“I found it to be a really good group,” she told RI Future.

ALEC’s website lists Morgan as the state director in Rhode Island. Her 2016 financial disclosure form shows two trips to ALEC conferences – to San Diego, for $1,400 and to Phoenix for $1,100.  ALEC membership in Rhode Island was a hot button issue in 2012, when the group’s model Stand Your Ground bill became controversial after it helped exonerate George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. That year 24 local legislators, half of whom were Democrats, were members. By 2013, there were only six ALEC members in the General Assembly (though on p. 39 ALEC lists 12 members in 2013). In February 2015, RI Future reported that the last legislative membership in ALEC had expired on the last day of 2014. Morgan said she has been an ALEC member since January of 2015, but she was unsure of the exact month.

Morgan said she does not know anything about ALEC’s involvement with Stand Your Ground laws, and did not know the group had been controversial in Rhode Island.

She also said she does not where ALEC’s funding comes from. When informed it comes from corporations, she said, “I’m just as much against corporate welfare as you are. My idea is to do what’s right for Rhode Islanders, not for corporations.”

Her campaign opponent, independent Vincent Marzulo, is raising Morgan’s involvement in ALEC as a reason to vote against her. (Democrat Anthony Paolino is also running against Morgan).

“Her advocacy for private profit at the public’s expense raises serious questions concerning her commitment to the public good,” said Marzulo. “The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a secretive, right-wing, Koch Brothers-funded corporate advocacy group that seeks private profit at the expense of public interest.”

Sam Bell, state director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, added, “A far-right group that takes uses a money hose of corporate money to influence state politics, ALEC has wreaked great damage all across our country. From stand your ground laws and voter ID to an ocean of bills to help corporate special interests, ALEC has been uniquely effective at pushing awful public policy on the American people. It is hardly surprising that ALEC would align itself with Pat Morgan, a Wall Street politician known for supporting nutty right wing policies. For instance, Pat Morgan actually signed onto a bill to privatize roads and put tolls on cars.”

Morgan said doesn’t think of ALEC as being “conservative or liberal”. She said her relationship with ALEC has already paid dividends for Rhode Island. She said at a conference she learned about the drug Vivitrol, used to help people ween off drug addiction. She said the product is now used at the Adult Correctional Institute, in part because of her.

She said she doesn’t agree with everything ALEC pushes – citing a “session on international relationships.” She said she did not remember the specifics of the session. She also said there was an ALEC session on legalizing marijuana, an issue she said she does not agree with.

When asked if she thinks ALEC cares more about its corporate sponsors or her constituents, Morgan said, “I believe they care more about good policy that helps average people lead good lives.”

17 minutes into our interview, Morgan asked if she was on or off the record. I told her I identified myself as the editor of RI Future when I first called. Morgan feels I should have also informed her that I was writing a story. She hung up on me, and called back a few minutes later yelling. She said she does not think I have integrity.

House spokesman Larry Berman said the legislature does not pay dues of any ALEC legislators, as was the practice in 2012.

For more on ALEC.

Joanne St. Lawrence, who is 55 years old, disabled and does not drive, said three people came to her home on Phoebe Street to collect her mail ballot. She was expecting someone from the campaign of her preferred candidate, Marcia Ranglin-Vassell, who upset DeSimone in the primary. Instead, St. Lawrence says she was greeted by DeSimone supporters.

“They asked me if I had filled in for John DeSimone,” St. Lawrence told RI Future. “I said no. They said, ‘did you vote for Marcia?’ I said yes.”

That’s when one of them asked St. Lawrence for an eraser, she said. When erasing her ballot failed – St. Lawrence filled it out in pen – one of the people, “took it and wrote his name in. They had me sign it and they both signed it,” St. Lawrence said.

She said she knew something wasn’t right, but didn’t know how to stop the people from changing her ballot. “I wasn’t thinking clearly,” St. Lawrence said. “I just woke up.”

“I’m really concerned about this,” she told RI Future. “My vote is supposed to count.”

