Lisa Blais: Will 2014 Be Better Than 2013?
Lisa Blais, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Lisa Blais: Will 2014 Be Better Than 2013?
Stay the course?
We all know that we face a tremendous amount of digging out to get RI and, particularly our poor and middle class neighbors who are losing ground, out of the economic nightmare that has gone on for too long. Our unemployment rate is tops in the country (tied with Nevada) and we have, reportedly, 26,000 less people working than we did pre-the great recession of 2008. We still face a staggering state structural deficit and a frightening level of underfunded promises (OPEB) made for public sector retirees’ healthcare.
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Look at the most recently published media coverage and we find that the PUC approved a 12.1% rate increase for electricity while the governor talks about hydropower. Shall we begin with holding the line on one of the most basic of utility necessities? Nope. Consider that the state is closing in on deadlines for contractual agreements with United HealthCare for health insurance coverage for our state employees and (presumably) simultaneously negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with state employees. Do we know what is happening regarding the discussions regarding the potential costs of administering that coverage and whether or not the natural connection is being made to the negotiated agreement on employee cost-sharing for that coverage? Nope. Have we heard any further public discourse on the feasibility of moving public sector employees into HealthSourceRI – RI’s health insurance exchange? Nope. What about the newly organized private sector daycare workers who now are represented to negotiate benefits with the state? You can bet that vacations and health insurance may very well be on the table. Have we heard any details about those negotiations? Nope. Withering negativity? No, just reality. Those pesky moral obligation bonds for 38Studios must be wrestled with…will they be approved for payment or just add to the taxpayers’ black hole of debt? Then there is the Big Cahoona: the results of court-ordered settlement discussions about the 2011 pension reform and what the General Assembly will do with it when it comes to them for their final decree. Speaker Fox made clear that he does not have the appetite to revisit the pension reform – let’s hope that the rest of the General Assembly stands strong against any debates about changes that raise taxpayers’ liabilities while undermining any shred of pension security.
Tired of pessimism
It is easy to be pessimistic about what 2014 holds for taxpayers in RI. Ponder the desire to move the state’s probation and parole offices into downtown Providence. To Angus Davis’ point , has there been any due diligence to determine if a state owned building is available for this use? On its face, this is just another potential example of spending more of taxpayers’ money without fully disclosing whether or not we already own space that can be utilized for the intended purpose. Taxpayers are tired of behind the scenes decisions that result in increased costs.
Try to be optimistic
The 2014 General Assembly session begins on January 7. Let’s hope that 2014 will be the year that we finally see bold leadership from the General Assembly. We simply cannot afford to continue to conduct the “people’s business” as usual.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
Lisa Blais is a board member of OSTPA, a taxpayer advocacy organization in Rhode Island.
13 Best MINDSETTER™ Columns of 2013
LOOKOUT: Rhode Island Needs to Talk Twin River
By John Hazen White
Demand for table games at Twin River casino has prompted the Lottery Commission to grant the facility additional gaming tables, and the state’s take from the combination of video slot machines and table games is going up each month as a direct result of the tables in place.
The 14 new tables to be added will make for a grand total of 80. More gaming tables will surely be added down the road.
I suppose we should all be cheering about this because of the enhanced revenue stream the state will enjoy, which it desperately needs, but it begs a larger and more troubling question: what will happen to Twin River – and more importantly to the state – when Massachusetts’ three casinos and its single racino slot parlor come on line?
Climate Change On the Table… Finally!
By Rob Horowitz
A leaked draft of a major report expected to be released in the Fall by the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), an international group of scientists under the auspices of the United Nations, landed on the front page of The New York Times last week. The report, a comprehensive and consensus analysis of the latest scientific research on climate change, finds that if greenhouse gas emissions continue apace a sea level rise of as much as 100 feet by the end of the century is a real possibility. It characterizes the assertion that human activity is the cause of most of global warming as a “near certainty.”
Trying To Make Sense Of The Zimmerman Verdict
By Don Roach
I’m struggling to make sense of the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case as I’m sure many people are. I have a number of gut reactions at war with my respect of the justice system. And it’s a battle. So, what I decided to do Sunday was investigate as much of the public facts as possible in order to piece together why in the world a 17-year-old boy is dead.
