more often than not their success lies in advocacy, movement building, and adding the progressive perspective to policy debates.

Here are some of my thoughts about who (in alphabetical order).

• Sam Bell – Currently the State Coordinator for the Rhode Island chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America (taking over after I went to grad school), Sam is young and smart and has really jumped into his role at the RIPDA.  He’s also a student at Brown University.
• Kristina Fox – Currently the Organizing Director at Ocean State Action, Kristina is super energetic and has been a workhorse of progressive organizing.  Kristina was an organizer for UNITE HERE! Local 217 and helped win contracts at the Westin Hotel and the Dunkin Donuts Center.  She just recently took over as one of the organizers for Drinking Liberally as well.
• Mark Gray – Currently the “Where’s the Work?” Project Organizer at Ocean State Action, Mark looks into why there is such a dire lack of jobs in the state.  Previously, Mark was with Clean Water Action, handling recruitment and training of community organizers.
• Libby Kimzey – Currently Director of Programs at Capital Good Fund, Libby runs their tax assistance site and develops financial coaching curriculum for low-income Rhode Islanders.  Libby is a tireless advocate and her energy was instrumental in getting Teresa Tanzi elected in 2010.  She also worked with Ocean State Action and Common Cause.
• Zack Mezera – Currently an Organizer at Providence Student Union with Aaron Regunberg, Zach is also a Student at Brown University studying education policy.
• Aaron Regunberg – Currently the Director at Providence Student Union and Organizer for IDEA, Aaron is a great strategist and thinker about education policy.  A case in point, Aaron helped organize the fantastic student-led NECAP testing that brought out about 50 people, and most of them failed it.  This is reshaping the entire conversation about testing in the state.
• Marti Rosenberg – Marti is one of the most revered progressive activists in the state, working on numerous campaigns in the state for as long as I can remember.  She was Executive Director of Ocean State action until she stepped down in 2006 to work for U.S. Action in DC.  Back in RI, she became Director at New Roots.
• Ray Sullivan – Currently the Campaign Director at Marriage Equality RI and RI United for Marriage, and with any hope he’ll be unemployed when the session ends (because we’ll have marriage equality).  Ray has a wealth of experience, having worked as Communications Director for the RI Democrats, RI State Director for Obama for America, and representative of Coventry from 2005 to 2010.

This is not at all a full list, and I’m certain that potential candidates will come out of the woodwork for this important position.  What’s top of mind for me is that I hope the next Director does NOT come at the expense of the good work being done at another organization.  Whoever the next director is, we need to keep building the Progressive movement in the state.

Hull just graduated from Harvard’s prestigious Kennedy School of Government with a Masters Degree in Public Policy focusing on economic development and social and urban policy and he would make an excellent and logical appointment to the state Economic Development Board.

In the wake of the 38 Studios fallout, there are currently as many as five vacancies on the EDC board. Instead of filling all those slots with the same type of local business leaders that typically inhabit the seats at the EDC table, Gov. Chafee should consider naming at least one person – and probably more – who understands economic development from a systematic perspective.

“The structure of the RIEDC lacks a presence of a theoretical understanding of economic development planning and that’s something I could bring to the table,” Hull told me, when I told him about my idea for this post the other day. “Rather than looking for the next best ‘deal’ which is how things are currently done, RIEDC really needs to focus on the larger picture of the state’s economy in relation to the region, play on its assets and strengths, and think about a long-term growth strategy that targets resources in focused way.”

Hull, who lives in Providence with his wife and plans to stay in the home they own, tried to get a job in economic development in Rhode Island. Instead, he landed a job as a senior policy analyst with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a Boston-based “nonprofit research and strategy organization and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and the businesses that thrive there.”

While he’ll be working with cities all across the country, he’s also looking for a way to stay involved with economic development here in Rhode Island, too.

I asked Hull what kind of experience he has successfully implementing economic development plans, and he sent me this list:

Rethinking Workforce Development for Providence’s Labor Force: A skills gap analysis for Providence’s labor force, review of the workforce development system servicing Providence residents, and a comprehensive actionable list of recommendations and implementation procedures to modify the current training system in order to improve service delivery, achieve better employment outcomes for Providence residents, and better engage low-income and low-literacy populations in job training programs to facilitate their employment.

City of Worcester Economic Development Plan: Formulate an economic development plan for the City of Worcester by undertaking four-part strategic assessment of the local economy to understand its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for leveraging additional economic development through a baseline analysis, development agenda, strategic focus on key areas, and detailed research and analysis.  The report (1) identifies key economic development opportunities and challenges in Worcester, (2) offers a strategy of proactive change to overcome those challenges and capitalize on opportunities, and (3) provides first steps to prioritize, target, and implement the strategy. The strategy synthesizes a variety of economic development approaches, and is rooted in Worcester’s context – inherent assets, established partnerships, existing business support capacity, and common goals for the City’s future.

City of Miami Transportation and Logistics Business Cluster Analysis: This report analyzes on the competitiveness of Miami’s transportation and logistics cluster, with a focus on marine transportation, by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Port of Miami in relation to other ports in the state, in the country, and in the world.  It also recommends specific changes to ensure that the Port of Miami retains and grows its current market share in the transportation of high-value added goods and the global cruise industry.

