Stein, a doctor from Massachusetts and the Green Party’s standard bearer for the second election in a row, will visit the CCRI campus in Warwick on Saturday, August 22. She’s the keynote speaker at the Green Gathering, an annual meeting of local Green Party members and supporters.

Unlike even Sanders, Stein offers a real alternative to mainstream political candidates. She endorses a $15 federal minimum wage, ending poverty by creating a job for everyone through a “Green New Deal.” And she’s been critical of campaigns like Sanders’ which seeks to change the party from within.

“What Bernie is doing, speaking truth to power, is a wonderful thing,” Stein said, according to ThinkProgress in June. “It’s been done many times before within the Democratic Party. But one only has to look at the inspired campaign of Jesse Jackson to see where that goes. It’s a wonderful flourish, but when it’s over, it’s over. And the party continues to march to the right. These reform efforts within the Democratic Party feel good for those who participate, but at the end of the day, they have not built a foundation for the future.”

Stein will be joined by Sherrie Anne Andre, one of the FANG activists who have been fighting the expansion of methane gas in Rhode Island and David Fisher, a former Green Party candidate for mayor of Woonsocket, who will speak about local elections.

Here are the details of the Green Gathering, from Greg Gerritt:

I was just having a coffee cabinet and some dynamites, thinking about yesterday’s SCORI decision in the Woonsocket and Pawtucket School Committee’s case to alter and accelerate school funding for these two cities, when it occurred to me that I should reach out to you all because, who knows better what’s good for a city than the city itself? Am I right?

So, my  good friend, Dave Fisher has allowed my the use of his mind and body to pen this missive, as it were. (For the record, this guy drinks way too much coffee, and is absolutely the worst typist in the world.) So here goes. I know you don’t get a constituent request from an actual community every day, so take a minute. Have  a seat. Drink some water. Continue when you’ve regained your senses.

Scratch that. That might take forever for some of you.

I think I should get a bonus for exceeding state affordable housing guidelines. Frankly, so should my brothers Providence, Central Falls, Newport, New Shoreham – or Block Island to the natives, and…oh, right, that’s it. That’s right. Only 5 communities in Rhode Island meet and exceed state minimum housing requirements.

Notice that last word.

Requirements.

As in required.

You see, my four stalwart brothers and I have, in good faith, not only met – but exceeded – your requirements, leaving my remaining 31 brothers seemingly remiss in their dedication to a diversified Rhode Island; a place where people of all colors, creeds, orientations, and tax brackets can live peacefully. I would suggest the carrot and the stick. Those communities who fail to make efforts and progress toward the just goal of a mere 10 percent of their housing stock qualifying as affordable, shall have a proportional reduction in any state education and human services assistance. The withheld assistance shall be proportionally distributed to towns that exceed the state’s requirements.  There’s that pesky word again!

While we’re on housing, can you do something about all the old mills around. I’ve lost count of how many mill fires have happened on my soil. How about a tax incentive for developers who refurbish existing commercial structures and land into mixed use developments, provided that the development meets LEED standards.  Those old structures aren’t typically very good when it comes to energy efficiency. I think the building trades would love this!

Dave has assured me, that I could use his corporeal form as a vessel whenever I choose, so until next time.

Love,

Woonsocket

As was reported by Jim Baron in The Woonsocket Call, newly elected House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello visited Woonsocket recently. While I only became aware of his visit after the fact, and was disappointingly not invited to the Rotary Club luncheon that he addressed, I should like to address the Speaker through this most public of forums, the interwebs.

Mattiello, with House Majority Leader John DeSimone in tow, was given a tour of the city by Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, and our delegation to the House of Representatives Reps. Stephen Casey, Bob Phillips, and Mike Morin. Stops on the tour included WWII Memorial Park – the only state park in the city – our barely breathing Diamond Hill retail district, Landmark Medical Center, The Plastics Group, and a visit to an Advanced Placement Government class at Woonsocket High School. After the tour, Baron reports that the Speaker said, “I got a good  view of Woonsocket today. You’ve got some great things going on, but there is also blight in certain areas.”

