RI House Approves Truck Toll Legislation After Marathon Debate
GoLocalProv News Team
RI House Approves Truck Toll Legislation After Marathon Debate
The Truck Tolls legislation will now be sent to the Senate, which is scheduled to vote on identical legislation Thursday. Each chamber is also expected to take action on the other chamber’s bill tomorrow, enabling the both bills to be forwarded to the governor for signature.
"RhodeWorks funds will be used to fix more than 150 structurally deficient bridges and make repairs to another 500 bridges to prevent them from becoming deficient, bringing 90 percent of the state’s bridges into structural sufficiency by 2024," said a release issued by the House.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe legislation has been strongly opposed by GOP Representative Patriacia Morgan who claims the infrastructure repairs by a "pay as you go" funding source, but her program has received little support.
“This responsible legislation addresses our infrastructure, which is the most significant factor impacting the business community and the future of economic development in our state. We have the worst bridges, roads and overpasses in America and this plan will fix hundreds of them before an emergency occurs,” said House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston). “We have vastly improved the legislation since it was first introduced last spring, cutting the rate of borrowing in half and dramatically reducing the interest rate on the bonding, while inserting language to ensure that truck tolls will never be extended to other vehicles without voter approval. The passage of this bill is vital in ensuring a brighter future for our state.”
Last Saturday, a top executive at Job Lot -- the 120 plus store discount retailer -- announced the company was putting on hold a $50 million dollar expansion over concerns about the impact of the cost of the truck tolls on their business.
The RhodeWorks program was dramatically revamped by Mattiello and gained significant support by changing the fiancing structure and decreasing the amount of borrowing and the cost of borrowing. The revised version takes advantage of hundreds of millions of federal highway funds garnered by the state’s congressional delegation. Those funds enabled the drastic reduction of borrowing from $600 million to $300 million, and reduced the state’s interest costs by 65 percent.
Raimondo and Mattiello - Friction Going Into the 2016 Session
1)
HealthSource
Mattiello has long questioned why little Rhode Island has its own health exchange. His questions center around scale, cost and long-term viability. Raimondo had been defending the Chafee initiative, but the move of Anya Rader Wallack from her leadership position at HealthSource to Medicaid (right when open enrollment started, to boot) is one of the indications of Raimondo’s walk away.
As GoLocal reported in January, Walack’s program in Vermont ended up failing under her leadership
Now the question is, will Raimondo make the policy change in her budget or make Mattiello do the dirty work?
2)
Tolls
Raimondo has been the champion of an ever-changing funding scheme to rebuild Rhode Island’s infrastructure.
No one questions the need to rehab Rhode Island’s failed bridges and roads, but most everyone has raised questions about the constantly changing funding structure and the corresponding lack of disclosure.
Raimondo’s request to legislative leaders has been to pass legislation - and to trust her and her administration. Last session of the General Assembly the Senate functionally went along with the plan and the House held firm on wanting to see the numbers.
Now, it is six-months later and much of the plan has not been disclosed to legislative leaders, the public or the media.
3)
Irony of Transparency
For decades, Rhode Island Speakers have been wildly criticized for being all powerful, Machiavellian, and highly secretive, but in this unusual situation it is often that Mattiello is the open, responsive and proactive communicator.
In contrast, Raimondo less than two months ago came under fire from the media and civil rights groups for secrecy, failing to respond to media inquiries, and non-responsiveness to public information requests.
As GoLocal reported in October:
Five organizations, including ACCESS/RI, American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Press Association, New England First Amendment Coalition,and League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, sent sharply wordedletter to Governor Gina Raimondo on Tuesday asking her to issue an executive order which calls on state agencies to "adopt a strong presumption in favor of disclosure in addressing public information requests.
Mattiello, unlike his predecessors, has been the voice of the voter asking for information and requesting greater transparency.
4)
Election Year
The Democratic Governor enjoys a four-year term, but she needs the support of a legislature who is up for re-election with an electorate that is wildly dissatisfied with the direction of the country, the direction of the state, the performance of Congress. It is a Presidential election year which will only add to the volatility.
The Governor who only won the Democratic primary with 40% of the vote and then was elected last November with 40% off the vote hardly has the most powerful bully pulpit to speak from.
For many legislators the smart political step maybe to show independence and raise questions rather than to lock step with her.
For Mattiello, this means he may need to give far greater latitude to legislators to vote freely.
5)
Raimondo a Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
Raimondo is trained as an attorney and worked nearly her entire professional career as Venture Capitalist. Lots of Non-Disclosure Agreements, “paper the deal” with agreements and little disclosure.
This training is great for confidentiality as it relates to high stakes venture, but those skills become obstacles to governing in a Democracy during a period when the public demands transparency.
6)
“I am better than you”
There is a growing sentiment among Democratic legislators that the Governor has a “I am better than you” attitude. Raimondo who was educated at Yale, Harvard and Oxford seems to intentionally or unintentionally exude superiority.
As one legislator told GoLocal at the request of anonymity, “The only thing worse than her being pompous is when she tries to act like she is ‘just like everyone else.’ It is insulting.”
The ramifications of the Governor and her staff’s tone is not lost on legislators. Top Raimondo confidant Representative Joe Shekarchi can only do “Shuttle-Diplomacy” so much.
7)
Guns
Raimondo has announced a series of initiatives to restrict gun ownership in Rhode Island. A corresponding pro-gun control campaign is being funded by Democratic heavy weight Mark Weiner and former Hasbro CEO Alan Hassenfeld.
Raimondo uses the issue of gun control as a fundraising trigger with her supporters. The initiative may be good political fundraising, but will put her at odds with Mattiello, who is a strong gun rights supporter who has received high scores for his voting record on from the gun rights organization.