The Providence Board of Canvassers confirmed St. Lawrence filed a complaint with their office Wednesday. Kathy Placencia, the administrator of elections for the board, said she sent the complaint to the state Board of Elections. The state Board of Elections declined to comment. Bob Rapoza, the acting director, did not return several phone calls over several days.

St. Lawrence said she was told the Board of Elections would consider her complaint today. While the Board does meet today, no agenda lists her complaint specifically. An agenda says the Board will meet today at 2pm and “may” certify mail ballots. The agenda says, “Any individual seeking to represent a candidate or party during the mail certification process must submit written authorization from the represented party or candidate prior to appearing before the board, pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws Section l7-22-2″

UPDATE: Rapoza returned RI Future’s call shortly after this post was published. He said the complaint process will start at the Providence Board of Canvassers. He said his office did receive a copy of the complaint from the Board of Canvassers. “I have no comment on how this would work at this time,” Rapoza said.

On the advice of the Ranglin Vassell campaign, St. Lawrence said she plans to request a provisional ballot on election day. “If my [mail] ballot doesn’t show up, they have to take that,” St. Lawrence said. “So hopefully it doesn’t show up or hopefully they will see that it was changed.”

She said she is also considering filing criminal charges. The people who took her ballot signed it as witnesses, St. Lawrence said, but she does not know if they signed their actual names.

St. Lawrence said she is supporting Ranglin-Vassell because “she’s on the same level as a lot of people in the neighborhood. I don’t know who this John DeSimone is.”

Indeed two of Rhode Island’s most trusted State House special interests are at odds on Question 2: Common Cause Rhode Island is for the ballot measure and the RI ACLU is against it. So RI Future brought in John Marion and Steven Brown, the executive director of each organization, to discuss their difference of opinion.

“Common Cause and the ACLU disagree on the limits of what free speech is,” said Marion, of Common Cause.

“We believe there is free speech that is involved when a legislator representing their constituents gets up and talks about an issue,” said Brown, of the ACLU.

At issue is the speech in debate clause of Rhode Island’s constitution that, according to Marion, “provides a general immunity – to legislators, and only legislators – from prosecution or suit for their legislative duties.” Similar speech in debate clauses exist in 43 other state constitutions, he said.

Marion and Brown agree that a 2009 US Supreme Court case found, in Marion’s words, that “there is no First Amendment protection for people with a conflict of interest. If you have a conflict of interest as defined by law you aren’t supposed to participate.”

Brown thinks the court got it wrong. He said legislators need to be able to do their jobs “freely without fear there are going to be consequences,” he said. “We are concerned that the possibility exists that this could be undermined as a result of the amendment.”

“I certainly understnad the arguments on the other side and I don’t dismiss them because certainly the problem with ethics in our government is one that can’t be ignored but I think it’s just a legitimate differing of opinions in balancing these issues and deciding where the greatest harm lies.”

“Rep. DeSimone’s activities relating to United Providence mirror those of former House Speaker Gordon Fox and former House Finance Chairman Raymond Gallison,” said a news release from RIPDA. “Like former Speaker Fox, who was fined by the Ethics Commission in connection with the Providence Economic Development Partnership, Rep. DeSimone has failed to disclose legal fees received from a Providence municipal agency partnership. And like former Chairman Gallison, who was fined in connection to AEP, Rep. DeSimone has failed to disclose income received from an organization receiving significant annual state appropriations.”

United Providence was a partnership between the Providence School Department and the Providence teachers’ union, which employs DeSimone. The effort received grants for $100,000 from the legislature in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2016, United Providence was slated to receive another $100,000 from the legislature until it was learned the group had become defunct. DeSimone was the registered agent for United Providence when it was formed in 2011.

RIPDA is also taking issue with DeSimone’s failure to disclose back taxes he owned the city and state. DeSimone was late in paying the property tax bill on his Smith Street law office every year since 2008 and also on his home in the years 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2015, according to RIPDA.