That comment makes me wonder if the tour wasn’t a bit sugar-coated by the Mayor and our Representatives because, frankly, the entire city is suffering from blight.

Even the city’s swankiest neighborhoods – the North End and East Woonsocket – are rife with homes that have been abandoned due to the foreclosure crisis and skyrocketing property taxes. The two largest commercial plots in the Fairmount neighborhood -which happen to be directly opposite one another on the banks of the Blackstone – look like a warzone. The spectre of non-resident tenement and corporate development owners looms large on streets like 3rd Ave., Pond St., Chester St., and many others. The decline of the city is no more evident than on Main St., where one of the most historic buildings in the city, the Commercial Block, is slated for condemnation.

While addressing the Rotary Club, Mattiello stressed the importance of infrastructure and education saying, “We have to stop having an infrastructure that our citizens complain about,” and that, “A well trained, well-educated workforce produces more and makes us better citizens.” I agree with Mattiello on these points, but have to ask, isn’t the lack of state funding in both of these areas a major driver of the decline of Woonsocket’s roads, bridges, and education system?

Baron admits in the story that the crowd at the luncheon was, “heavy with businessmen and women,” and toward the end of the article writes that when Mattiello was questioned on taxes, he responded, “I’m looking at the corporate tax. I want to get rid of the inheritance tax cliff.”

This ranks among the top three most tone-deaf things I’ve heard fall from the lips of any politician. The top two are Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comment, and George W. Bush’s, “Mission accomplished.”

First, most folks in Woonsocket, even businessmen and women, don’t give a damn about the corporate income tax. What Woonsocket businesses need – and I’d argue most businesses in any of Rhode Island’s four core cities –  is property tax relief. Besides, if you look at the corporate tax returns in Rhode Island, the majority of businesses in Rhode Island aren’t paying anywhere near the 9 percent that is written into our tax structure.

Second, does anyone out there think that the inheritance tax “cliff” of $921,655 matters at all to people in a city where the median income is $39,000/year?

Mattiello also said that Woonsocket is, “…a city that needs our attention right now.” Let’s file this one under, “No shit, Sherlock.”

Woonsocket has needed attention, not only from the state, but from our own elected officials for the last 30 years. We needed attention way back in 1991, when a young Dave Fisher had to protest outside of Woonsocket High School to keep our sports, music, and arts programs funded. We needed attention when – then city councilor, now council President – Albert Brien, sold a tract of land on the Woonsocket/N. Smithfield border to developer who then poached Wal-Mart and Lowe’s from our Diamond Hill retail district. We needed attention when we crossed the threshold of state mandated affordable housing, putting an onerous strain on our city’s education and human services budgets. We needed attention when our only state park was falling into disrepair, yet the budget for DEM continued to be slashed. Where was the state support in these instances?

What makes Woonsocket’s situation even more maddening is the fact that, for 150 years, Woonsocket was a key economic and social driver in Rhode Island. It was a place where blue-collar folks could go to make a decent living, and maybe afford that little beach house in Matunuck. Unfortunately, since the decline of the manufacturing economy in the state, it seems that our state government has written Woonsocket off as not salvageable; talk about adding insult to injury.

Please forgive my cynicism and compound metaphor, but the state has all too often pulled the rug out from under Woonsocket while simultaneously shoving us under the bus. For as little faith as I have in our newly elected mayor, I have even less faith that our state government will – or even can – help to save the once vibrant city of Woonsocket.

Monday Dec 9, 2013
North Kingstown, RI – Good morning, Ocean State. This is Bob Plain, editor and publisher of the RI Future blog podcasting to you from The Hideaway on the banks of the Mattatuxet River behind the Shady Lea Mill in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

It’s Monday, December 9th, and there is snow on the ground for the first time this winter but it’s quickly turning into freezing rain … but   in even worse news for commuters, WPRO’s hate-radio shock jock John DePetro will probably be back on the air today after a mysterious week in exile off that culminated with him calling into his own show to apologize for calling female activists whores.

