“I lost my job and just wasn’t able to sustain my apartment,” she explained. It was 2007, and she found refuge at Lucy’s Hearth. While the staff was excellent, D’Ambra said, “the building was so gloomy and scary.”

Not so with Lucy’s Hearth’s new facility on Valley Road, which was unveiled to great fanfare on Thursday. Tara and Olivia D’Ambra were featured guests.

The newly renovated 9,300 square foot building has 14 bedrooms, each with a private bathroom and two, two-bedroom suites for families. There’s a brand new kitchen, a computer lab and two laundry rooms. It has 60 percent more capacity than the old space.

“This building will change the way we design services for moms and kids,” said Jennifer Barrera, the director of Lucy’s Hearth. The old facility, said Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, “just wasn’t designed for kids.”

The new facility is. There are play rooms for young children, as well as a teen lounge. The rooms are colorful, and adorned with quotations such as “The greatest thing in this world is not so much where you stand as in what direction you are moving” and “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” There are two different playgrounds on the 2.2 acre campus.

“I’m so happy for all the families who get to move into this top notch facility,” said D’Ambra, “happy not because they are homeless but happy because I know they will get the help they need here to transition back into housing, back to thir life, back to their community.”

Lucy’s Hearth has been around since 1984 as a night-to-night shelter for women and children. It “delivers holistic wrap-around services for resident mothers and their children including case management, daily nutritional meals, mental health treatment, referral and advocacy, early intervention for children 0-3 years of age, life skill training, financial literacy education, on-site GED education and more,” according to a press release.

This year alone, Lucy’s Hearth has provided services to 74 women and 79 children. It has served more than 25,000 meals in 2016 and provided close to 5,000 transitional bed nights.

Barbara Fields, the executive director of Rhode Island Housing, said, “this new building enables Lucy’s Hearth to expand its support services for families who may not know where else to turn.” She also used the event to campaign for question 7 on the ballot, which would direct $50 million to create affordable housing and repair blighted neighborhoods. Senator Jack Reed, long a supporter of Lucy’s Hearth, also attended the opening.

During the exchange the Governor was given information on the impacts of MTBE contaminated water and she pledged that on Friday she will officially announce the date of her community meeting in Burrillville.

House Speaker Nick Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed said they are pleased to add new layers of transparency to the community service grants and are satisfied with the existing layers of transparency with the legislative grants.

Paiva Weed said one reason not to address the smaller legislative grants is they were overhauled under the direction of former state Senator Michael Lenihan. Mattiello said another reason is legislative grants are often smaller.

But not always.

The speaker gave two legislative grants to the Cranston Police Department for $46,000 and another $25,000 grant to “Justice Assistance” in Cranston, according to this list of legislative grants.  Mattiello said Cranston didn’t receive the additional funding because it is in any greater need than any other police department in the state, but rather because it was the only department to ask for a grant.

“I have never rejected an application” for a legislative grant, Mattiello said. “Everyone says the speaker utilizes them to give out and curry favor. It’s not what we use them, it’s not my practice.”

Other than the legislative grant to the Cranston police, most of these grants are much smaller. There are some $2 million worth of legislative grants given out each year. There were $11 million worth in community service grants and legislative leaders said that total will be cut by several million. The remaining grant money, they said, will be given to state departments to award in a competitive bidding process to organizations that will be subject to state audit.

Critics of the grant programs say legislators use them to curry favor in their districts. The grant programs became more politically toxic when former Rep. Ray Gallison, who recently resigned amid a a state and federal investigation of him, was found to ask for a community service grant for an organization, whose work is unclear, that employs him.

One prominent Rhode Island business owner, whose business has “been a member of the Chamber for almost as long as there’s been a Chamber” told me that contrary to GPCC President Laurie White‘s claims that this issue has been discussed with membership, he was never consulted about the plan, despite his business’s dependence on trucks for shipping. In fact, he said, “I didn’t even hear about this meeting until I heard about it on the radio this morning!”

As I said before, RhodeWorks is inevitable. The legislation has been fast tracked not because there is a sudden, urgent need to fix our roads and bridges; the need for this repair is decades old. The legislation is being fast tracked because the necessary arrangements between the various parties involved have been carefully worked out, but in an election year, meaning that the sooner elected officials put this issue in their rear view mirror the better. Several legislators are going to be challenged for their seats because of their votes on this.

Not that Republican challengers are offering anything better. As Sam Bell pointed out yesterday, the Republican plan seems to be privatization, which means private businesses will take over our roads and bridges and charge whatever tolls they want to for profit, or their plan is cutting the budget, denying important social services to families in need. (Not to worry, though: Senate President Paiva-Weed promises that she and Speaker Mattiello will continue to cut the budget, cut taxes and cut services. More on this in a future article.)

