doc corvese – RI Future

gordon fox george nee — George Nee and Gordon Fox get reacquainted with each other on election night. (Photo by Bob Plain)

There’s an interesting – and small – mix of conservatives, moderates and populists who seemingly aren’t supporting Gordon Fox’s effort to be re-elected speaker of the House. His detractors from the left – Reps Scott Guthrie of Coventry and Spencer Dickinson of South Kingstown – have a disdain for pension cuts in common.

Guthrie may seem like the smartest progressive at the State House if and when the pension reform lawsuit gets decided. The retired Coventry fire fighter has long contended that Rhode Island was breaking a contract with its employees by changing the deal. As for Dickinson, I like him a ton, but I won’t be calling him a progressive until he can better support civil liberties. Unlike Guthrie, Dickinson doesn’t support marriage equality.

There’s a similarly diverse coalition that nominated Fox, reports Ted Nesi. Rep. Edith Ajello is the most influential progressive legislator in the House and Rep. Doc Corvese is the single biggest detractor of the liberal agenda in the chamber. Lady MacBeth, what some progressives jokingly call the religiously anti-abortion Rep. from Cumberland, also seconded Fox’s bid.

By the way Scott MacKay chastised the ProJo for buying into the hype that Fox’s reelection as speaker was in any doubt. Sometimes in journalism it’s hard to separate a good narrative from actual real life events and consequences; doesn’t mean both aren’t newsworthy.

Rhode Island has the fourth most student loan debt in the nation … so let’s all focus on how our corporate tax rate is causing our economy to sputter…

Jack Reed is right: Liz Warren should be on the banking committee. There was an excellent quote by MIT prof Simon Johnson in an excellent piece in Sunday’s New York Times about the optics of not doing so for Democrats: ““Not putting her on banking would make the Democratic Party look like a creature of Wall Street, which, by the way, it is. But they don’t like to be too explicit about it.”

Here’s how Patch not-so-subtly shills for Walmart in a story posted to most sites in RI (emphasis mine): “Shoppers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will have to wait until after Thanksgiving to take advantage of Black Friday sales at retail giant Walmart.” (Or you can !)

Speaking of Patch, the company reports it cut costs by 30 percent in an effort to become profitable. Local editors have seem their freelance budgets literally disappear and some are being asked to take on second sites, like Joe Hutnak who now oversees both Johnston and Smithfield Patch. No wonder they gush about Walmart … they share the same business model!

Puerto Rico is moving closer to becoming our 51st state, says the ProJo editorial page. I’m sure the GOP would prefer the Bahamas or Bermuda…

Twin River is hiring! Reason enough to be glad that full casino gambling is coming to the Ocean State … though I wish Newport was getting table games too. The City-by-theSea could have had one of the classiest and coolest destination resort-style casinos in the country. Twin River, on the hand, might be able to compete with the other regional gambling parlors that will soon be sprouting up all over New England…

Speaking of Newport …. did you hear that Carolyn Rafaelian, Alex and Ani designer, owner and founder, bought Belcourt Castle. On one hand, it’s pretty cool that Rhode Island’s most successful businesswoman will own one of the state’s most well-known mansions. On the other hand, old Newport miss the Tinney family, who were kind like the Adams Family of Aquidneck Island! Trivia: Rafaelian won’t be the first jewelry designer to call Belcourt home!! In the late-1980’s it served as a sort of haunt (pun intended) for local artists…

On this day in 1974, Karen Silkwood dies in a mysterious one-car accident on her way to meet with a New York Times reporter and a union organizer about the nuclear plant where she worked and was poisoned with plutonium.

ferri_payday — Rep. Frank Ferri testifies next to Rep. Doc Corvese.

The controversial Corvese amendment to the recently enacted civil union law, which legislators will reconsider today, is seen as an affront to the very rights the new law bestows on same sex couples – it allows religious institutions to not recognize the relationship or otherwise adhere to the law. But for Rep. Frank Ferri, a gay legislator in a long-time committed relationship who is sponsoring the bill that would repeal the amendment, it is also a practical matter.

“It affects me personally,” he said, noting that Our Lady of Fatima, a Catholic-backed hospital in Providence, is the closest to his job in Johnston. “If I get rushed to the hospital … they can refuse to acknowledge my husband or my civil union partner and not let him make any decisions for my health care. They can refuse to even let him in the room.

Pointing out that the civil union law has religious exemptions in it without the controversial codicil that was added at the eleventh hour last session, he said, “The Corvese amendment extends religious exemptions to a point that is unfair to the LGBT community and people who are in civil unions. It actually takes away rights, that’s what I find so egregious about it.”

Author of the language, Rep. Doc Corvese, a very conservative Democrat from North Providence, defended his amendment, saying a Catholic hospital probably would extend the same courtesy to a same sex couple that by right it would legally obliged to for a heterosexual couple.

“Just because we have the right to say or do something doesn’t mean we should,” he said. “With regard to a Catholic hospital I doubt very much they would prevent an individual in a relationship from discussing medical questions.”

He didn’t answer when I asked him what he would do if he were the hospital administrator. But he did when I asked if the Corvese amendment, or the man himself, were anti-gay. “Just because there are people who support traditional marriage doesn’t mean they are homophobic,” he said. “That’s just more liberal pablum forced on us by the media.”

The bill to repeal the Corvese amendment is one of three pieces of marriage equality legislation being heard by the House Judiciary Committee after the regular House session. Rep. Art Handy, a progressive Democrat from Cranston, is sponsoring a bill that would legalize gay marriage in Rhode Island. And Rep. Larry Valencia, a progressive Democrat from Charlestown, has a bill that would allow same sex couples to get a divorce in Rhode Island. (Would it say something about our state if gay couples could get divorced but not married?)

None of the bills are expected to pass. Marriage Equality Rhode Island supports all three. According to Ray Sullivan, of MERI:

It’s sad that in 2012 these hearings are even necessary, but unfortunately Rhode Island is still a place where all citizens are not treated equally.

The 2012 Equality Agenda is about eliminating across the board discrimination against LGBTQ Rhode Islanders in loving, committed relationships who are seeking nothing more than equal rights, protection and recognition under the law.

With momentum growing across the country and a strong majority of Rhode Islander standing with us, we won’t stop fighting and organizing until the governor signs marriage equality into law.

Members of the General Assembly who continue to support intolerance or stand in the way of progress should be advised that they do so at their own electoral detriment.

Tag: doc corvese

Progress Report: For, and Against, Fox; Patch on Walmart; Warren for Banking; Belcourt Castle and Karen Silkwood

Corvese Amendment Denies Rep. Ferri Equal Rights