The week before DePetro went into exile, the Providence Journal had reported – incorrectly I should note – that labor’s attempt to get Alex And Ani to stop advertising with WPRO because of DePeptro’s misogynistic comments had failed. Since then, the campaign has gone viral with several national labor leaders pushing the boycott on social networks.

In a press release on Friday, For Our Daughters, said, “This is now a national campaign and will touch Cumulus advertisers in multiple media markets.” Make no mistake, Cumulus and WPRO management take that threat very seriously….

And here’s the other pressure point: union strategists say they are asking every single elected official in Rhode Island to boycott WPRO until DePetro is gone.

For years, Rhode Islanders of all political stripes, including this blog, have made a moral arguments about getting rid of DePetro … credit the labor movement for speaking a language a corporate-owned radio station will listen to: their wallets. …As my weekly podcast colleague Mark Gray pointed out on Thursday, remember this next time someone tells you unions aren’t doing good for everyone in the Ocean State!

Click here to sign the petition.

The other big story this week will be the Exeter recall: both the ProJo and the AP had in-depth weekend stories on the issue and RIPR plans a series on the recall for later this week.

At issue, in a nutshell, is a bunch of right-wingers and gun nuts have formed an alliance to recall the Democrats on the Town Council because they outsourced issuing gun permits to the state. But the real reason they are being recalled certainly has more to do with a provision in the town charter that calls for the next highest vote getter to replace recalled councilors. Ah, the Rhode Island Republican Party … if you can’t win, find a loophole.

…Ok, I’m wondering if I read this right in today’s Providence Journal: Woonsocket candidates to fill Lisa Baldelli Hunt’s seat in the legislature have less than 48 hours to declare? Dave Fisher, if you’re listening, get your paper work in order, because progressives all over the state would love to see you make a run for a seat in the House of Representatives.

And speaking of Woonsocket … and being in exile, for that matter, the ProJo also reports this morning that old RI Future frenemy Jon Brien is back and serving as Woonoskcet’s city prosecutor … The former ALEC Democrat has been laying very low since he lost his bid for reelection … and I welcome my old pal back to the fray.

EcoRI reports that bike sharing is coming to Providence … a Portland, Oregon company applied for and received permission to start the program and is now looking for funding … might I suggest asking uber, the company that had a harder time setting up a similar business with cars…

Tonight at the Peace Dale congregational church, Rhode Islander who moved to Israel 8 years ago, will be showing a documentary on the Palestinian village of Susya, which is scheduled for demolition…

Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reports that the Obama Administration didn’t tell the whole truth when it came to Syria’s chemical weapons programs … but what might be most interesting about this is the New Yorker, where Hersh usually drops his bombshells passed on this one. So did the Washington Post. It was published by the London Review of Books, and proofed by a former New Yorker fact checker. Someone is loosing some cache over this one: it could be Obama, it could be the New Yorker or it could be the Hersh. Stay tuned…

Hey, yesterday I found a dead otter on the side of Rte. 4, and several people were surprised we have these fury semi-aquatic mammals in the Ocean State, so I’m going to be doing some reporting on them later this week.

Also … I’d like to thank Congressman Jim Langevin and the thousands of other Rhode Islanders who came by the Shady Lea Mill this weekend for our annual open studios party. As I told the congressman, with more than 40 artists and artisans here at the mill, we’re probably the densest cluster of commerce in the West Bay. And thanks to the general assembly, the artists here – or anywhere in the Ocean State – don’t have to pay sales tax anymore. This is real live economic development for Rhode Island that maybe didn’t get a ton of attention because it doesn’t adhere to the normal political dichotomies … tax haters and artists rarely have cause to celebrate the same social causes but they do in this case … and rumor has it the New York Times is working on a story about it…

Today in 1921, GM engineers discovered that putting lead into gasoline was good for car engines. Two years later, when leaded gasoline was first sold to consumers, the guy who invented it couldn’t make the ceremony because was bed-ridden because of lead poisoning. Lead poisoning would kill two of his colleagues and several Standard Oil employees who manufactured it. The worst part is GM could have achieved the same result by adding alcohol to gasoline, but there was no way to patent that. Not until 1995, did we finally outlaw leaded gas.

