Are you sick of living in an anointed dictatorship?

Every year the General Assembly rolls out some boneheaded decisions that we get to live with. This year “The Most Powerful Politician in the State” lost control of the wheel, declaring that the General Assembly had reached a “point of no return” and had to stay up all night blindly passing bills.

Why our legislators put up with giving up their power, swearing fealty and kissing the ring of anyone is beyond my ken.

Here’s a brief look at some of the foolishness…

$7.8 million in tax breaks for Ocean State Job Lot

The short version: because of the impending and yet unimplemented because there’s an election coming truck toll tax that will put a blight of gantries across our state, we taxpayers just gave Job Lot a whole bunch of money to stay put. This includes a $3.2 million job creation package over 10 years that gives Job Lot $7,500/year per new employee hired. Tat works out to $625/month per employee per job that we’re paying to create jobs. Whoo hoo! Let’s grow the economy. By the way, with a population of about 1 million, that means we’re each paying $7 to Job Lot, whether we shop there or not.

Beach Pass Cost Cuts

Who doesn’t like going to the beach and spending less money? Me—if the money from the beach passes was going to make sure that the beaches were kept pristine and beautiful, and to pay the life guards and crews. Yes, it’s nice to pay only $30 as a resident, but the fact that the law doesn’t take effect immediately means that the DEM had to come up with a whole “Season Pass Credit” refund procedure.

Even worse, we lowered the seasonal beach pass for out of state folk from $120 to $60 and the daily rate for tourists dropped from $28 to $14. Really? You mean that having tourists pay less to go to our awesome beaches is a good thing? Anyone who’d rather save $14 than go to East Matunuck deserves a beach vacation in Connecticut. Are we trying to curry favor with the cheapskate tourists?

$100,000 to Protect Mattiello’s Interests

Yes, $100,000 of our tax dollars are going to fight an ACLU Lawsuit which argues that prisoners at the ACI shouldn’t count as voters in Mattiello’s district, because they can’t vote there. In other words, our Anointed Dictator, who has amassed a huge campaign war chest because he’s such a great guy, actually needs fewer votes to get elected than every other legislator in the state.

Providence to Newport Ferry… Starting… NOW!

All of a sudden it seems that there’s going to be a Providence to Newport Ferry. This year. Starting  July 1 the 45-60 minute trip will cost $10 each way and $20 round trip. This is very, very cool.

What’s a little bit odd, in my opinion, is that we’re taking $500,000 in funding from the US Department of Transportation, passing it through the RI DOT, and paying the Seastreak company to run the service. Are any profits from the service (and its bar) rolling back into to the state coffers? According to the Providence Journal, the state hasn’t set any ridership targets, so we won’t know if it’s successful or not.

In a state that’s trying to promote tourism, having this information out and available when tourists began making plans in say February or even June would have been a nifty idea. The website wasn’t even up last week, but now it says that there’s going to be “Complimentary shuttle bus service between the Providence train station, convention center, downtown, and the Providence to Newport ferry terminal.” Also, the last ferry leaves Providence at 6pm or Newport at 7:15, so nobody’s going to be staying for dinner…

It’s a nice idea, but the last-minute execution could be cooler. Or warmer.

The budget bill contains some money to restore low-cost bus fare for indigent people – a social service that RIPTA cut earlier this year. The RIPTA Riders Alliance declined comment until more information is available. House Speaker Nick Mattiello told RI Future the funding for this program is temporary and said larger changes with RIPTA are afoot.

The proposed budget also includes new money to pay nursing home caregivers and those who works with the developmentally disabled. The investment would help raise wages for underpaid caregivers, many of whom work full time and still live in poverty. SEIU officials hailed the move as a step toward a $15 an hour minimum wage for front line caregivers.

It also preserves Governor Gina Raimondo’s increase to the Earned Income Tax Credit, and increased the investment in housing for the homeless proposed by Raimondo.

“We find it encouraging that the House Finance Committee showed their commitment and concern for Rhode Islanders experiencing housing insecurity by supporting the Governor’s budget proposal for affordable housing production and adding an additional $10 million for urban revitalization and blight remediation for a total $50 million Housing Opportunity Bond,” said Jim Ryczek, executive director of the RI Coalition for the Homeless. “We appreciate that the House Finance Committee ensured that this year’s budget invests in the long-term solutions to addressing homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in our state.”