“Because of his repeated failure to pay his taxes on time,” said the RIPDA news release, “DeSimone has regularly been thousands of dollars in debt to the City of Providence – a fact that he was legally required to report in his annual financial disclosure statements to the Rhode Island Ethics Commission, which calls for disclosure of all debts in excess of $1,000 ‘to any person, business entity, financial institution or other organization’ beyond a few specific categories. Yet DeSimone, in disclosure after disclosure, repeatedly failed to list this information.”

DeSimone also failed to pay his state taxes on time in 2012, according to RIPDA. “While DeSimone’s troubles with municipal taxes were widely reported on this spring, this state tax issue has not previously been covered,” according to the news release. “During the 2016 legislative session, DeSimone was the lead sponsor for legislation that would put a 10-year statute of limitations on the collection of state taxes.”

Said Nate Carpenter, communications director for RIPDA, “Ethics Commission disclosure statements are an important part of maintaining transparency and oversight in our state government. Mr. DeSimone’s voters, and the people of Rhode Island as a whole, have a right to know that their House Majority Leader has repeatedly been indebted to the City of Providence and State of Rhode Island because of his failure to pay his taxes, and that he has regularly received income from an organization receiving significant state appropriations.  It is a very real concern that for so many years DeSimone chose to hide this information from the public by failing to honestly answer questions on his financial disclosure statements.  This is a crucial matter for the Ethics Commission to investigate—especially considering the recent scandals we have experienced in Rhode Island along very similar lines.”

DeSimone could not immediately be reached for comment.

He said he receives mail at 150 Barbara St. in Providence. It’s where his cars are registered and where his General Assembly and Providence police department pension income are delivered. He also said he rents out both units at 150 Barbara St., and shares one of the units with a tenant.

“I have rent coming from one unit and I live in another unit, which i also derive some rent from,” Carnevale told the board.

Carnevale said he sometimes sleeps at the property he owns in Johnston, but said that only happens “maybe, at tops, once a week.”

He said he was living at the Johnston address and said he moved back to the Barbara Street address when he learned the legislative seat in Providence was going to become vacant. “I was approached by then-Rep. Stephen Smith, who said he was not running again. That’s when I moved back to 150 Barbara St.”

While Carnevale testified that most of his bills are mailed to the Barbara Street address, a lawyer for the board of canvassers said CVS and Delta Dental both mail information to his Johnston address. The lawyer also said several people with the last name Carnevale are registered to vote at the Barbara Street address.

You can watch most of the hearing on my Periscope feed.

And here’s video of the local media trying to get Carnevale to comment after the hearing:

Today I declined a cost of living adjustment increase to my legislative salary, and committed that I will not take a raise until Rhode Island raises the minimum wage for all low-income workers.

I recognize this is an entirely symbolic move, and in fact that it is a particularly tiny symbol, considering how minuscule this legislative salary increase is (it’s real, real small). And I support the COLA on principle – in fact, I think that the (comparatively) low compensation for state legislators in Rhode Island is a significant barrier keeping a lot of Rhode Islanders from serving in elected office, particularly low-income Rhode Islanders whose voices we desperately need in the General Assembly. But as a legislator, I do not personally feel comfortable taking any cost of living adjustment knowing that Rhode Island’s lowest-paid workers have not received any adjustment.

Democrat Michael Gazdacko is challenging Rep. Anastasia Williams in a primary for the right to represent the District 9 House seat at the State House.

Gazdacko is a member of the City Plan Commission, works for Urban Smart Growth and is the board president of TEDx Providence, according to a news release announcing his candidacy.

“So much of what I do is about bringing people together to exchange ideas and find ways to leverage our shared strengths,” he said in the news release. “I see this as the logical extension of that calling. My campaign will be inclusive of all voices because our public discourse is always more robust with everyone in the room.”

Williams has represented District 9 since 1993. She’s been a center of controversy this legislative session for failing to disclose her job at the John Hope Settlement House, a non-profit for which she also helped secure a $300,000 legislative grant.