EJ Dionne, a Washington Post op-ed writer originally from Fall River, says it’s cool to be a blue collar again.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) boom-and- bust cycle continued in Woonsocket this month, but not all local grocers benefit to the same degree.

Woonsocket is home to two supermarkets. A Price Rite – which traffics in highly discounted groceries – and a Shaw’s – which is operates a bit more in the middle-class price range –  located within a half mile of one another. The only other supermarket options for the 40,000-plus resident of Rhode Island’s forgotten city are a Park and Shop – located just over  the state line in Blackstone, Mass. – and two Stop and Shops which straddle the city – One right on the city line in North Smithfield, and another just over the state line in Bellingham, Mass.

The Blackstone Park and Shop and the Bellingham Stop and Shop are off-limits to Woonsocket SNAP recipients; the state-administered, federally-funded benefits don’t travel over state lines.

I decided to take a ride up to the Woonsocket Price Rite location, in an attempt to shed a bit more light on the first-of-the-month melee at local grocery stores. The parking lot was packed with cars, and there was a steady stream of customers entering and exiting the store. More customers waited outside the store for  the next bus to come by to take them home with their groceries.

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As I walked through the store, the wide aisles were easy to navigate, but things changed as I approached the checkout lines. The lines stretched into the  ends of the grocery aisles. Carriages were packed, overflowing in many cases, and customers were bagging their own groceries on the counter across from the ends of the checkout lines.

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I managed to speak to a pair of ladies who were exiting the store for a bit before store management descended on me and informed me of their store’s policy of “No Solicitation” of store employees or their customers. The women were exiting the store with two carriages absolutely bursting with food. One of the women, who didn’t want to be identified, told me that most of her SNAP benefits, along with a good portion of her disability supplement had been eaten up in this one trip to Price Rite. In total, she had spent over $500 in this one shopping trip.

Not surprisingly, there is a Check n’ Go payday lender less than 100 feet from the doors of the Price Rite, and an Advance America lender less than a 5 minute walk away.

Her disability stems from a hip injury that makes standing or sitting for long periods of time extremely painful. That pretty much rules out any job there is. She also has a four-year old daughter with autism. Her older children help her take  care of the youngster, which makes it difficult for them to find full-time work with a flexible enough schedule to continue to help with the care of the disabled girl.

As I drove to the Shaw’s, again less than a half-mile from the Price Rite, and expected to find a similar situation. Instead I was surprised to find a virtually empty parking lot. Aisles and  checkout lines were not overly crowded; some completely empty. A quick trip to the North Smithfield Stop and Shop showed a similar situation. Virtually empty lot, empty aisles, and short lines at the checkouts.

Supervalu Inc., the parent company of Shaw’s Supermarkets, is selling off five of its grocery chains, including Shaw’s and Albertson’s, after years of being squeezed by intensifying competition. The Woonsocket Shaw’s may be closed due to decreasing revenue.

Why is a supermarket in a city where one-third of the residents receive SNAP benefits not benefiting from expenditures of those benefits? How do companies like Shaw’s and Stop and Shop – that have many more locations in the region – not offer a price point that would make them competitive with the discount grocer?

Lastly, if – and more likely when – the Woonsocket Shaw’s location closes, the city will be left with only one supermarket. A supermarket that has a stigma amongst the middle-to-upper class remaining in Woonsocket as the “poor peoples market.” My last question is, how long will it be until those folks, by hook or by crook, are forced into shopping there?

The Providence Journal this morning reprised Dave Fisher’s post from Friday about Woonsocket Mayor Leo Fontaine going on Fox “News” and blaming the city’s economic woes on the fact that one in three residents needs SNAP benefits.

The ProJo picked up on the similar themes as did Fisher’s post*: Fontaine inaccurately claimed that Block’s report uncovered “massive fraud” (or, me and Fontaine have an entirely different idea of what the word massive means) and that even the Fox anchor was surprised that Fontaine was blaming the poor for the city’s problems.

Unfortunately Fontaine wasn’t the only conservative using Block’s investigation to bash our poor on national television.