But the House budget left out a proposed increase to the minimum wage that Raimondo included in her budget proposal. The current minimum wage in Rhode Island is $9.60 and Raimondo’s budget proposal would have raised it to $10.10. While the minimum wage does not have a fiscal effect on the budget, it is customary in Rhode Island to include policy changes in the state budget.

The House budget also nixed Raimondo’s proposal to increase investment in the school construction bond money. Many urban school buildings in Rhode Island are in dire need of repair.

It reduced Raimondo’s proposed fee on medical marijuana plants from $150 to $25. While the House measure exempts low income people from the fee, it still requires a new state tag for each plant – a move opposed by independent growers of medical marijuana.

While medical marijuana patients will pay more, beach goers will pay less under the proposed House budget. According to a news release from the House of Representatives, “Just in time for beach season, the Finance Committee slashed parking fees at state beaches — mostly in half — to better enable Rhode Islanders and visitors to enjoy one of the state’s greatest treasures. The cuts, effective July 1, eliminate hikes made in 2012, and apply to all types of passes: single-day weekend and weekday as well as season passes for residents, nonresidents and senior citizens. (Admission to state beaches themselves is free.)”

Charter school opponents should be even more pleased with the House budget proposal than with Raimondo’s version. According to the news release, “The [finance] committee moderated the governor’s proposal somewhat, allowing districts to reduce payments by either 7 percent of the per-pupil tuition cost or the average difference between per-pupil unique costs of the sending districts and those of the charter schools, whichever is greater. The committee also provided some temporary relief for districts with particularly high concentrations of students attending charter or vocational schools.”

And the House budget seems to make it easier for Rhode Islanders to generate more renewable energy. The proposal “expanded the state’s net metering program to allow “virtual” or off-site net metering by all customers, opening up access to renewable energy generation to more Rhode Islanders. Net metering is a practice that allows those who install renewable energy systems such as solar panels to connect them to the electric grid and receive credit on their bill for any excess energy they generate,” according to the House news release.

But a reader sent this comment: “The budget article 18 expands net metering, but it has a completely silly cap on it (major concession to Grid), and messes up the rates (another major concession). It will serve as a disincentive to net metering, not an incentive. The PUC is in the middle of considering the right net metering rate, and this is sort of like sticking a monkeywrench into their machinery. This is in no way a win, except superficially.”

The House is expected to vote on the budget bill next Wednesday.

“The public and the business community need to have trust in their government,” Speaker Mattiello said in a news release. “I believe giving the Ethics Commission jurisdiction over the General Assembly is a strong step forward for Rhode Island.”

Mattiello’s bill is a weaker version of the rules concerning Ethics Commission review of legislator conflicts of interest and other issues that the state Supreme Court effectively suspended seven years ago. It would suspend the oversight for five months before an election.

The state Supreme Court ruled seven years ago that legislators should not be held liable for actions that don’t violate the law, including conflicts of interest. The court used the “speech-in-debate” clause that had traditionally been used to shield lawmakers from civil suit.

North Kingstown state Senator Jim Sheehan, a Bernie Sanders supporter, has been leading a one-man crusade for ethics reform over the General Assembly this year. He took the somewhat unprecedented action of buying advertising on local media (including this site) to call attention to the matter.

“While far from perfect, the House amendment represents a reasonable compromise on the ethics reform issue,” Sheehan said. “Most critically, it finally closes the ‘legislators loophole,’ after a seven year hiatus, by restoring the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission over the General Assembly. If approved and ratified by voters, I hope this measure will help rebuild the people’s trust in their elected state representatives and senators. In light of recent revelations of scandal at the State House, albeit overdue, this reform could not have come any sooner. After six year of working diligently on ethics reform, I am gratified to see a successful outcome to this issue.”

Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, who joined Mattiello at a news conference yesterday, said, “I hope this is the final piece of the puzzle in terms of restoring confidence and trust in an institution which seeks to serve the people of the state of Rhode Island.”

Other state leaders called it one step in restoring Rhode Islanders’ faith in their government. “This legislation, along with my proposed lobby reform legislation, are historic steps toward restoring Rhode Islanders confidence in their government,” said Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.

Said Governor Gina Raimondo, “Rhode Islanders deserve better – we need to embrace broad and deep reforms. By restoring Ethics Commission oversight, adopting a line-item veto, and re-examining grant programs, we can send a strong signal that we are committed to making Rhode Island a good place to do business.”

John Marion, executive director of Common Cause RI, who has long championed returning Ethics Commission oversight of the General Assembly said he supports the bill with some qualifications.