The cost of RhodeWorks will be passed onto consumers. Ocean State Job Lot raised a stink over the weekend when they put their expansion plans on hold, threatening as yet unrealized jobs, but after this all pans out, Job Lot will not lose out on any profits: They will simply raise the price of their goods. This means that we are not imposing a user fee on businesses as much as we are coming up with yet another regressive tax that will affect the poor and middle class more than the rich, which is just the way our political leaders like it.

The General Assembly is expected to pass RhodeWorks today, and Governor Raimondo will sign the legislation asap. In the meantime, you can watch the full press conference below.

Laurie White, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) President

RI Governor Gina Raimondo

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza

Peter Andruszkiewicz, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island CEO and President

Scott Wolf, Grow Smart Rhode Island Executive Director

Lloyd Albert, AAA of Southern New England Senior Vice President

Michael F. Sabitoni, Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council President

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello

Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed

Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt,
Central Falls Mayor James Diossa and
Lt. Governor Dan McKee were in attendance but did not speak.

RhodeWorks

The idea of installing 14 tolling gantries and charging trucks up to $20 to transport goods through our state is key to Governor Gina Raimondo’s plan to generate the funds needed to repair Rhode Island’s crumbling bridges and roads. There is a logic to this: Trucks are heavy and do the most damage to the roads so they should pay their share.

In her State of the State address, Governor Raimondo said, “While we’re at it, let’s reject the politics of procrastination and pass RhodeWorks.” Both House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed have strongly supported the program.

The revised RhodeWorks plan is cheaper, and is to include a strict prohibition on tolling cars without a public referendum. “Generally,” said Mattiello, “I don’t like referendum questions.” But he included this feature in the truck toll bill to cut off opposition to the plan based on the slippery slope: tolling trucks will now not lead to tolling cars without a majority vote from the public.

At the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce (GCPP), Mattiello said, “I’ve thought about this more than any of you care to.” Mattiello says he’s consulted experts on the economic impact, and that the “experts say it is going to improve the economy… I don’t know any way to do this without listening to the experts.”

The GCPP is a strong, vocal supporter of the truck toll bill, as are the Building Trades. Michael Sabitoni, President of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council was a welcomed, if surprising guest at the GPCC luncheon.

After the GPCC luncheon, about five hundred members of the various building trades and their allies showed up at the State House to express their support for RhodeWorks. So many union members showed up it took over an hour for them all to enter through the metal detectors. There was supposed to be a speaking program from union leaders, and maybe it happened, but I had to leave.

It didn’t matter. Labor made their point. They want (and need) the jobs that come with fixing our bridges and roads.

Rhode Island needs to repair and upgrade its infrastructure and government, business and labor are all in agreement that the debate as to how to pay for it is over: The plan is RhodeWorks.

She describes her vision of transforming Rhode Island into a national leader in sustainability and resilient-related industries in a new document called the Grow Green Jobs Report, which lays out a vision for Rhode Island’s economy that would closely mirror ideas being implemented in her hometown. Last week, Newport officials testified at the House Commission on Economic Impacts of Flooding and Sea Rise about how the City-by-the-Sea is poised to both suffer and benefit from rising oceans.

“The Rhode Island Senate has identified the green sector of the economy as one that offers great opportunity for both job growth and environmental benefits,” the Grow Green Jobs Report says. “As the Ocean State, our economy and people have experienced the impacts of severe storms, rising sea levels and warming temperatures. We have the workforce and educational assets to build upon – to turn these challenging events into opportunities for a stronger economy and a more resilient state.”

Paiva Weed is leading a round table discussion today at 2pm in the Senate Lounge. “Participants will include the Chambers of Commerce, DEM, Office of Energy Resources, DLT, Resource Recovery, Department of Education, Higher Ed, Build RI, and others from the environmental community and green industries,” said Senate spokesman Greg Pare in an email.

The legislation that accompanies the report is expected to be filed today, Pare said. The policy recommendations in the report give an idea of what the legislation will include:

1. Expand Real Jobs RI’s planning and implementation grants to include green industries.
2. The Governor’s Workforce Board should create workforce training programs to support well-paying clean energy jobs, including establishing career pathways and internships to ensure accessibility at all income levels.
3. Incentivize the creation and expansion of STEM/STEAM into all Rhode Island elementary and secondary schools, including certificate and pathways to higher education degree programs to prepare students in green technologies.
4. Encourage our public higher education institutions to partner with green sector businesses to identify areas of job demand and to develop certificate and degree programs in a public report.
5. Encourage our public higher education institutions to further develop degree programs leading to employment in the areas of climate change risk evaluation, sustainability, resiliency and adaptation.
6. Extend the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) that provides for annual increases in the percentage of electricity from renewable sources that National Grid supplies to its customers.
7. Incentivize in-state generation of renewable energy by expanding the Renewable Energy Growth (REG) Program, ensuring that more jobs and the economic benefits of renewable energy stay in Rhode Island.
8. Implement an efficiency program for delivered fuels customers, adding construction jobs and assisting households with oil and propane fuel costs.
9. Expand the RES to include renewable thermal technologies, such as geothermal heating and biofuels, which produce energy for heating, cooling or humidity control.
10. Institute policies that will reduce the price of solar installation and support the anticipated five-fold increase in solar power over the next decade.
11. Implement a streamlined statewide permitting program that removes unnecessary regulatory barriers, resulting in a predictable and less costly process for solar developers.
12. Establish statewide property tax standards for small residential and commercial solar projects.
13. Reinstate a state incentive for the installation of residential renewable energy systems.
14. Rhode Island Commerce Corporation should provide specific job development incentives to companies that process and add value to Rhode Island’s agricultural and seafood products. The increased demand for local farm grown products will create additional production and logistics jobs.
15. The Office of Regulatory Reform should work with state agencies and business representatives to review existing regulations that apply to Rhode Island plant-based industries and agriculture, identifying opportunities to coordinate across agencies and simplifying rules that apply to these businesses.
16. Task Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) with submitting an economic impact study of Rhode Island’s solid waste industries (recycling, reuse, trash hauling, recycling food waste, composting) to identify the most effective ways to develop jobs related to increased recycling in Rhode Island.
17. Establish a goal to increase recycling to at least 50% of the state’s solid waste stream by 2025 and direct RIRRC to develop strategies to achieve that goal.

It was by far the biggest meeting I had ever seen at Rochambeau Library, and bigger than any crowd I have seen at any of the PawSox listening tours. The crowd filled the room and overflowed into the halls. About 125 people attended the Providence Campaign Against the Stadium organizational meeting in Providence Monday night. Organizers Sam Bell, Sharon Steele, Tim Empke and Suzanne Mark conducted a meeting to recruit help in defeating the building of a new PawSox stadium in Providence.

Those in attendance were unhappy with elected officials who have decided to reserve judgement and not come out against giving the PawSox owners taxpayer monies and/or tax breaks. They also came out because they are strongly in favor of keeping the land in question true to its original intention as a public park open to all. The consensus seems to be that the vast majority of Rhode Islanders are opposed to any kind of stadium deal, and that elected officials such as Governor Gina Raimondo, Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed are not listening to their constituents even as they negotiate in secret with PawSox management.

Part of the campaign’s strategy has been collecting signatures to pressure the Providence City Council into rejecting any kind of tax deal for the Stadium. Enough signatures have been collected to force the City Council to take up the issue and the campaign is actively collecting the signatures needed to put the stadium initiative on the ballot. If Providence rejects the stadium, then the stadium cannot be built.

However, Mayor Jorge Elorza has joined state elected officials in not taking any kind of stand against the stadium, adopting the same wait-and-see attitude. This annoyed many of those who were at the Rochambeau meeting, who feel that the East Side helped to elect the Mayor, and that he should be more receptive to the opinions of voters than to the interests of out of state millionaires.

If eight members of the Providence City Council come out strongly against the deal, the stadium is a dead issue, but there is a catch. The General Assembly has the power to rewrite local laws and over ride the Providence City Council or the voters of Providence. They have done so in the past when referendums threaten corporate interests. Last year the General Assembly passed legislation (as a budget amendment to avoid public commentary) taking away the rights of cities and towns to set their own minimum wages as a gift to The Procaccianti Group, which runs several hotels downtown and around the world.

The Campaign organizers thought this scenario unlikely.

After the main meeting the group separated into several working groups, concentrating on different aspects of the campaign.

By way of contrast, two hours earlier the PawSox sales team was in the Barrington Town Hall as part of their ongoing “listening tour” to be held in every city and town in Rhode island. Charles Steinberg, who usually conducts these meetings since the death of Jim Skeffington, was not on hand because he was helping with the celebrations around the induction of Pedro Martinez into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This left the sales duties to organizer Sydney McKenna, special assistant to Larry Lucchino Dan Rea III and Red Sox accountant Jeff White.

Things did not go great.

The crowd of about 40 people were forced to submit all questions in writing before hand under the watchful eyes of two hired police officers. No one spoke up in favor of the stadium, many people spoke out against it. Former Attorney General Arlene Violet was in attendance, and she pounded the speakers with tough questions, often speaking up out of turn to make her points. It was the only way to express an opinion to the room given the format of the meeting.

