Ban the Box activists march to State House today
Surely there are some convicted criminals who may not be ready to rejoin the work-a-day world. But just as surely there are many who are. The Ban the Box bill would make it harder for potential employers to confuse the two by doing away with generic questions about criminal records on job applications. Watch this [...]
License plate legislation aids anti-choice efforts
In the battle over marriage equality in Rhode Island, one of the most vocal groups in opposition to full civil rights for the LGBTQ community was the Knights of Columbus (KoC), a Roman “Catholic fraternal service organization.” The KoC is one of the major, if not the major contributor to the National Organization for Marriage [...]
House Finance will hear tax equity bills today
The powerful House Finance Committee will hear two bills on income tax equity today. One sponsored by Rep. Maria Cimini of Providence would raise income taxes on the richest Rhode Islanders by 2 percent and would mean $60 million for the state. The other, sponsored by Rep. Larry Valencia, who represents Exeter, Hopkinton and Richmond, [...]
The NRA, Bilbo Baggins, URI and Teny Oded Gross
Just like it did in Congress, it looks like the NRA will beat back stricter gun laws at the Rhode Island State House as well, reports Sam Bell of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats. “Rhode Islanders favor an assault weapons ban by a margin of 64% to 27%, but we aren’t hearing from them,” Rep. [...]
Gist surprised teachers don’t like her
Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said she was surprised and by the widespread lack of support among local teachers for her and her policies that a new Fleming and Associates poll revealed yesterday. 85 percent of teachers asked said they didn’t want her contract renewed. “I’ll definitely take it seriously,” she said. After she delivered the [...]
Marriage equality: this is it!
Thousands of letters, tens of thousands of phone calls to legislators, and countless hours of hard work have all led up to this moment. After yesterday’s 7-4 vote in the Judiciary Committee, S-38, the bill that finally extends the freedom to marry to all loving and committed couples, will be voted on today by the [...]
Rhode Island will win marriage equality today
Rhode Island will remove the last obstacle standing in the way of marriage equality today when the full Senate votes today at 4 p.m. If I’m right, we’ll become the 10th state in the nation – but the last in New England – to abolish same sex marriage discrimination. “We think that when the vote [...]
Also at the State House today: tax equity event
What’s an understaffed progressive news website to do? There’s marriage equality in the Senate Judiciary Committee, marijuana legalization at Brown and – rounding out the trifecta of local progressive issues – a briefing on a bill that would tax the rich in room 211 of the State House. Tax equity advocates, including labor leaders, municipal [...]
Big vote for marriage equality is today
For Rhode Island progressives, it’s the most widely-anticipated day of the 2013 legislative session. For anyone who values equal treatment under the law, it’s even bigger than that. Today is the day the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on marriage equality. The House already passed it overwhelmingly, the governor is a big supporter too and the [...]
Lima, MacBeth Suggest Not Paying 38 Studios Bonds
The House Finance Committee heard several bills yesterday concerning the operation of the RI Economic Development Corporation (EDC) in the wake of last years 38 Studios fiasco, including two bills that would prohibit the state or the EDC from making payments to the bondholders of the failed video game company. The bills, H5639 and H5888, [...]
ProJo Scapegoats Unions, Ignores Wall Street
It’s fine if the Providence Journal editorial board wants to espouse a right wing philosophy, even if such ideas are largely out of touch with the people of Rhode Island. It’s not okay for the Providence Journal to blame organized labor for their policy positions when unions have nothing to do with it. The latest [...]
Occupy Prov Protests 38 Studios Bond Payment
Calling it the “latest example of corporate welfare,” Occupy Providence is advocating that the state not pay the bondholders who helped finance 38 Studios failed relocation to Rhode Island. The group will hold a protest today at the State House to drive this message home as the House Finance Committee debates a bill that would [...]
Senate President Supports Rental Vouchers
Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed said she supports legislation that would allocate $3.25 million for rental vouchers and shelter costs to help address Rhode Island’s increasing homeless population. But she said the spending proposal would likely be part of budget negotiations rather than stand alone legislation. She offered her support after a group of munchkins [...]
Economists Agree: Income Tax Cuts Didn’t Work
While conservative activists claim the Ocean State can cut its way back to prosperity, most academic economic studies agree that lowering income tax rates hasn’t worked that way, according to a new report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. In fact, the study uses Rhode Island’s recent income tax cuts as an example [...]
Local Homeless Left Out Of Economic Recovery
While the real estate and stock markets are ticking up and unemployment is ticking down, there’s one group of Rhode Islanders who are being passed over by the alleged economic recovery: the homeless. The homeless population in Rhode Island has increased by more than 10 percent from 2011 to 2012, according to Dr. Eric Hirsch, [...]
Don Anderson: Let There Be Payday Loan Reform
Rev. Don Anderson, president of the Rhode Island Council of Churches, says there are religious reasons for supporting payday loan reform. “In every religious tradition, the concept of usury is addressed,” Anderson said, at an State House event last week to call attention to payday loan reform. Anderson, who is also an important advocate for [...]
Metts Opposes Marriage Equality On ‘Biblical Principles’
Judge Ronald R Lagueux, in his ruling in Ahlquist v. City of Cranston that removed the prayer banner from the walls of the auditorium at Cranston High School West, described the Cranston School Committee’s open meetings to discuss the prayer banner as at times having the tenor of “a religious revival.” This is something those [...]
Hodges Addresses Gender Inequality In Insurance
It’s hard to imagine that in the year 2013 women still have to deal with inequality in the workplace. Their wages are typically lower for the same level of education and expertise than their male counterparts, but this inequality does not stop at the pay check. Women also pay much higher premiums for their health [...]
2 Takes On Disability: Ken Block, ‘This American Life’
When the House Committee on Small Business takes up today it will hear from gubernatorial candidate-turned-foodstamp-fraud investigator Ken Block who will likely say something like, “Ultimately, our TDI program should resemble most other state’s plans in terms of cost and utilization.” as he tweeted last night. But a must-listen “This American Life” episode this weekend [...]
Move RI Beyond the Box: Stop Job Discrimination
This past week, the House Labor committee heard from “Ban the Box” supporters, including a short film to illustrate the challenge of finding employment, and a new life, with a criminal past. The film (available here) makes the case for House Bill H5507, known as “Ban the Box.” This piece of legislation removes that question, [...]
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