“Common Cause is supportive of the Speaker’s proposal to restore the full jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission over members of the General Assembly,” he said. “Our support is qualified on our need to examine the proposal further given that it was only made public today. Additionally, we believe that the moratorium on ethics complaints before an election belongs in law, not in the constitution. It has been seven years since a Rhode Island Supreme Court decision created this loophole in ethics oversight. It’s high time the voters be given a chance to close it by amending our constitution this November.”

Legislative leaders changed their minds on addressing legislators’ immunity from oversight by the Ethics Commission after former House Finance Committee Chairman Ray Gallison resigned amid a law enforcement probe last week. It’s unclear why the FBI and state police are investigating Gallison, but media reports since his resignation have shined a light on a non-profit that he works for. It received significant state funding and board members had little idea of the organization’s work and even their roles, which surprised some listed as board members.

“It is unfortunate, but true, that scandals help advance necessary reforms,” Marion told the Providence Journal.

Like having a new sheriff in town, the “Wild West” of unethical behavior diminished when the Ethics Commission began to patrol the halls of government.  While no oversight mechanism is ever perfect, the Ethics Commission proved to be an effective watchdog for elected and appointed public officials over many years.  However, a 2009 Supreme Court ruling involving former Senate President William V. Irons, struck a severe blow to the Ethics Commission’s oversight authority over the General Assembly.  This decision effectively exempted state lawmakers from scrutiny and prosecution by the state Ethics Commission for violations relating to their core legislative acts such as voting, sponsoring bills and introducing legislation.  Currently, any member of the General Assembly may pursue legislation for which he or she has a substantial conflict of interest without fear of being held accountable by the Ethics Commission.  This “legislators’ loophole” must be closed.

Since 2010, every attempt to close this “legislators’ loophole” died in either the Senate or House.  At the start of this session, it appeared that, once again, that the ethics amendment (ethics reform) was, to borrow an expression from former Senate President Irons, “Not going nowhere!”

But, public opinion and individual voices have helped breathe new life into the ethics reform effort this session.

Both Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed deserve credit for agreeing to address this important issue this year.  However, their commitment has not occurred in a political vacuum.  They recognize that the upcoming election appears to be seething with anti-establishment or anti-incumbent sentiment.  Angry voters are seeking positive change from their government.  Failure to place a credible ethics amendment on the November ballot could hurt the re-election chances of members of the Senate and House team.  Moreover, the Speaker and President undoubtedly know that a growing number of their House and Senate members support ethics reform, and wish to see the “legislators’ loophole” closed.  As long as ethics reform remains in the public eye, the imperative to pass an ethics amendment will not dissipate.

Even now, there is no guarantee that the General Assembly will pass a credible ethics amendment and send it to the voters for ratification in the fall.  There remain two formidable pitfalls. First, the House and Senate fail to agree on a specific ethics bill text (language), which would mean the death of ethics reform again this year.  Second, Legislative leaders agree to an identical ethics amendment text that would weaken the Ethics Commission in the process.  For example, if legislative leaders were to propose to eliminate the rule making ability of the Ethics Commission, only the General Assembly would be able to make or amend ethics rules going forward.  Given Rhode Island’s unique history of scandal and corruption, often at the hands of the General Assembly itself, this would be unwise.

Speaker Mattiello and President Paiva-Weed stand at the threshold of passing authentic ethics reform.  In this endeavor, I can only hope that they will lead wisely and serve the greatest good by restoring a measure of public trust in our state government.

Or is it?

The late African freedom fighter Amilcar Cabral once told his troops “tell no lies, claim no easy victories.” There are several reasons that would indicate this is not the end of the PawSox putsch, just a break before a real offensive. Even if the parcels designated as parkland remain as such, that does not mean Larry Lucchino is done, not by a long shot.

First, consider the fact that, following the Dueling Pianos forum on August 25, Lucchino was spotted the next day touring the site of the old Victory Plating factory, now called Victory Place. Throughout the I-195 land forum, members of the audience were almost unanimous in opposing building a stadium on that parcel in particular. But several members of the audience did in fact suggest Victory Place as an alternative they would be open to see developed into a stadium. The crowd at Dueling Pianos that evening was not unanimous in opposition to a state subsidy for a ballpark, they were just opposed to the parcel in question being used for that purpose. There is a big difference there.

Second, Gov. Raimondo told WPRO that the negotiations continue despite the revelations about Brown regarding the land. She said then:

As I’ve said all along, it’s a complex deal, you have to get it right for the taxpayers, we’re working through it but there are definite obstacles and we can’t rush through them.