Rep. Doreen Costa, the voice of the tea party in the General Assembly, was on a Fox segment that included not-too subliminal messages of “‘Rhode’ to Economic Disaster” and “Who is ruining our economy?”

Costa, whose major legislative accomplishment is a failed bill that would mandate drug tests for welfare recipients, is no stranger to this form poor-bashing-as-political-shell-game. Here’s how it works:

Fox: “Why is Rhode Island suffering so much?”

Costa: “Well, I think Rhode Island is suffering so much because we don’t have any jobs here and because no business friendly legislation has been put in up at the State House…”

Fox: “Do people at least recognize that this is a problem or are you the lone ranger in this?”

Costa: “I don’t think people up at the State House even think this is an issue, they just want to keep giving out and giving out and giving out…”

Fox: “If you are trying to help these people, do you think they are trying to help themselves?

Costa: “That’s a good question. We just had a major report…”

There’s a lot in here that is either blatantly wrong or half-true to the point of being misinformation.

• Rhode Island is suffering from a lack of jobs, but it’s not the kind of jobs that the myriad of business-friendly legislation at the State House addresses. In other words, putting the DEM under an economy czar isn’t going to get anyone off food stamps in Woonsocket, probably few – if any – Woonsocket residents lost their jobs when 38 Studios failed and I’d reckon that doing away with the sales tax would do far more damage than good, in the short and long term
• So I get that very few people in politics care that the mayor of Woonsocket and the state Rep. from North Kingstown are spreading lies and half-truths about Rhode Islanders living in poverty on Fox, but what do Costa’s legislative colleagues think of her spreading lies about them. The idea that no one at the State House thinks about these issues is not in any way, shape or form true.
• I like Doreen plenty but the idea that she is “trying to help these people” on SNAP benefits, as the Fox reporter said, is cartoonishly incorrect. She may be a member of the middle class – Costa sells advertising for WPRO – but her overarching philosophy of trying to shrink government down until it can be drowned in a bathtub is nothing but bad news for the working and middle class folks of Rhode Island and good news for the corporate elite.

To date, I think Fisher – WHO LIVES IN WOONSOCKET – has done the most interesting journalism on the Washington Post’s Woonsocket piece. He points out that while the city and the schools are going bankrupt and a third of the residents – and the local economy itself – is reliant on SNAP benefits, Woonsocket is also home of Rhode Island’s largest private sector employer, CVS, which gets more than $15 million in local and state tax breaks and pays its CEO $18 million a year.

There’s something to all that that I believe is the major reason Rhode Island finds itself in such bad economic shape.

I think conservatives, moderates, liberals and progressives all agree that the state’s struggles are pretty much concentrated in our urban areas. And I think everyone also agrees that the systemic poverty in Woonsocket, West Warwick, Central Falls, Pawtucket and Providence is terribly bad for Rhode Island (I think it’s the state’s biggest economic obstacle). Here’s where there is disagreement: do we want to continue with austerity measure and trickle down ec0nomics or do we want to try some bottom-up solutions.

I don’t think the couple dozen ACI inmates who may – or may not be – scamming the system will affect either our real-life economy or our made-up CNBC rankings one way or another.

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, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” from job applications and provides key protections against employment discrimination for people with records. The bill is sponsored by House Representatives Slater, Chippendale, Williams, Almeida, and Diaz.

The film features employers and job applicants who would be directly affected by the legislation. Additional interviewees include Michael Evora of the Rhode Island Human Rights Commission; AT Wall, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections; Misty Wilson, Organizer at the community organization Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE)  as well as some of the bill’s sponsors. In the film, AT Wall calls employment opportunity “the key pillar” to success re-entry and Michael Evora says that Ban the Box is “one of the most important civil rights issues of our time.”

Opponents are uninformed, or hoping you are.

The Attorney General has been less-than-accurate in his depiction of the law and liability, by saying that it would be “unlawful,” under the legislation, for an employer to deny an applicant a job “based on his or her criminal record… [unless] there is a direct relationship between one or more of the previous criminal offenses and employment sought.”