New Orleans Broad Street Four Corners: This report proposes a strategic partnership in New Orleans, LA between Broad Community Connections, a nonprofit that focuses on revitalizing a section of the Broad Street corridor, and the Crescent City Community Land Trust, a new land trust in New Orleans that will focus on commercial and residential redevelopment. As part of the analysis, we examined current models of community land trusts in the United States that have experience with commercial properties.

Typically, people are appointed to the Economic Development Corporation’s board because they have been successful in business. Hull has been successful in economic development. The two are not the same thing. We ought to have people who have succeeded in business on that board, but we ought to also have people who have succeeded in economic development.

Hull has done both, having also run a successful photography shop, more akin to the kind of businesses that are the back bone of the Ocean State, for 15 years before going to Harvard.

If you agree that Hull should be appointed to the EDC board, tweet this article to @LincolnChafee or send the governor’s office an email: governor@governor.ri.gov.

Fresh off a redesign of our site, Rhode Island’s Future has a new owner/editor now, too. It’s me!

Some of you may know me from my stint as the digital reporter/blogger for WPRO. I know it isn’t the most common career path to go from a right-leaning radio station to leftist-trumpeting website, so allow me to explain how I’ve come to this crossroads.

First off, I should say that I’ve always been a political progressive in my personal life and I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to preach what I practice.

That’s not to say it’s an easy transition. I place a very high value on objective journalism, and think it’s the most important ingredient in a balanced diet of news and information.

But in supposedly liberal Rhode Island, the marketplace of ideas has a noticeable conservative bent. From talk radio, to TV, to the internet, to the editorial pages of the Providence Journal, the local media offers almost no progressive analysis or commentary.

While conservative thought dominates the discussion, on the other side of the spectrum there is pretty much just RIFuture.

Since 2005, this site has been covering Rhode Island from the left’s perspective. Brian Hull, from whom I inherit this institution, has done yeoman’s work for the site since taking the helm in 2009. But as a grad student at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, it’s easy to understand why he would want to focus primarily on his studies.

I approached Brian shortly after being laid off from WPRO and offered to help him reinvigorate RIFuture. Instead, he offered to hand me the ball and let me run with it. Brian took over from Pat Crowley in 2009 and Crowley succeeded founder Matt Jerzyk in 2008.

The site will maintain the same core mission it’s had since its inception: serving up news, commentary and community for and about the progressive community. I’ll add some additional deadline posts, long-form journalism and beat reporting, as well as some thoughtful opinion pieces. The plan is to publish a product that is useful for all of Rhode Island.

Monetizing the site is important, too, so that the hard-working contributors can be compensated for their efforts. We’ll need the progressive community, and hopefully others, to step up and support us by advertising or donating (or both!) if we want to guarantee Rhode Island continues to have a voice for the left.

While I don’t have an exact business plan yet, I already know this much: There’s a niche for us here in our still-somewhat-liberal and still-somewhat-working class state. And, we’ve got a great group of committed people willing to help keep Rhode Island’s Future going strong. I’m proud to be one of them.

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(The following has been written by Brian Hull): Yes everyone, all of the above is true.  Bob Plain is the new owner and editor of the Rhode Island’s Future blog as of last week.  For all of 2011, the site was largely on auto-pilot since I was unable to commit any time for management or writing due to my studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School (ask me about the amazing economic development proposals I’ve worked on to grow jobs in Haiti, New Orleans, Worcester, and Miami – and let me know if you need a policy person).

Each time I tried to create a group to help with the blog, that effort ended in failure.  My frustration with the blog and the lack of support from the progressive community was evident when it devolved to nothing more than a screaming match between hardcore partisans each ridiculing each other.  I decided to pull the plug and killed the blog at the end of last year, and for several weeks it just didn’t exist.  Then something strange occurred.  With the absence of the blog, supporters came out of the woodwork asking what they can do to help get it back up.  After many lengthy conversations with a great many people and commitments for assistance, I decided to resurrect the blog with a fresh new look, and with all new content.

But I still knew that I couldn’t be at the helm.  While I had a blast writing when it was my full-time gig in 2009 and most of 2010, I felt the blog needed to be entrusted to someone who has the time and dedication to pump it back to life.  That someone is Bob Plain.  And after several conversations with him, I handed over the reins.

I look forward to the newest iteration of the blog, and to see where Bob takes it.  I will largely be a lurker, only occasionally posting comments or articles.  And in parting I offer these words of advice for Bob and the larger progressive community.  The Rhode Island’s Future blog needs to once again be the strong liberal / progressive voice for the state of Rhode Island.  In its absence, the political narrative that has permeated the state has fluctuated between centrism and varying degrees of conservative talking points.  The mythology of Rhode Island as a liberal bastion needs to be disproven by truly progressive and forward-thinking advocacy embodied in the posts of RI Future. Without a strong progressive counterbalance to this pull to the right, the policy choices on display at the General Assembly and in City Halls throughout the state will be narrowed to a small pool of false and foolish tradeoffs that merely prolong Rhode Island’s economic malaise.