Gazdacko’s full press release is below:

Michael Gazdacko, a West End resident and member of the City Plan Commission, today announced his candidacy as a Democrat for State Representative in District 9. “I’m running because I’m passionate about healthy, prosperous, happy communities and I believe that the state legislature is the best opportunity to contribute,” said Gazdacko. “I intend to serve on behalf of everyone in this diverse, vibrant district and to do so with honor, integrity and humility.”

The candidate currently serves as the Director of Development and Operations for Urban Smart Growth, where he oversees the Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket and Greystone Lofts in North Providence. Gazdacko is also the board president for TEDx Providence, a board member of the Pawtucket Foundation and worked with Farm Fresh RI to launch the Wintertime Farmer’s Market. He is the former host/organizer of PechaKucha Providence and has volunteered extensively with Providence Preservation Society. In 2015, he was appointed to the City Plan Commission by Mayor Elorza.

“So much of what I do is about bringing people together to exchange ideas and find ways to leverage our shared strengths,” Gazdacko explained. “I see this as the logical extension of that calling. My campaign will be inclusive of all voices because our public discourse is always more robust with everyone in the room.”

He is a dedicated advocate for local food and sees the state legislature as an opportunity to support policies that make fresh, healthy food sources more accessible in urban communities. He also intends to work on urban transit and development issues, including improvements to public transportation, making the city more bike and pedestrian friendly, and ensuring that zoning and business regulations support neighborhood businesses. “These are issues that affect us all – food, transportation, the economic resilience of our neighborhoods – and they’re areas in which I believe the General Assembly can have a profound and positive impact.”

Gazdacko is a Midwest native who came to Rhode Island in 2007 to steward the conversion of the historic Hope Webbing Company into the thriving, multi-use Hope Artist Village. That development has attracted more than 100 tenants, including Seven Stars Bakery, Farm Fresh RI, New Harvest Coffee and the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame, of which Gazdacko is a founding board member. He has lived in Providence since 2011 and currently resides with his wife on Harrison Street. In 2012, they purchased the vacant lot next door to their home and turned it into an urban farm.

“I don’t undertake this endeavor lightly,” Gazdacko said of his candidacy. “I look at what’s happening in our politics, both locally and nationally, and I find reasons for inspiration. People are getting engaged and making their voices heard. We have so many first-time candidates and first-time voters. Answering the call to public service is one of the most important and solemn responsibilities we have as citizens. I look forward to working every day on behalf of the citizens of District 9.”

Former legislator Lisa Tomasso is running for the House seat she once held representing parts of Coventry and West Warwick against Republican incumbent Sherrie Roberts, Tomasso announced in a news release today.

“Civic involvement is in my blood and I look forward to this opportunity to represent the people of Coventry and West Greenwich at the State House,” Tomasso said in the news release. “I ’ve always felt a call to be active in my community, from serving on the Coventry School Committee to my current job battling the addiction crisis in Rhode Island. I believe that so much good can be accomplished for the people of Rhode Island, and I’m eager to get to work doing just that.”

Tomasso is one of several liberal-leaning former legislators who are running against Republicans who knocked them from office two years ago. Others include Larry Valencia, Catherine Cool Rumsey and Linda Finn (whose Republican counterpart has already decided against running for reelection).

In 2014, Roberts narrowly beat Tomasso by 247 votes, 2,805 people voted for Roberts and 2,558 voted for Tomasso. Tomasso was a legislator since 2010, when first won the House seat previously held by Ray Sullivan, now an organizer for NEA-RI.

Tomasso said in her release that public education is a high priority for her.

“As a mother, our educational system has always been of great importance to me,” she said. “Finding the best ways to educate our children, along with encouraging and nurturing their development and skills, is a tremendous responsibility and should always be of paramount importance to the state.”

Below is Tomasso’s full press release.