“This act would open every employer in the State, both public and private, to civil liability in the hiring process that may actually have a chilling effect on new employment opportunities.”

There are three other reasons an applicant can be denied:

1.  A state or federal law prohibition (such as many school, health care, law enforcement, or CEO positions);

2.  Applicant is not bondable;

3.  “unreasonable risk to property, or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals, employees, or the general public.”

It is impossible to anticipate any specific judicial interpretation of these reasons, as facts of every case will vary.  However, one can safely assume that no RI governor has appointed any “anti-business” and  “pro-criminally convicted people” to the bench.  If so, I missed it.  The fear mongering, of scaring businesses to steer clear, is (a) missing the realities of a statewide economy, and (b) overlooking the fact that Connecticut and Massachusetts have similar laws.  This bill is also consistent with EEOC policy on the subject.

Many have overlooked that this law would only apply in scenarios where an applicant has already been offered a job, and then the employer wishes to revoke it based on a criminal record.  Clearly the applicant has shown some job-worthiness.  Considering most applicants will be people who never went to prison, or recently served small time for a small crime, it would be difficult for someone to “go straight” if years need to tick by… without crime and without a job.

Some have hypothesized that creating a few rules in the employment process violates the freedom of a business or organization to operate freely.  Yet this is a right that nobody alive ever enjoyed, as the tax code and regulatory agencies have long subjected businesses and organizations to codes and laws.  They have hypothesized that attorneys will file “frivolous” lawsuits, although this would open up such attorneys to sanctions under Rule 11 of the state and federal court rules.  Considering all the other avenues for “frivolous” lawsuits, there is no indication that this will now create a new windfall.  If one were to file, they might use the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, one of the few statutes that provide for attorneys fees.  The FCRA is currently in effect and there is no allegation of it being used frivolously.

A community must sink or swim together.

The love or hatred in one’s own heart is part of what makes us all human.  Most of our beliefs are developed over time, and impacted by our families, schools, neighborhood gossip, television, social media, government policy and more.  Policymakers, unlike private citizens, do not have the luxury of saying “I don’t care,” about a particular dilemma; nor are they allowed to have divisive beliefs.  Not, at least, if they are trying to develop and build the health of their entire districts.  Public policies such as drug prohibition, sending our youth off to war, or the refusal to provide a comprehensive mental health plan, have both intended and unforeseen consequences.  Among them is narrowing of employment opportunities after labeling people with a criminal record.

Opponents to the legislation tend to characterize the systematic discrimination and exclusion of people from the job market as fair and responsible.  The lifetime of punishments are placed on the shoulders of someone who broke the law, with little (if any) consideration to how long ago and how petty the offense(s) may have been.  It is an understandable position to take when placed in the context of America’s long struggle with discrimination.  Finally, perhaps, discrimination that everyone can agree upon?  Yet just like the ostracism of Black people, women, Latino, gay, and transgender people…most  Americans ultimately recognize everyone’s basic human dignity and right to a live in an inclusive society.

Over 100,000 ACI ID numbers in two decades.

When times get tough, such as during a serious lack of available jobs, it is tempting to fragment off and find a “Them” for an “Us” to rise up above.  This will not work.  We are too intertwined, too interdependent.  In the past 20 years, the Adult Correctional Institutions have assigned over 100,000 identification numbers, most of which went to Rhode Island residents.  Every one of them is more than a number.  And as an employer in the film points out, many will work harder than others because they have something to prove.

This film is part of a larger project documenting the effect of criminal records on employment and re-entry. The film is produced by a team of Providence-based artist and film-makers, Rachel Levenson, Emmett Fitzgerald, Adrian Randall, Jonah David, Victoria Ruiz and Casey Coleman. Numerous community members and organizers have contributed to the writing and production of the film.

Media requests can be made to Rachel Levenson at rachelannalevenson@gmail.com

But either before or after reading Ken’s thoughts, please read my editor’s note at the bottom of his piece, and Sam Howard’s excellent analysis about how and what we communicate about those who live in poverty.

