The reason for this anomaly is the very undemocratic (small d) practice of prison gerrymandering. Prison gerrymandering refers to counting all of the people incarcerated at a prison in the district where the prison is located for purposes of creating district lines, even if they don’t legally reside there, are barred from voting there, and must vote (absentee) from their actual home addresses. District 15 has approximately 1,230 of these incarcerated persons being counted as constituents there.

This skewing has a number of consequences. Specifically, as noted above, it means that Speaker Mattiello and challenger Frias actually have 1,230 fewer constituents they have to reach out to and represent. Although they are treated as residents of District 15 for purposes of carving up that district, these incarcerated persons are not considered residents there for any other meaningful purpose, including for purposes of voting. In fact, the many ACI inmates who remain eligible to vote despite being incarcerated are essentially barred by state law from voting in this House race. Instead, they must vote (by absentee ballot, of course) in the election that is taking place where they previously resided.

There is another impact that flows from this practice: the voting strength of the communities from which the inmates come is diluted, while the political influence of the city residents in which the prison is located is inflated. By inappropriately counting the 1,230 ACI inmates as District 15 residents, every resident of the state not living there has his or her representation diluted by about 8% compared to residents in district 15. Put another way, by virtue of his location, the House Speaker is more powerful than other legislators not just because of his title, but because 92 constituents of his House District have the same influence as 100 residents in almost every other district. (Only neighboring District 20, which also includes portions of the ACI, wields a bigger disproportionate influence.)

In 2013, the ACLU sued to challenge this practice. In a major decision, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lagueux agreed that prison gerrymandering violated the one person, one vote requirements of the U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately, earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston reversed that decision.

As a result, it is now up to elected officials to address the issue. For the past three years, the state Senate has passed a bill that would ban prison gerrymandering, something that four other states and a few hundred municipalities across the country have done in recognition of this problem. Unfortunately, the bill has died in the House in past years. And at the local level, Cranston officials decided it was worth spending taxpayer money (to the tune of $250,000 even before the appeal) rather than make their municipal districts more equitable as so many other localities have voluntarily done.

Once all the votes are counted in the District 15 race on November 8th, we will only be able to speculate what the outcome might have been if the two candidates had to increase their door-knocking to persuade hundreds of additional people (more closely matching the number of constituents that candidates in other districts generally must represent) to vote for them.

We should stop speculating by eliminating its cause. There is no question that Speaker Mattiello cares deeply about his community, just as we are sure Mr. Frias does. Let’s halt the practice of prison gerrymandering so that 1,000 more people can benefit from that care and stewardship, and so that District 15 (and District 20) more fairly represents the same number of residents as other districts.

The march briefly detoured through the East Side, to pass by the home of Governor Gina Raimondo, who broke a campaign promise to grant licenses through executive action. Instead, the governor threw the issue to the General Assembly, where House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello declined to advance the legislation.

The march was organized by the Safer Rhodes Coalition and Comité en Acción. Organizer Claire Pimental, writing for RI Future, said that passing this legislation will improve the quality of life and overall safety of our communities, from higher rates of insured and licensed drivers, to greater cooperation between police and the immigrant communities they serve.

Before the march Mayor James Diossa of Central Falls was joined by state Senators Donna Nesselbush and Frank Ciccone, Senator elect Ana Quezada, and Representatives Aaron Regunberg and Shelby Maldonado.

Below find pictures and video from the event.

In order to send a loud and clear message before the next legislative session, the Coalition has organized a march that will take place on Sunday, September 25th. The March will begin at Jenks Park in Central Falls at 11am, will go past the State House, and end at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Providence. At the end of the march, there will be a cultural festival to celebrate the contributions of immigrant communities to the State of Rhode Island.

The Coalition has been advocating for the passage of legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to earn driver’s license in the State of Rhode Island. We believe the impact of this legislation will improve the quality of life and overall safety of our communities, from higher rates of insured and licensed drivers, to greater cooperation between police and the immigrant communities they serve.

From a Coalition for Safer Rhodes Press Release

Two races of special importance to Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello are being influenced through mailers sent out by a not-so-mysterious group calling themselves “Progress RI” which is funded by the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers (RIBCO).

As can be seen in the screenshot below, Nicholas Mattiello has made contributions to both Jan Malik and David Coughlin. This is in itself not unusual. Both are loyal members of Mattiello’s base and both received contributions of $1000, the legal limit. Coughlin received contributions in excess of the legal limit, but the extra $500 was refunded, essentially a $500, interest free, three month loan.

