As someone who is young (I don’t always feel it!) and a democrat, I have to commend the work that the RI Young Democrats are undertaking.
Check out this video supporting Rep. Pacheco’s young voter pre-registration legislation. Pre-registering voters is one way that we’ll streamline our state’s voter rolls and increase voter participation.
Tonight, I went and testified at the Public Utilities Commission to express my strong reservations about National Grid’s request for yet another rate increase. (The hearing in Woonsocket was one week ago, and I was unable to make that due to a prior committment to attend the Boys and Girls Club’s Annual gala.) So I headed down to Warwick tonight. Here is the text of my statement:
My name is Chris Fierro. I am a Rhode Island State Representative representing District 51, which is in the City of Woonsocket. I am here tonight on behalf of my constituents to urge this commission to exercise your power to deny National Grid’s requested rate increase.
We in Woonsocket cannot afford an increased burden. Across our state, wages are stagnant and unemployment is amongst the highest in the nation. At a time when we’re all struggling to get by, please do not give a rate-payer funded bailout to National Grid. We’re all getting by with less–Grid can too.
There were about thirty people in attendance. I was surprised when they clapped at the conclusion of my short remarks.
Well, it is the end of summer, and election season here in Woonsocket. I’ll have some thoughts on the municipal elections shortly. In the meantime, the biggest question that I’ve heard around the district is “When are you guys going back into session?”
The ProJo reports that we’ll be back on October 28th and 29th. I am a bit skeptical, as the dates have moved at least three times. None of the rank and file reps seem to know exactly what the agenda will be for those two days.
I will post an update when I have more details.
Other than that uncertainty, I have been very busy. Tonight I’ll be attending Common Cause RI’s panel discussion on ethics and the so-called “speech in debate” clause. We need strong ethics rules, and I am proud to co-sponsor legislation that will restore the power of the ethics commission.
Tomorrow, I will be attending the Public Utility Commission’s public hearing for National Grid’s rate increase request. I haven’t written it up yet, but I intend to make the point that the rates keep going up unchecked while wages are stagnant. I’m also looking for a legislative fix to the problem of the rubber-stamp PUC.
This weekend, I’m officiating one of my best friends’ wedding and then off to a work-related conference for the first half of next week.
Longer-term; I am planning two events in Woonsocket for the Fall as well as working on an end of session newsletter…I’ll have some details on those shortly.
As we head into the rush at the end of the session, let me take this opportunity for a quick bit of shameless self promotion.
WRNI’s Ian Donnis has a great spot on new media and local politics.
You can also download the MP3 here.
Despite my inclusion, the piece is well worth the listen!
Last night, Senator Roger Picard graciously opened his house for a joint open-house / constituent night. We had about a dozen people show up, which I was pleased with. The concerns that were voiced last night are the same that I hear through the district—fixing our state’s economic mess, bringing jobs to RI, and ensuring that the pension reforms that everyone sees as inevitable aren’t too draconian.
The best question of the night though, was “what else are you working on?” A fair question to say the least. Here is a link to the section of the General Assembly’s website that lists bills by sponsor. You can click on my name and see all of the bills on which I appear as a sponsor.
While we’ve made progress with online disclosure, I’d like to see this general listing of bills include a more generic and “user friendly” description of what the bills intend to do. Additionally, that description should be on the main page, rather than buried at the end of a PDF file for each bill.
That’s great, now you know what bills I’ve put my name on as a sponsor. But how have I voted on a given issue? Unfortunately, that is not available from the general assembly. I am proud to have co-sponsored Rep. Ed Pacheco’s bill to publish individual votes on the assembly web site. Hopefully that will be just a step on the voyage to better disclosure.
In the meantime, you can look at the Rhode Island Votes website to see how I, or any other member of the General Assembly, have voted on a given issue. (It is not entirely up-to date, which is a good argument for automatically linking the voting machines to the GA website and self-disclosing.)