Here’s Ken’s piece:

There are two fundamental truths when it comes to social service spending programs—1) even now, these government assistance programs are not fully meeting the needs of low-income Americans and 2) there will always be people who say the government spends too much on these efforts.

The recent Washington Post story highlighting the effect of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on the residents of Woonsocket was a powerful reminder not only of the impact of the program, but how it is leaves people struggling to make those benefits last.

The issue of targeting waste and fraud in these programs is one that makes some in the progressive community uncomfortable, because they fear that highlighting real-world abuses of welfare programs will give fodder to the forces that want to eliminate them. But let’s be honest: no degree of welfare reform, not even the most effective effort to stop waste and fraud in the system, will be enough to silence those who want government to stop funding social service efforts.

So is it best then for the progressive community to fight for state and federal expansion of programs like food stamps and housing assistance, while simply ignoring whether waste and fraud are limiting the effectiveness of those programs? I say no. If we truly believe that these programs provide lifelines to individuals and families who desperately need help to get by in today’s difficult economy, I would argue that while fighting to fully fund these programs, progressives also need to make sure that the people who need help the most are getting it.

If government isn’t moving to add additional funding to these programs, then the next best thing is making sure that waste and fraud isn’t taking money away from families in Woonsocket and other parts of the state who need it.

I have spoken to people who run Health and Human Services programs here in Rhode Island and in states across the country. They are good people who know how to get assistance dollars out the door and into the community. But they are not always as effective when it comes to making sure those dollars are creating the desired outcomes. So when I talk to them about the importance of program integrity, they get it and they realize it is a way to maximize their effectiveness and to make an even bigger difference in the lives of the people they are trying to help.

What is program integrity?

It’s a way to make the most of a limited pool of dollars. It’s a way to get the most bang for our social spending buck. And it’s a way to help make sure that people in need don’t get left out because assistance dollars are going to those who don’t deserve them.

Program integrity is the formal name given to efforts to ensure that spending in public assistance programs is consistent with the mission and rules of those programs. I believe that program integrity should be an issue that the progressive community backs whole-heartedly.

In SNAP, the key program integrity issue involves stopping unscrupulous retailers (most often small convenience store owners) who facilitate the conversion of food benefits in the SNAP program into cash. Like payday lenders who prey on those without access to the banking system, these people take a cut of the money for providing this service—often as much as 50% of the total benefit due to a recipient. The beneficiary is then able to use whatever cash is left for non-food items that SNAP would not pay for otherwise. An effective program can red flag retailers engaged in this practice and put an end to it, so that funds aren’t being channeled to retailers and so that the children of SNAP beneficiaries aren’t left going hungry because the funds the family was counting on went to pay for cigarettes, alcohol or other non-food items.

In programs like housing assistance, there are finite financial resources and a limited number of available housing units. Using program integrity here helps to ensure that the neediest citizens are not unfairly denied assistance. Section 8 housing can often have a waiting list of many years. If someone living in a subsidized housing unit is misrepresenting their financial situation and hanging onto the unit as a result, a needier family is being denied access. This is an issue of basic fairness and if the agency providing the benefits has the ability to make sure everyone is playing by the rules, they have an obligation to do so.

As with any effort that throws off a lot of data, there will be people who misconstrue and attempt to misuse program integrity data to undermine the mission or activities of the agency involved. But with or without data, those attacks will go on from those who are hell-bent to force the elimination of these necessary social service programs. But by gathering and acting on this data, program integrity initiatives produce a larger good—ensuring that taxpayer dollars targeted for social service programs provide the best possible results. And in the long run, improved results will effectively marginalize the empty noise made by those whose agenda does not involve producing positive outcomes in our communities.

I truly believe that government should always strive to measure the effectiveness of all programs and initiatives to determine if those programs are achieving their stated goals and operating efficiently. That holds true whether we are talking about evaluating economic development incentives, tax policy, social service spending programs or even something as unglamorous as DMV waiting lines or wait times for service at the Department of Labor and Training. To me, this analysis is a cornerstone of good governance and an indicator of government accountability to voters and taxpayers. And that’s something progressives should be proud to support.