Mattiello awarded Coughlin a second over-the-limit and later-refunded $500 campaign contribution/interest-free loan through his PAC, Fund for a Democratic Leadership, as seen below:

As Ted Nesi tweeted last evening, the Progress RI PAC, (a name that invokes the Rhode Island Progressives Democrats of America (RIPDA) though they have no affiliation), has reported spending $9,348 on mailers against five candidates, including Jason Knight who is challenging Jan Malik and David Norton who is challenging David Coughlin. All the money for Progress RI comes from RIBCO, to the tune of $9,500.

Richard Ferruccio is the president of RIBCO, and lobbies extensively at the State House on that union’s behalf, often arguing for tougher sentences and longer periods of incarceration for offenders and against legislation that might reduce sentences.

RIBCO is a strong supporter of Speaker Mattiello, as seen from this list of campaign contributions:

There seems an alignment of interests between Ferruccio and Mattiello. Both are working against Knight and Norton and for Malik and Coughlin. The ACI, where most of Ferruccio’s prison guard membership works, is in Mattiello’s district in Cranston.

Ferruccio generally opposes changes in the law that lead to early release of prisoners. Mattiello was singularly uninterested in passing Governor Gina Raimondo’s criminal justice reform package of bills, saying “The justice reform package was never a priority for the House. I was never convinced Rhode Island should be a test case for a national model on criminal justice.” Sam Bell suggested that the alignment of interests might be a “thank you” for “killing prison reform” though

Ferruccio did not respond to a phone message left at his office. Following Matt Jerzyk‘s advice on Twitter, I also reached out to Nick Horton at Open Doors, but was unable to connect.

Rhode Island is one of the most progressive states in the country, at least when it comes to the views of its citizens. Its residents vote Democrat by large margins and generally hold views that are in agreement with—or to the left of—the national Democratic Party. So why is our government so conservative? In my opinion, a big part of the problem is the structure of the state Democratic Party and its cynical endorsement process.

Many RI voters seem not to be aware of this, but the state Democratic Party’s formal endorsement process provides substantial resources to the officially endorsed candidates at all levels of the election. Unendorsed candidates are frozen out of a wide variety of party resources and can only obtain them at significant extra expense, if they can get them at all. In addition, “endorsed” candidates automatically get top billing on the ballot, and a star appears next to their name, as if to suggest that they are the clearly superior choice (even though, as a rule, the opposite is far more likely).

So how does one become an endorsed candidate, you may ask? Well, there are a vast number of local, district, and ward committees who typically award these endorsements (but not always—see below!). In theory, these various ward, town, and district committees serve as a way of ensuring that people who live in an area have the opportunity to endorse the candidate who is most in touch with the needs of their neighborhoods. In practice, however, these ward and district committees are invariably stuffed with the friends, relatives, and even employees of the incumbents. As a result, they serve as little more than a rubber stamp that inevitably endorses the incumbent or their hand-picked successor—even when evidence of their corruption is overwhelming. And if by some chance a new voice manages to impress their local committees and gain their support, the RI Democratic Party chair—a person who is not elected to fill this role, but is merely appointed by prominent insiders such as Speaker Mattiello—can simply overrule the local committees and impose his will on them by fiat, as he recently did to Linda Finn, who earned the endorsements of her local town committees but whose opponent has secured the official party endorsement as well as all the corrupt resources that come with it.

When my fellow Democratic primary voters show up at the ballot box in September, I hope they will remember that a vote for the star is a vote to maintain the status quo. It’s a vote for Speaker Mattiello, and for the anti-democratic, cynical, corrupt, and above all elitist political machine from which he and his ilk draw their power. If you want change from your state and local elected officials next year, the choice is clear: Vote for anyone who doesn’t have Mattiello’s star of approval.

“Speaker [Nicholas] Mattiello has been the person that has been standing in the way” of bills that would disarm domestic abusers, said Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts during her recent trip to Providence on Wednesday. Watts was speaking as part of a panel discussion following the showing of the Katie Couric documentary Under the Gun at Brown University.

Earlier in the day, Watts, who founded Moms Demand Action in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, was in Providence to join Representative David Cicilline as he lead a sit-in style event at the Providence Public Safety Complex. That event was to be strictly about national efforts at gun control, but Watts went off script and talked about Speaker Mattiello’s failure to lead on guns in the Rhode Island General Assembly.