You can search by legislator’s name or by bill. It will also tell you how many votes a given legislator has missed. Go ahead, take a peek.
I have mixed feelings about the Governor’s cost saving measure as proposed in his version of the FY2010 budget–he’d save roughly $55k by forcing Woonsocket (along with two other communities that do municipal elections in the odd-years) to hold all elections in even years or pay the expense of odd-year elections.
I like the idea of having everything on one ballot in the even years. The feedback that I’ve heard from friends on the municipal side are that too many names on the ballot in the even years would be a detriment to those on the low end of the ballot, specifically the large fields for City Council and School Committee. So the tradeoff, as described to me, is that while voter turnout may be lower in the odd years, the people that show up to vote are able to be better informed about the individuals running for Mayor, City Council, and School Committee. I think that it would pay dividends in the form of increased turnout to do it all in one fell swoop.
That being said, I’d like the City of Woonsocket to come to their own conclusion (voters through a ballot referendum, or City Council) as to how we run our elections. Needless to say, I do not support the idea of this being forced upon us. I guess that puts me in a unique position of potentially having to vote against something that I agree with in principle due to my disagreement with the process.
Jim Baron has a good article on this issue in today’s Woonsocket Call.
“This should never see the light of day,” an angry James Allam, chairman of the Woonsocket Board of Canvassers, said. “Reasonable people would not pursue that.”
“It wouldn’t affect the Board of Canvassers, it would affect the finances of the city,” Allam continued. “We don’t have money in the budget to pay the (state) anything for our elections. This is just a way of passing the buck onto communities, indirectly increasing local tax rates.”
He said the state should have asked communities to explore the idea of even-year elections instead of simply moving to pass on the costs.
I’d love some feedback on this issue.
From a more esoteric position, Real Clear Politics is a political site that does a phenomenal job of covering national politics from all different perspectives–basically they just link to the major political pieces of the day. Today they have a fantastic synopsis of some of the structural excuses as to why Democrats tend to fail in pushing an agenda when they have a lopsided control of the Congress:
The Democrats’ problems aren’t limited to Carter and Clinton. They have historically had a less ideologically unified coalition than the Republicans. This is why the agenda of the Democratic party has largely remained both unchanged and unfulfilled since Roosevelt’s 1941 Message to Congress, notwithstanding the general Democratic dominance of the period.
The whole article is worth reading. Sometime, I’d like to see a similar analysis applied to Rhode Island, particularly the General Assembly.
After last week’s budget battle, it is good to see some positive coverage. Jim Baron, who many forget writes not just for the Pawtucket Times, but also for the Woonsocket Call, has a wrap up:
I, and, I believe, many supporters of good and open government would call it a good start.
Rank and file House members, many of them Democrats and a significant number of freshmen stood up and said “No” to the supplemental budget as proposed, and made the leadership change it to allocate more money for cities and towns. For that they should be congratulated and rewarded.
The dissidents not only did something that isn’t done very often — challenging a budget once it has left House Finance — they did something even rarer: they won.
Scott MacKay, former political writer for the Providence Journal, also dishes it in his blog for WRNI Radio:
Just when you thought nothing much ever changes at the Rhode Island State House, along comes a group of Democratic legislators flexing their muscles and defying the House leadership. This group of pragmatic liberals may have more influence as the state struggles to fashion a spending and taxing plan for then next year.
I’ll be the first to admit that my role in the budget debate was a minor one, but I am proud to have weighed in and helped to shift the agenda away from cutting aid to the City of Woonsocket, as well as nursing homes and Landmark Medical Center.
And finally, for those of you following the potential gutting of the RI Ethics Board, I am happy that today’s ProJo Political Scene blog covers the work that is going on towards bolstering the ethics board:
In the interim, Representatives David Segal and Edith Ajello, both Providence Democrats; and Rodney Driver, D-Richmond, Christopher Fierro, D-Woonsocket, and Brian Newberry, R-North Smithfield, have introduced a bill to give voters a chance to amend the state Constitution to remove any doubt the state Ethics Code applies to “all elected and appointed officials and employees of state and local government.”