Violet pushed back hard against the contention that nearly 50 percent of those attending PawSox games come from out of state. She asked where the numbers Jeff White was putting out were coming from. White said that the PawSox have been polling those coming to the game for the past five weeks.

When Violet countered that the poll lacked any kind of validity, White scowled. Sydney McKenna, former campaign manager for talk show host Buddy Cianci’s bid for Mayor of Providence commented that she missed having Violet on the radio.

After the meeting a Barrington native told me he felt insulted by the sales team. He was disgusted by their disregard of the public’s opinion and by what he considered to be the combative nature of Jeff White.

Comité en Acción is leading the charge on getting driver’s licenses for undocumented workers in Rhode Island. Senate bill 391, which “would allow the department of motor vehicles to issue driving privilege licenses and driving privilege permits to applicants unable to establish lawful presence in the United States” has been held for further study, which is General Assembly language for “going nowhere.”

But the fight isn’t over yet.

I spoke to Sabine Adrian and Catarina Lorenzo, two leaders with Comité en Acción who are leading volunteers in a phone banking effort targeting Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed, who has the power to bring the legislation to the floor for a vote in the Senate.

According to Sophia Wright, “States like Chicago, California, New Jersey and Connecticut, to name a few, have already taken the step towards greater equality by passing similar laws that provide licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.”

During the May 21 public testimony on the bill, said Adrian, those in favor of allowing licenses for all were in the majority. Arguments against the bill almost exclusively focused on what opponents refer to as illegal immigration, but these issues are not really related. Allowing licenses prevents workers from operating a motor vehicle without the required training and testing. iT becomes a safety issue, and a quality of life issue for workers and their families.  The licenses allowed under this bill would not usable for the purpose of legal identification.

The Comité en Acción is not the only organization in the fight. They are part of a coalition, Todos Somos Arizona, that includes the Olneyville Neighborhood Association, English for Action, RI Jobs with Justice, RI Jobs with Justice, the American Friends Service Committee, Fuerza Laboral and others.

Those in favor of this legislation can sign this petition at MoveOn.

You could also call Senate President Paiva-Weed and let her know that you support this important bill.

“Business leaders have spoken of the difficulty finding workers with the skills needed to fill job vacancies,” the press release says, “and the Senate has made improving the education and workforce development systems to address the skills gap a priority.”

Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Rhode Island College President Nancy Carriulo will open the forum with remarks. “The forum will include a panel discussion among business leaders, including John Muggeridge, vice president of public affairs for Fidelity Investments, Michal Ryan, vice president of government affairs for National Grid, and William McCourt, executive director of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association,” says the press release.

There will also be two keynote addresses from “nationally renowned leaders in higher education” Joshua Wyner, of the Aspen Institute, and Cheryl Orr Dixon, former senior vice president and chief of staff for Complete College America.

Wyner, according to a bio provided by the State House, has worked on the “Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which strives to reward and shine a spotlight on community colleges that deliver exceptional student results and stimulate replication of successful campus practices, and the New College Leadership Project, which works to strengthen efforts to recruit and professionally develop college presidents who are driven by – and capable of – substantially improving student success.”

Dixon’s bio says she “has more than 25 years of experience in public policy, advocacy and leading initiatives to improve college preparation, access and success.” She has a singular mission, according to her bio: “to work with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with college degrees and to close attainment gaps for underrepresented populations.”

The Summit is open to the public, in room 110 of Alger Hall at RIC, 5:00-7:30pm, Wednesday, March 11.

“I do remain concerned about the potential health affects,” she said before the start of the Senate session on Thursday. “We just recently decriminalized marijuana.”

She said the potential revenue should not be a compelling reason to end marijuana prohibition.

“Revenue is something that always gets people’s attention, she said. “However I believe that the decision to legalize marijuana should be made in conjunction with law enforcement and our health officials and not be revenue driven.”

Jared Moffat, of Regulate Rhode Island, the advocacy group pushing for legalization, said skepticism allows drug dealers to maintain control of the marijuana market.

“We don’t need to ‘wait and see’ any longer to know that prohibition is the worst possible policy for marijuana,” Moffat said. “Prohibition simply ensures that marijuana will be sold in an unregulated, dangerous illicit market. It’s time to take control away from illegal dealers and put marijuana behind the counter of legitimate businesses where it can be taxed, controlled, and regulated.”

Paiva Weed represents Newport (and Jamestown), a city driven by a tourism economy that would certainly see benefits from legal marijuana. But Newport voters recently rejected a local referendum that would have allowed Newport Grand to have table games, thus making it more of a traditional casino. It’s unclear if Newporters are similarly opposed to ending marijuana prohibition as they have been to expanding gambling.