Building on a lifetime of civic engagement and as an enthusiastic supporter of parental involvement in our schools, Lisa Tomasso today declared her candidacy for state representative as a Democrat in District 29, which includes portions of Coventry and West Greenwich.

Tomasso, a resident of Coventry, laid out her platform of improving the economic and regulatory climate for small business, supporting education, keeping a lid on taxes and championing efforts aimed at substance abuse recovery.

“I’ve always felt a call to be active in my community, from serving on the Coventry School Committee to my current job battling the addiction crisis in Rhode Island,” said Tomasso. “Civic involvement is in my blood and I look forward to this opportunity to represent the people of Coventry and West Greenwich at the State House. I believe that so much good can be accomplished for the people of Rhode Island, and I’m eager to get to work doing just that.”

After her time on the school committee, Tomasso represented the people of District 29 in the House of Representatives, where she continued advocating for a strong educational system as a member of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare. Meeting often with students and educators, she helped develop an anti-bullying program in the state educational system and served on a panel to assess the implementation of a better statewide curriculum.

She was invited by the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education to serve on its Ambassador Design Team to develop and write the strategic plan for elementary and secondary education in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Library Association also named her as Representative of the Year for going above and beyond in support of the state’s libraries.

“As a mother, our educational system has always been of great importance to me,” said Tomasso, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island. “Finding the best ways to educate our children, along with encouraging and nurturing their development and skills, is a tremendous responsibility and should always be of paramount importance to the state.”

Tomasso has brought her civic-mindedness into the classroom, encouraging students to become active in their communities and learn about lawmaking. She recently taught a group of children at Washington Oak Elementary School, explaining to the how a simple idea can be transformed into law, simply by taking part in the democratic process.

Tomasso has also advocated to preserve open space and the region’s many lakes.  She worked extensively with Save The Lakes, a statewide coalition focused on preserving Rhode Island’s freshwater lakes like Lake Mishnock, and advocated for the passage of legislation to protect against aquatic invasive species and to address water quality issues.

Tomasso is also a big believer in reforming the red tape that often suffocate the creation and development of Rhode Island’s small businesses. Tomasso said she found it encouraging that the state has taken efforts to make things easier for small businesses, such as reducing the minimum corporate tax and overhauling unemployment insurance, but said the state still has a long way to go.

“Ultimately, I’d like to see the minimum corporate tax disappear entirely,” she said. “I’d also like to see the state ease the regulatory burden on small business. We’ve made steps in the right direction, with measures such as ending the fuel tax, but we need to build on that taking away more and more of that burden every year.”

Tomasso, who also served on the House Oversight Committee, was particularly concerned about the delay most Rhode Islanders experienced in receiving this year’s tax refunds.

“That delay was totally unacceptable,” said Tomasso. “I know people who had to wait months for refunds — which is money that belongs to them. I will make it a priority to keep an eye on the Division of Taxation to ensure that agency does whatever it can to rectify the situation before next tax season.”

A longtime advocate of strong ethics reform, Tomasso was thrilled to see the General Assembly pass legislation that will put a question on November’s ballot to amend the state constitution, giving the Ethics Commission full jurisdiction over state legislators.

“I will be so happy to step into the voting booth on Nov. 8 to vote yes on ethics reform, and I urge everyone else to do the same,” said Tomasso. “I look forward to returning to the General Assembly with the encouragement that a third party is overseeing all the actions of state legislators.”

Tomasso works as the community relations manager for The Providence Center, an organization that specializes in intervention, treatment and recovery in behavioral health.

“My time spent working for The Providence Center has truly shaped the way I feel about addiction and recovery,” said Tomasso. “For too long we have thought of addiction as someone else’s problem, a lifestyle choice or a result of bad parenting. Addiction is everyone’s business and while there are social determinants that place certain individuals at higher risk than others, addiction is not a choice. Addiction is a disease and recovery is possible.”

As an advocate for recovery, Tomasso has received the community service award from the Rhode Island Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependence.