Coming from someone who said her scheme to bail out Wall Street was ‘pension reform’, that does not sound like any conversations involving Mr. Lucchino have been terminated.

Mattiello was subjected to a lot of constituent pressure following a round of canvassing of his district by stadium opponents. He also is probably feeling a little stress around the recent revelations about 38 Studios, which show that his mentor William Murphy and his predecessor Gordon Fox were pulling strings long before former Gov. Carcieri laid eyes on Curt Schilling. He has said he is open to having all the facts come out regarding the ongoing litigation so that the public can know the truth. But if he were serious about it, why has he yet to grant Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Karen MacBeth the subpoena power she has been requesting since Mike Stanton profiled him for Rhode Island Monthly in September 2014? Back then, Mattiello was sticking to the original narrative about how the 38 Studios deal was concocted and had a rather problematic excuse regarding MacBeth:

As for 38 Studios, Mattiello says that it was “stone-cold conservatives” — Schilling and former Republican Governor Donald Carcieri — “who put this together.” Carcieri “was trying to throw a Hail Mary pass” to jump-start the economy.
Then [Gordon] Fox and friend Mike Corso, the shadowy 38 Studios agent and Providence tax-credit king, got involved and pushed it through a largely unsuspecting legislature… Representative Karen MacBeth, whom Mattiello had made chair of the powerful Oversight Committee in exchange for her support for speaker, is publicly challenging him on 38 Studios. MacBeth is upset that Mattiello won’t allow her to subpoena witnesses to investigate, which she says he promised during a meeting at a McDonald’s to secure her vote for speaker. Mattiello says he never explicitly promised subpoena power. While he favors a full airing of the facts, he says, he doesn’t want to interfere with the ongoing state police probe or civil suits. Furthermore, he questions going to the time and expense to subpoena witnesses who would likely take the Fifth, given the other investigations.

If he was so worried about the expense of a few subpoenaed testimonies before the Oversight Committee, what could possibly have changed his mind in regards to a construction project that economists agree is a way to loose money and proposed by a man who left Baltimore and San Diego rueing the day they met him?

More than likely, this is the reality of the situation: Lucchino has struck out once but will be up to bat again very soon. We are approaching an election year where Mattiello and the rest of the General Assembly are up for re-election but Gina Raimondo is not. She is also trying to get her tolls bill passed. The construction trade unions have not rescinded their endorsement of a stadium proposal. Lucchino has not come forward and said he will stay in Pawtucket. The Providence Journal, who are always to the right and almost always in the wrong, to paraphrase Gore Vidal, continue to print editorials in support of a ball park, which is a meter of how viable their sources think a deal is. More than likely, stadium subsidies will become a bargaining chit following the November election, Mattiello will push the toll bill through in exchange for support for a publicly-funded stadium. All the while, he will hem and haw about due process while quietly praying that the State Police don’t produce a damning report akin to the one regarding Allan Fung that shows he was not totally oblivious as the Number Three on Smith Hill regarding what Number One and Number Two were dreaming about video games until after the polls close on November 8, 2016.

Like Yogi Berra said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

“The textbook law has been in the books since the 19^th century,” said RIDE spokesman Elliot Krieger. “The transport law on books since the 1970s.”

Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposed budget calls for cuts to this public subsidy to private schools. The state paid $4,873,473 in transportation costs and $554,974 for textbooks in 2014 and Raimondo proposed cutting each expenditure in half.

“Some tough choices needed to be made,” said spokeswoman Marie Aberger, and Raimondo instead proposed a “record investments in K-12 education; the full implementation of all-day kindergarten across the state; and funding for dual enrollment, last dollar scholarships, loan forgiveness and workforce development.”

But it seems like legislative leaders will seek to have the private school funding put back into the budget.

Said House Speaker Mattiello, in a statement, “The tax-paying parents who make the choice to send their children to private schools are lessening the burden on municipalities because the cities and towns do not have to pay to educate these students. The least we can do for these parents is to provide textbooks and bus transportation when necessary. Without transportation, some parents would be unable to make the choice to send their children to private schools, and a greater burden would then be placed on municipalities to educate them.”

Senate President Paiva Weed, who more often finds common ground with Raimondo than Mattiello, agrees with the speaker on this one.

“The Senate supports restoration of the funding for textbooks and transportation services for private schools. Parents of children in private schools pay their taxes just like other parents in the community,” she said. “Collectively, their decision to send their children to private schools saves valuable public resources. For many years, the Senate has chosen to support the funding of transportation services and textbooks for private school students despite previous attempts to cut the funding.”