That’s it for now. I’m a little disappointed in the weather and the delay of opening day, but am happy to report that my son, Vincenzo, is ready:
Vincenzo, Ready for Opening Day
I campaigned, in part, on the fact that the State of Rhode Island needs to adopt a fair funding formula for eduction. For someone from Woonsocket, this is a no-brainer. We are a poor community that tends be face tough choices when it comes to our education system, and that is in the best of economic times. Facing an economic crisis like the one we’re up against now, well, we wind up looking seriously at a Caruolo action (where the School Committee would sue the City Council for more money).
In today’s ProJo, Ed Fitzpatrick covers, in good detail, our State’s need for a more equitable funding solution:
Over the past year, Rhode Island has received some unwanted national distinctions regarding its unemployment rate and budget deficit. But the lack of a current school aid formula is one distinction we can ditch quickly — preferably during this legislative session.
Aside from more unwanted notoriety for our state, there is a practical problem:
In the 1990s, the state stopped using an updated formula to distribute new school aid. Since then, lawmakers have simply reviewed how much districts received the prior year and made adjustments. In good years, districts receive 3-percent increases from the state. In bad years, districts are “level funded.” In brutal years, such as this year, districts brace for cuts.
I’ve signed on as a co-sponsor to the current Fair Funding bill. I am happy to be able to report that over half of the Reps, the majority needed to pass such a bill, have signed on as co-sponsors to this legislation. That doesn’t mean that it’ll pass, but I see this as a good sign for the future of our state and the prospect of an education funding system that factors in student population as well as need, and gives school committees a meaningful way to project their off-year budgets.
Chris Fierro to Opponents — “Comply with the Law”
Four opponents for House District 51 are not in compliance with RI Ethics Commission.
WOONSOCKET – Chris Fierro, of 137 Ridge Street, announced his disappointment that four of his opponents for State Representative in District 51 have not complied with Rhode Island’s constitutionally mandated ethics disclosure laws. The law requires that all candidates for public office disclose personal financial information, such as sources of income, properties owned, as well as private loans and debt.*
“Actions speak louder than words,” Fierro stated. “And, in the case of my opponents, it appears that their rhetoric about upholding the highest standards of ethics was mere words. If they are not filing their ethics forms now, can we expect them to follow the law when they are legislators?”
“I believe Woonsocket voters want real change at the State House,” Fierro continued. “Families like mine are fed up with story after story of corruption and insider dealing. That’s why I am the only candidate in this race who has pledged to support the Attorney General’s legislation to make public corruption in Rhode Island a felony. And that’s why filing ethics disclosures is a top priority for me. When I am State Representative, Woonsocket will have a champion at the State House for clean and open government.”
“But, change doesn’t stop there,” Fierro concluded. “Woonsocket families want an honest voice at the State House. But they also want a voice that will fight to bring manufacturing jobs back to Woonsocket. And I have the experience and a plan to attract renewable energy companies to Woonsocket to build solar panels and wind turbines. Our city and our state are in economic crisis and I will fight for good paying jobs for the people of Woonsocket.”
Fierro, a first-time candidate for office, has won the endorsement from business, community, labor and environmental groups because of his bold ideas for change, including the following groups: the RI Association of General Contractors, Woonsocket Firefighters Local 732, the Sierra Club of RI and the United Nurses & Allied Professionals. In addition, respected Northern Rhode Island legislators Rep. Ed Pacheco (D-47) and Rep. Ray Church, (D-48) have endorsed Fierro.
*http://www.ethics.ri.gov/Financial_Disclosure/Financial_Disclosure.htm
** All opponents but Bob Phillips were not in compliance as of 9/04/2008. The forms were due shortly after the election filing period, which was in late June.
##