And here’s my equally long editor’s note:

• I firmly believe Ken Block’s efforts on this report was not the work of someone who would make a good governor. I think he is really smart and obviously hard-working, but, as Howard writes, it is “full of conjecture and insinuation that wouldn’t receive a passing grade in a college course.”
• Holding such an opinion does not equate to supporting public sector fraud. In fact, many have suggested areas of government where both more fraud and more potential savings can be found. Scott MacKay suggested physician and health care industry fraud, for example.
• I think the most common takeaway from this piece will be that the progressive left doesn’t value good government initiatives.
• I think because of the way the mainstream media reported on Block’s SNAP investigation, the biggest effect of his efforts will be to further foster the false narrative that there is a widespread social services abuse among those who live in poverty (Again, see Sam Howard’s post).
• I might be wrong, but it’s worth considering that I’m right. It is an indisputable fact that local Republicans and other fiscal conservatives are using the media swirl around his report to counter progressive proposals – see this video of Dave Fisher asking House Minority Leader Brain Newberry about tax equity.
• If I’m right, it’s an example of how politicians and pundits have learned to manipulate the marketplace of ideas, which is still largely driven by print and broadcast journalism/journalists/pundits.
• Ian Donnis and Scott MacKay are the best around at using the tools of unbiased journalism to get Rhode Island politicians on the record, and it is well worth listening to their probing interview with Block from last week.
• However, it’s worth mentioning that MacKay, who dismissed Block’s report last week in this op/ed, tipped his hand in the interview: When Donnis asked Block if teaming up to form a “taxpayers” group with members of RISC and the tea party – probably two of the most conservative groups in the state – cast a shadow on his reputation as a “moderate,” you can actually hear MacKay laugh when Block responds by saying, “I became the president of a re-branded, move to the center organization…” (It happens at 6:55 here … perhaps MacKay coughed, but it is laughable to suggest that joining forces with Lisa Blais, Harriet Loyd and Donna Perry is an attempt to move to the center.)
• So much of what Ken Block does reminds me of the famous Thomas Pynchon line from Gravity’s Rainbow: “If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.”
• Only news in his post: Ken Block says it is more important to increase funding to SNAP than it is to investigate waste and/or fraud.

For the past three years, the Ortizes’ lives had unfolded in a series of exhausting, fractional decisions. Was it better to eat the string cheese now or to save it? To buy milk for $3.80 nearby or for $3.10 across town? Was it better to pay down the $600 they owed the landlord, or the $110 they owed for their cellphones, or the $75 they owed the tattoo parlor, or the $840 they owed the electric company?

And here’s Marc Comtois over at Anchor Rising:

They made some of the all too typical mistakes: teen pregnancy, move in together, have another child on their already low income and all exacerbated by a recession where the low-skilled are first and worst hit. Their economic ignorance and inability to prioritize is displayed by their $110 cell phone bill and tatoo parlor debt. That won’t help earn them much sympathy.

Yet, while they don’t seem to really “get it”–and I don’t want to give them a pass–society and the system certainly enable their naivete and ignorance. In today’s world, having a cell phone is simply a given–well nigh a “right” in the eyes of many–and spending money on tatoo’s is another norm, like getting your ears pierced used to be. That’s what you spend your cash, your “extra” money, on. Food comes from SNAP.

Here’s our own Dave Fisher, linking this story to the educational models of the state:

While I can certainly empathize with this couple, the fact that tattoos are an expense in a budget this small is patently ridiculous. Even for those with disposable income, body art should be considered a luxury.

Why do they not know this? Is this a failure of our education system, or a failure on their parents’ part? Is it just poor decision making?

In any case, the esoteric mathematics knowledge supposedly assessed by the NECAP has no relevance in their lives. Knowledge of simple Home Economics, on the other hand, may actually help this young family squirrel away some money and someday be able to wean themselves from the teat of federal assistance…

…And I’ve got some news for you, folks: When they fail, we — the royal we — have failed.

I like both writers, and on most issues they could not be further apart, but here you see them neatly align, almost parroting their arguments (though there are significant differences between the two). I’ll get to their arguments, but first I want to make a media point.

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