Aberger, Raimondo’s spokeswoman, seemed to understand that subsidizing private school education was sacrosanct to legislative leaders. “The Governor respects the legislative process and knows the General Assembly will make adjustments as her jobs budget moves forward,” she said.

The Senate Finance Committee will discuss the issue at a hearing on Thursday.

Look around any impoverished neighborhood in Rhode Island and you’ll easily find a neon sign above a storefront offering a payday loan. This is what legalized loan sharking looks like.

Such stores have sprung up all over the poorest parts of Rhode Island since the legislature passed an exemption to state usury laws in 2001. Payday loans are illegal in every other New England state. But where they are legalize, they are extremely popular – there are more payday loan stores in the United States than McDonalds, Home Depots and Walmarts combined.

Inside these stores, desperate poor people with few other options – and certainly none so neon and readily found – buy quick cash in exchange for usuriously high interest rates. In Rhode Island, the General Assembly allows payday lenders to charge up to 260 percent annual interest while every other type of lending is capped at 36 percent.

Only 2 percent of payday loans get paid back on time, and in Rhode Island the average borrower will need 8 additional payday loans to pay the first one off. Those who turn to payday lenders are twice as likely to eventually file for bankruptcy.

The Rhode Island Coalition for Payday Lending Reform, led by community activists Margaux Morrisseau and Rev. Don Anderson, has waged a high profile campaign to reform predatory payday loans in recent years and a 2012 Public Policy Polling survey found that three-fourths of Rhode Islanders want them reformed.

Governor Gina Raimondo has been a strong advocate.

“She believes we need to protect Rhode Islanders from predatory lending practices, and supports developing alternatives to create access to fair, responsible, low cost alternatives for borrowing,” said Raimondo spokeswoman Marie Aberger yesterday in an email.

Raimondo was more blunt at a 2012 press conference. “It’s a predatory product,” she said then. “People need to know about the dangers of payday lending so they can take care of themselves. Everyone needs a loan once in a while and you ought to be able to do it in a way that is safe and reliable and doesn’t trap you.”

Despite bipartisan support from 80 legislators in both legislative chambers, House Speaker Nick Mattiello won’t allow the General Assembly to vote on the bill. His personal friend and poltiical ally, former Speaker Bill Murphy, is a paid lobbyist for the payday loan industry. It’s really that simple. Two powerful people, Mattiello and Murphy, are preventing the people of Rhode Island from ending this predatory practice.

But as of yesterday Mattiello and Murphy, nominally Democrats, have yet another adversary in their quest to defend payday lenders instead of impoverished Rhode Islanders. President Barack Obama joined the chorus against this predatory practice yesterday in announcing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will increase federal regulations of payday lending.

Speaking in Birmingham, Obama said, “You’ve got some very conservative folks here in Alabama who are reading their Bibles and saying, ‘well that ain’t right.’ The Bible’s not wild about someone charging $1,000 worth of interest on a $500 loan.”

Payday loan reform is also a bipartisan issue here in Rhode Island. House Minority Leader Brian Newberry is a lead sponsor of the reform bill and yesterday new GOP executive director Luis Vargas tweeted, “horrible, horrible businesses that prey on those in poverty. We definitely need to get rid of payday lenders.”

Obama said reforming payday loans is part of his middle class economy agenda. “One of the main ways we can make sure paychecks go farther is to make sure working families don’t get ripped off,” he said.

The CFPB proposes to limit the number of consecutive payday loans and require some credit verifications. But these protections aren’t air tight, according to a press release from the RI Coalition for Payday Lending Reform.

The proposal unveiled today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes an important step toward reining in a wide range of abusive lending products but also includes a gaping loophole that in essence puts a government stamp of approval on unaffordable back-to-back loans with interest rates that average near 400 percent. The RI Coalition for Payday Lending Reform urged the CFPB and Director Cordray to reconsider and leave this loophole out of the rule.

The proposed affordability standard, which is smart, fair and flexible, would require small-dollar lenders to do business the same way we expect responsible banks and mortgage lenders to – by making good loans.

If adopted, this simple change would end the cycle of debt that is the business model of payday lending, where 75 percent of all fees are generated from borrowers who take out more than 10 loans a year.   It would strengthen access to good credit for consumers who need it and give responsible lenders a fighting chance to compete, thrive and profit in a fair environment.