In US Schools, Incorrect Answers Are ‘Un-American’
By Julia Steiny
Back in the 1990s, circumstances so maddened Dr. Matthias Felleisen, he felt forced to create Program by Design (PxD) to bring life back to computer science and algebra, both. Since then, thousands of students have used it to learn the elements of programming, with or without a teacher. Even I could understand its free, online textbook. The PxD target audience were first-year college students, but Felleisen's team wanted it to be accessible to clever 10-year-olds. The NSF and other major funders continue to be impressed.
Big Labor Wants To Shuffle The Deck On Obamacare
By Lisa Blais
While the beat goes on across Rhode Island to trumpet information about HealthSourceRI, the health insurance exchange created as a result of Governor Chafee’s Executive Order in response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the AFL-CIO has been pleading with the Obama Administration to waive some requirements of the ACA, otherwise known as Obamacare, for members of their multi-employer health and welfare plans.
3 Ways to Restore Confidence in RI’s Government
By Gary Sasse
In the late 1960’s when I was in graduate school many of my classmates sought careers in government and not on Wall Street. They believed that public service could make a difference in the lives of Americans. This positive view that government was part of the solution has been replaced by a more cynical view of government at all levels. This should not be surprising because too many times government has been ineffective in providing essential public services. Earlier this year the Pew Center for the People and the Press found that “trust in the federal government remains mired near an historic low and frustration with government remains high.”
Time for a Bold, New Budget Process
By Donna Perry
Governor Chafee’s State of the State blueprint is not yet 24 hours old and so the reactions and assessments of it are still pouring in. However, before the battles begin over spending, borrowing, cuts, labor provisions, and whether or not there will be any meaningful changes to spur economic development, both the Governor and General Assembly members should pause, take a deep breath, and consider a proposal from a wise and truly independent voice in the State Senate.
Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo Turns Opaque
By Russell Moore
Gina Raimondo was all about transparency—during her first year in office. Apparently, sunlight was so 2011. The General Treasurer, who admirably took up the fight for pension reform after her predecessor—Frank Caprio—lost his campaign for governor thanks to his leadership on the issue, named her report describing the need for pension reform “Truth in Numbers”. It was a brilliant move, as she successfully separated the issue from emotional politics over the promises made to retirees that the state couldn’t keep.
CITY/STATE: How White Providence Really Is
By Aaron Renn
The city of Providence is a very diverse place. In fact, it’s over 62% minority, making it a so-called “minority majority” city. However, the city of Providence is only a very small part of the overall state and region. 
Metropolitan Providence is one of the whitest major regions in America. Looking at metro areas with more than one million people, Providence ranks third in the country for the total non-minority population. The percentage of the population that is “white only, non-hispanic” – Hispanic people can be of any race – is nearly 80%. Only Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are higher.
What Politicians Can Learn From the Pope
By Carol Ann Costa
In less than a month since Jorge Mario Bergoglio emerged as Francis the 1st , this new Pope has through his decisions and actions gained my full attention and respect. What he has shown us is that you rarely go wrong when you return to your mission. Perhaps Francis’ undeniable devotion to the works of Mercy, both corporal and spiritual, can provide a teachable moment for each of us— and our politicians in particular.
Corporate ‘Reform’ Alienating Teachers/Principals
By Aaron Regunberg
Want Better Schools? Stop Making Educators Miserable.
The Metlife Survey of the American Teacher recently released a report from their 2012 investigation into the state of U.S. educators. The annual survey, which was conducted among 1,000 K-12 public school teachers and 500 K-12 public school principals, offers an invaluable snapshot of the condition of those professionals to whom we entrust the educating of our nation’s youth. This year’s results continue a disturbing—and an escalating—trend that should have all of us seriously reconsidering what kinds of strategies will actually, positively reform our education system.
Helen Glover, Keith Olbermann + Broadcast Brutality
By Andrew Gobeil
"The television business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
The quote above is often attributed to Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who frequently denied he was a journalist at all. Whether or not he said it isn’t necessarily the point; whether or not it was said to describe the television business, or music business, or radio business isn’t necessarily the point either. Hell, you could be nodding in affirmation as you read it at your desk in the finance world, or the world of politics or sales or law or….well, now you do get the point.
Lessons From Boston’s Post-Bombing Lockdown
By Travis Rowley
In the midst of the ongoing debate over the 2nd Amendment, I discovered lessons to be learned from the events in Boston this week.
Let me start with this: Owning a gun is not a natural right. After all, how can a firearm be a natural right if man had to invent and manufacture it?
But the right to defend oneself is a natural right...