“I know here, in your own State House,” said Watts, “you have a speaker, Speaker Mattiello, who has not acted in the wake of gun violence in this country and in fact there have been some domestic violence bills that could have and should have been passed and we hope that he will do the right thing.”

“Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” continued Watts, “Thoughts and prayers without action are empty and they are meaningless.” In June, members of the RI state chapter of Moms Demand Action dramatically left the House Chamber when Mattiello called for prayers and a moment of silence in the wake of the Orlando shootings.

“We are asking Speaker Mattiello to act in the wake of human destruction by gun violence,” said Watts.

You can watch the Under the Gun panel discussion here:

You watch the Cicilline sit-in at the Providence Public Safety Complex here:

And here’s the trailer for Under the Gun:

Steven Frias, a Rhode Island Republican leader and prize winning writer, has announced his candidacy for Representative in District 15, which is currently held by House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. The race presents a clear choice between Speaker Mattiello, the chief defender of Rhode Island’s failing status quo, and Frias, an articulate advocate for dramatic reforms to make Rhode Island’s economy more prosperous and its government more ethical.

Frias stated, “Rhode Island’s most powerful politician, Speaker Mattielllo, believes Rhode Island is in ‘excellent shape’ and that state ‘government actually works very well.’ Well, I have to disagree. For example, Rhode Island currently has the sixth-worst business-tax climate in the nation according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. Further, Rhode Island’s structural budget deficit will grow to over $300 million dollars in a few years according to new budget projections. Moreover, in just the last two months, Rhode Island has lost nearly 4,000 jobs. To make matters worse, in less than two months, members of Mattiello’s House leadership team have become mired in scandal. This is unacceptable.”

Frias continued, “To grow our economy, the cost of doing business in Rhode Island must be significantly reduced. For starters, we should repeal the new tolls, and implement dramatic reductions in Rhode Island’s tax rates to levels below those of its neighboring states, like Massachusetts. To restore public confidence in our state government, we need reforms such as requiring legislative grants to be specifically listed in the budget, a line-item veto, restrictions on fundraising while the General Assembly is in session, requiring the General Assembly to follow open meetings laws, and term limits. It’s time we clean house at the State House!”

[From a press release]

Despite the NRA paying a record fine for making illegal campaign donations to Rhode Island politicians, to date, not one current office holder in the state has seen fit to return the money.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) was fined by the RI Board of Elections for funneling illegal donations to RI politicians, including House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President M Teresa Paiva-Weed. One estimate puts the total amount of contributions at over $160,000, over a 10 year period from 2004 to 2014. Due to the detective work of Sam Bell, executive director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America, the NRA was fined $63,000 and the NRA’s Rhode Island PAC was formally dissolved.

Technically, any money received by any candidate in Rhode Island that comes from the NRA Political Victory Fund PAC before January 2014 was illegal. That doesn’t mean that it’s a crime to keep the money after the fact, and it’s likely that the politicians did not know that the campaign donations were illegal before Bell made his case.

That said, the bottom line is that the money these politicians accepted from the NRA is tainted, and the influence this money has on our General Assembly can be felt acutely when observing the legislature in action.

Are you still wondering why our General Assembly can’t seem to pass common sense gun control legislation?

Between 2004 and 2014, House Speaker Nick Mattiello received $2,975 from the NRA. All these donations appear to be illegal, tainted contributions. The Speaker has kept every penny. Seventeen other representatives have also taken thousands of dollars.

Joseph McNamara is the head of the RI Democratic Party, the same party whose national platform calls for banning assault weapons and strengthening gun laws to prevent violence. McNamara accepted $700 in illegal NRA contributions over the years.

During the same 10 year period, Senate President M Teresa Paiva-Weed has accepted, and kept, what appears to be $6,075 in illegal contributions from the NRA. Seventeen other senators took illegal NRA cash, including Senate Majority Leader Domenic Ruggerio, who raked in $3350 and Senate Judiciary Chair Michael McCaffrey, whose committee handles every bill about guns that comes to the Senate, to the tune of$3500.

Rep Jan Malik, who was recently challenged by his primary opponent Jason Knight to return his illegal donations, took $1075. On the last day of the most recent legislative session, Rep Malik voted for a House bill that would have made it easier to get concealed carry permits in RI before changing his vote after the fact.

I went through the campaign finance reports available here, and carefully made a list of all incumbents who have accepted NRA money between 2004 and 2014.

Here’s the list:

In addition to Representatives and Senators, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin has accepted $1150 in illegal donations.

Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F    03/30/2004    $200.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F    03/07/2006    $250.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F    04/27/2007    $200.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F    12/31/2009    $200.00
Attorney General KILMARTIN, PETER F    03/04/2009    $300.00

Former Speaker of the House, William Murphy, now a lobbyist, raked in a series of illegal NRA contributions. He now rakes in even more as a lobbyist for gun interests.

Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    02/05/2004    $500.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    02/05/2004    $500.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    04/14/2006    $350.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    04/27/2007    $1,000.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    03/31/2005    $875.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    02/22/2009    $1,000.00
Lobbyist MURPHY, WILLIAM J    01/31/2008    $1,000.00

Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    11/05/2006    $250.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    04/27/2007    $150.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    04/01/2008    $150.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    07/06/2010    $450.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    04/04/2011    $450.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    06/06/2012    $450.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    02/13/2013    $800.00
Representative    MATTIELLO, NICHOLAS    05/28/2009    $225.00

Representative    CARNEVALE, JOHN M    06/05/2010    $200.00
Representative    CARNEVALE, JOHN M    04/12/2011    $200.00
Representative    CHIPPENDALE, MICHAEL W    10/15/2012    $500.00
Representative    CORVESE, ARTHUR J    05/08/2004    $300.00
Representative    CORVESE, ARTHUR J    05/16/2005    $300.00
Representative    CORVESE, ARTHUR J    07/11/2006    $300.00
Representative    COSTA, DOREEN MARIE    10/15/2012    $500.00
Representative    DESIMONE, JOHN J    07/08/2004    $150.00
Representative    FELLELA, DEBORAH A    08/20/2006    $250.00
Representative    FELLELA, DEBORAH A    04/27/2007    $100.00
Representative    FELLELA, DEBORAH A    01/12/2010    $150.00
Representative    FELLELA, DEBORAH A    04/12/2011    $200.00
Representative    JACQUARD, ROBERT B    07/19/2004    $300.00
Representative    JACQUARD, ROBERT B    10/20/2004    $500.00
Representative    JACQUARD, ROBERT B    10/12/2006    $350.00
Representative    JACQUARD, ROBERT B    04/12/2011    $200.00
Representative    KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK    07/19/2004    $400.00
Representative    KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK    08/02/2006    $400.00
Representative    KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK    06/11/2009    $400.00
Representative    KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK    06/05/2010    $375.00
Representative    KENNEDY, BRIAN PATRICK    04/12/2011    $375.00
Representative    LIMA, CHARLENE        04/06/2004    $300.00
Representative    MACBETH, KAREN        11/01/2009    $100.00
Representative    MACBETH, KAREN        05/27/2010    $200.00
Representative    MACBETH, KAREN        12/08/2011    $200.00
Representative    MALIK, JAN        08/18/2004    $200.00
Representative    MALIK, JAN        11/19/2004    $250.00
Representative    MALIK, JAN        06/29/2005    $225.00
Representative    MALIK, JAN        09/06/2006    $300.00
Representative    MALIK, JAN        06/05/2010    $300.00
Representative    MCNAMARA, JOSEPH    05/26/2004    $200.00
Representative    MCNAMARA, JOSEPH    05/25/2005    $300.00
Representative    MCNAMARA, JOSEPH    06/16/2011    $200.00
Representative    MELO, HELIO        03/10/2010    $225.00
Representative    MELO, HELIO        04/12/2011    $200.00
Representative    NEWBERRY, BRIAN C    11/03/2006    $300.00
Representative    NEWBERRY, BRIAN C    05/29/2009    $150.00
Representative    NEWBERRY, BRIAN C    02/24/2010    $150.00
Representative    NEWBERRY, BRIAN C    06/29/2011    $200.00
Representative    NEWBERRY, BRIAN C    04/15/2013    $250.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    04/02/2004    $100.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    04/05/2004    $500.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    04/06/2004    $200.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    04/07/2004    $100.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    04/22/2004    $150.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    06/29/2005    $200.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    06/15/2006    $300.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    07/24/2007    $300.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    05/17/2008    $300.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    05/29/2009    $300.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    06/05/2010    $300.00
Representative    TRILLO, JOSEPH A    04/12/2011    $200.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        11/19/2004    $500.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        08/21/2006    $250.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        11/02/2006    $200.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        07/27/2007    $300.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        06/29/2009    $200.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        06/29/2009    $200.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        06/25/2011    $200.00
Representative    UCCI, STEPHEN R        06/15/2010    $200.00
Representative    WINFIELD, THOMAS J    08/22/2004    $200.00
Representative    WINFIELD, THOMAS J    06/15/2006    $200.00
Representative    WINFIELD, THOMAS J    11/06/2006    $90.00
Representative    WINFIELD, THOMAS J    08/10/2007    $225.00

Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    02/24/2011    $1,000.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    02/02/2012    $1,000.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    08/12/2013    $800.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    04/22/2004    $375.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    05/14/2007    $500.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    05/17/2008    $400.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    02/11/2009    $1,000.00
Senator    PAIVA WEED, M TERESA    02/24/2010    $1,000.00

Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    07/10/2004    $150.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    05/25/2005    $225.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    06/21/2006    $300.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    11/03/2006    $300.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    05/07/2007    $300.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    04/15/2008    $300.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    06/03/2009    $300.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    06/12/2010    $300.00
Senator    CICCONE III, FRANK A    06/21/2013    $400.00
Senator    COTE, MARC A        03/23/2004    $200.00
Senator    COTE, MARC A        05/16/2005    $200.00
Senator    COTE, MARC A        06/15/2006    $200.00
Senator    COTE, MARC A        04/16/2008    $200.00
Senator    COTE, MARC A        04/06/2010    $200.00
Senator    DAPONTE, DANIEL        02/24/2010    $200.00
Senator    DAPONTE, DANIEL        04/12/2011    $200.00
Senator    DOYLE II, JAMES E    06/17/2006    $150.00
Senator    DOYLE II, JAMES E    03/31/2008    $300.00
Senator    FELAG JR, WALTER S    07/04/2004    $200.00
Senator    FELAG JR, WALTER S    09/01/2006    $300.00
Senator    FELAG JR, WALTER S    06/15/2008    $300.00
Senator    FELAG JR, WALTER S    03/03/2010    $300.00
Senator    FELAG JR, WALTER S    04/12/2011    $300.00
Senator    FOGARTY, PAUL W        05/13/2004    $100.00
Senator    FOGARTY, PAUL W        07/01/2005    $150.00
Senator    FOGARTY, PAUL W        09/21/2007    $150.00
Senator    FOGARTY, PAUL W        01/10/2008    $150.00
Senator    FOGARTY, PAUL W        06/11/2009    $200.00
Senator    GALLO, HANNA M        06/01/2004    $150.00
Senator    GALLO, HANNA M        05/24/2005    $150.00
Senator    GALLO, HANNA M        05/17/2008    $150.00
Senator    GALLO, HANNA M        08/05/2009    $200.00
Senator    GALLO, HANNA M        04/28/2011    $200.00
Senator    GALLO, HANNA M        04/12/2011    $200.00
Senator    GOODWIN, MARYELLEN    08/16/2004    $150.00
Senator    GOODWIN, MARYELLEN    07/09/2010    $200.00
Senator    GOODWIN, MARYELLEN    05/13/2011    $200.00
Senator    LYNCH PRATA, ERIN P    06/08/2009    $200.00
Senator    LYNCH PRATA, ERIN P    06/10/2010    $200.00
Senator    LYNCH PRATA, ERIN P    04/12/2011    $200.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    07/21/2004    $500.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    07/21/2005    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    08/06/2006    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    08/07/2007    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    06/24/2008    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    06/05/2009    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    06/15/2010    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    05/20/2011    $750.00
Senator    MCCAFFREY, MICHAEL J    06/28/2013    $400.00
Senator    PICARD, ROGER A        07/19/2004    $200.00
Senator    PICARD, ROGER A        08/03/2005    $200.00
Senator    PICARD, ROGER A        05/15/2006    $250.00
Senator    PICARD, ROGER A        06/20/2009    $300.00
Senator    PICARD, ROGER A        06/12/2010    $150.00
Senator    RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P    05/10/2006    $300.00
Senator    RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P    07/24/2007    $300.00
Senator    RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P    06/30/2008    $300.00
Senator    RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P    02/26/2013    $250.00
Senator    RAPTAKIS, LEONIDAS P    07/19/2004    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    05/19/2004    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    05/25/2005    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    05/10/2006    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    04/27/2007    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    05/17/2008    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    02/21/2013    $500.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    05/29/2009    $300.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    02/24/2011    $450.00
Senator    RUGGERIO, DOMINICK J    02/08/2012    $500.00
Senator    SERPA, PATRICIA A    07/01/2009    $150.00
Senator    SERPA, PATRICIA A    06/05/2010    $150.00
Senator    SERPA, PATRICIA A    07/18/2011    $200.00
Senator    SERPA, PATRICIA A    03/30/2013    $250.00
Senator    SHEEHAN, JAMES C    05/04/2004    $150.00
Senator    SHEEHAN, JAMES C    07/08/2005    $150.00
Senator    SHEEHAN, JAMES C    07/24/2007    $100.00
Senator    SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN    07/28/2004    $200.00
Senator    SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN    10/18/2004    $100.00
Senator    SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN    04/08/2008    $200.00
Senator    SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN    03/02/2010    $200.00
Senator    SOSNOWSKI, V SUSAN    06/16/2011    $200.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    04/26/2004    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    04/05/2005    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    09/01/2006    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    05/02/2007    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    05/17/2008    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    06/07/2009    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    06/05/2010    $300.00
Senator    WALASKA, WILLIAM A    04/12/2011    $300.00