But sanctioning even one abusive loan, let alone six, will keep responsible lenders out of the marketplace and open the door to the kinds of creative manipulation of the rules that payday lenders have a history of using to exploit loopholes and continue business as usual.

After all, these are the same people who managed to circumvent the Department of Defense’s efforts to cap loan rates to members of the military by, for example, making loans for three months and a day to get around rules governing three-month loans.

Along similar lines, in Ohio, when payday lenders became subject to a rate cap the lenders simply changed their names, calling themselves mortgage lenders to skirt new rules.

As the Bureau moves forward to protect consumers, The RI Coalition hopes that it removes the “look-the-other-way,” standard for the first six loans and applies a strong affordability standard to the first loan and to every loan.

Only with consistent, airtight standards that require loans to be affordable will protections work to stop debt trap lending, keep hard-working Americans from being lured into financial quicksand, and maintain and grow a strong, responsible, low-dollar loan market.

At the same time, states must continue their work to enact and enforce what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cannot –rate caps that end usury once and for all.

The CFPB can’t change the interest rates states set for payday loans. In Rhode Island, it seems only Mattiello and Murphy can do that.

“The troubling issues raised in the ACLU report point out how far our society has yet to go before we achieve true equity,” said Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, noting statewide all-day kindergarten in particular and education in general are policy areas where the Senate would seek reform to address systemic racial disparities in Rhode Island.

“The Senate’s focus on education acknowledges the outcome gaps that exist in our state, and we will continue to prioritize making investments that will help eliminate disparities,” she said. “An important priority for the Senate this session is legislation to promote full day kindergarten in all Rhode Island school districts. Full day kindergarten is a proven, effective method to help close achievement gaps. More work needs to be done on many fronts, and the Senate remains committed to working towards the ideal of true equity for all Rhode Islanders.”

House Speaker Nick Mattiello was less specific.

“I have not yet had the opportunity to review the ACLU report, but the House of Representatives will always work to enact policies that treat all persons fairly, equally and without discrimination,” he said. “In particular, I will continue to work with the members of the Legislative Black and Latino Caucus on racial equality issues in our state.  I look forward to reviewing any legislation they may propose, as well as other bills on these issues that may come before the House.”

The House passed an ACLU-supported bill in 2012 that prevents schools from suspending students for chronic absenteeism, said spokesman Larry Berman. School suspensions is an issue raised in the new ACLU report. Last session, that bill’s sponsor Providence Rep. Grace Diaz said there is more work to be done in this area in particular.

“We’re still working to address racial disparities in overall suspensions and attendance rates, especially in our city schools,” Diaz said in a press release. “We need to continue to be creative in how we address problems in education while stamping out racial bias.”

Also last session, a bill that would authorize the Department of Education to analyze school suspensions for racial implications was held for further study. It reads, “The commissioner shall develop a method to analyze local school system discipline data collected in accordance with §16-60-4(21) to determine whether the discipline imposed has a disproportionate impact on students based on race or ethnicity. If such a racial or ethnic disparity is found, the local school system shall prepare and present to the department a plan to reduce that disparity.”

Paiva Weed said last session a bill to address racial profiling in traffic stops passed in the Senate. It was called the Comprehensive Community-Police Relationship Act. “Unfortunately, the bill died without a hearing in the House,” according the the ACLU.

Is the Rhode Island General Assembly hopelessly corrupt? This is the question former Woonsocket legislator Jon Brien, Bill Rappleye and I debate this week on NBC 10 News Conference’s Wingmen segment this week. Rep. Joe Almeida aside, some of what I see as corruption is “all perfectly legal,” says Brien, who gives us a great look behind the State House curtain this week as we discuss Speaker Mattiello, payday loan reform and former Speaker Bill Murphy and how “politics as usual” works on Smith Hill.

“Bob wants to speak logic,” says Brien. “This isn’t logic this is politics.”

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“Right now I have no opinion on marijuana other than I know it’s an issue that will come up and we’ll consider it,” he told me on Friday. “I’m not necessarily opposed, I’m not necessarily in favor. I can tell you it’s not an item that is on my agenda right now but I will certainly consider it. I’m sure it will have some benefits, I’m sure it will have some costs.”

Here’s our full conversation on the matter:

Governor Gina Raimondo recently told NBC 10’s Bill Rappleye legalizing marijuana “is absolutely something we should evaluate because if we think it is inevitable and if there is a way to do it that is probably regulated so people don’t get hurt, we should take a look at it.” She said she is currently taking a “wait and see approach” as she said during her campaign.

At approximately 6:30:

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