Tomasso will officially kick off her campaign on Sunday, July 10, from 1 to 5 p.m. at her new campaign headquarters at 1193 Tiogue Ave. near the intersection of Reservoir Road. The public is invited to tour the space and meet with Lisa Tomasso. Refreshments will be provided.

RIPTA decided to end free bus fare for these riders earlier this year. The House budget restored free fares for the elderly and disabled until January. Advocates say it would cost the state $800,000 to extend the service for the entire year.

RIPTA riders who utilize the reduced fare spoke at the rally about why they need it and how it affects their lives.

“If we already can’t afford to get to and from places and RIPTA raises the fare where does that leave us,” asked Michael Viera, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. “If this program doesn’t exist I would not be able to make it to all my doctor appointments.”

A developmentally disabled man said, “If I don’t ride bus free I will be lonely and stranded.”

Another RIPTA rider added, “It will not only restore the sanity to our souls, it will also keep us materially safer.”

Malcus Mills, an organizer with DARE, said, “The board at RIPTA are not thinking of the people they serve. They are not thinking about us. They are not thinking about the low income folks who need this the most.”

One woman called it, “simply a matter of justice. The fact is RIPTA gets funding from all of us through our taxpayer dollars. The fact that we all pay into it, we all should be able to access it. We should not be segregated from other people.”

Another said, “I know there is money in the budget, they just want to squander it on their friends.”

Camilo Viveiros also spoke about legislators role in the process. “Are they going to use their expertise to assist the most vulnerable? Or are they going to throw people who are disabled and seniors literally under the bus?”

Randall Rose added, “We have to keep fighting for this. We already achieved something. RIPTA wanted to raise the fares in July, but we postponed it at least six months and we can keep doing it as long as we keep coming out here.”

Things are now coming to a head.

The recently revealed House budget includes money to put off the fare increase for six months, until January, but doesn’t quite put in enough funds to stop the fare increase altogether. RIPTA Riders Alliance is working to fight this, and there are several easy things people can do to help.  When the budget comes up for a House vote Wednesday, there will be a proposed amendment to add a small amount of funds to RIPTA ($800,000) and stop the fare increase.  Many disabled people and seniors have said publicly in the past year that they cannot afford to pay what RIPTA wants on their limited income, and RIPTA admits that they expect steep drops in how many bus trips disabled and senior Rhode Islanders will take.  Fortunately, there are ways to make this better.

1. One way people can help is by signing our online petition — it automatically sends messages to the State House when you sign. Please also share the petition link with others — we need people to respond quickly.
2. Another thing you can do to help is to contact your state representative and state senator and ask them both to support budget amendments: $800,000 more for RIPTA to stop this attempt to squeeze more money from RI’s limited-income disabled and seniors who are already facing challenges.  Go to vote.ri.gov to find your elected officials’ contact info — you can call them and/or email. RIPTA Riders Alliance has been distributing a flyer about this.
3. Finally, RIPTA Riders Alliance will hold an event at 1:30 this Tuesday at the State House to talk about how important this is. We are sending the message that if Rhode Island’s senior and disabled people can’t afford to travel, they will be stuck at home, less able to shop, volunteer and visit loved ones — and isolation is deadly for seniors and the disabled.  Protest makes a difference sometimes!  Please come at 1:30 on Tuesday at the State House — and let people know about the Facebook event page.

Ironically, we’re facing this terrible fare hike on the most vulnerable because of a sneaky General Assembly move last year.  When the House debated the budget last year, the House Finance Chair at the time, Raymond Gallison, put in a last-minute amendment to allow (that is, encourage) RIPTA to charge more to limited-income seniors and disabled people.  Since then Gallison has had to resign.  But it’s fitting that what began with one last-minute budget amendment is now leading to another, this time to save the most vulnerable who have been targeted as budget victims in the past.  An amendment will be proposed in the House for Wednesday’s debate, and we are hoping to get an amendment in the Senate, too.

More useful information is available on RIPTA Riders Alliance’s Facebook page.