RI HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE    04/29/2004    $300.00
RI HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE    09/15/2005    $300.00
RI HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE    04/06/2006    $200.00

SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE      04/21/2004    $625.00
SENATE DEMOCRATS 2004 PAC             08/16/2004    $600.00

The General Assembly unanimously approved legislation to restore the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction over lawmakers. The joint resolution puts a constitutional amendment before voters at the November general election that, if approved, would close the legislative immunity loophole. Since it is a joint resolution, it does not require a signature by the governor to become effective.

In 2009, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held that the state constitution’s “speech in debate clause” conferred legislative immunity upon General Assembly members. As a result, legislators stood outside the purview of the Ethics Commission. A constitutional amendment is necessary to restore the Ethics Commission’s oversight of the legislature.

“Since the Irons decision, Common Cause has dedicated itself to closing the ‘legislative immunity’ loophole,” said Common Cause Executive Director John Marion. “This is a historic moment for those who care about ethical government in Rhode Island. We have no doubt that this measure will increase transparency and accountability in our legislature. The work is not done, however, because voters still need to pass this constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.”

“Today’s vote is a dramatic, historic step forward,” said Phil West, who is the former executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “The Speaker and Senate President’s ballot question will allow voters to establish the same ethics accountability for all public officials in Rhode Island. It will again allow legislators to think through potential conflicts of interest and to seek advisory opinions from the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. No other state has anything better than this.”

The resolution adopted by the House and Senate did not include a campaign blackout period for filing complaints.

“We met with several groups and decided that the Constitution was an inappropriate place for a moratorium on filing complaints,” said Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. “I have confidence that the Ethics Commission will consider and determine the proper approach for dealing with frivolous, politically charged complaints.”

Personal note: It was an honor to sit in the House and Senate galleys with John Marion and Phil West as the resolutions passed.

Moms has advocated for a bill to take guns away from domestic abusers for three years. Every year the bill dies in committee.

Jennifer Smith Boylan, RI Chapter Leader at Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America told me after the walk-out, “As advocates for commonsense gun laws, Moms are weary of moments of silence and thoughts and prayers from our elected officials. We walked out to send a message that moments of silence do not disarm dangerous people who should not have easy access to firearms. We look to law makers to do their jobs and make laws to keep Rhode Islanders safe.”

With their heads bowed in a public display of of false piety, most of the legislators probably missed the walk out. Fortunately, I got it on video:

Moments earlier members of Moms Demand Action were on the floor of the House, where they presented the Speaker with 49 flowers, one for each victim killed in Orlando, and nearly 700 domestic violence post cards.. Mattiello was happy to take the flowers and find a place to display them, but offered no promises of legislative action that might stop killers from accessing weapons. Instead, he handed the problem of displaying the flowers and doing something with the post cards off to his staff and moved on. Conversation was all but impossible due to the ringing of the session bell.

Mattiello’s office has declined to answer my request for a comment on the status of pending gun legislation. But the Speaker told channel 12 “A terrorist militant is always going to find a way to access a weapon. Gun issue discussions are always valuable. However, not in this case.”

The Speaker has an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Former House Speaker William Murphy, is a highly paid NRA lobbyist and a close friend of Mattiello. The Speaker is more than happy to offer useless prayers, as he did when he issued his very first tweet from his new Twitter account on Sunday, but actually doing his job and passing common sense legislation to curb access to weapons that kill dozens in seconds is somehow beyond him.

With the General Assembly expected to wrap up all its business this week, it may already be too late to do anything about guns this legislative session. But that doesn’t mean that our legislators are off the hook.

This is an election year.