Rep. Morgan Calls for Legislative Grant Reforms, But Sought Thousands From Speaker Fox

Rep. Morgan Calls for Legislative Grant Reforms, But Sought Thousands From Speaker Fox

Representative Patricia Morgan is calling for reform in the legislative grant program, but during her tenure she has received eight legislative grants totaling $20,000. The majority of those grants came when Gordon Fox served as Speaker of the House. Seven legislative grant that were requested by Morgan were to pay for such things as paper goods and refreshments at an apartment  building for the elderly in West Warwick. The seven grants totaled $12,000.

On Wednesday Morgan said in a press release, “It is our duty to use tax dollars wisely and to ensure that taxpayers get maximum value out of every dollar.  Legislative grants can provide much needed money to some very good programs in our communities, like youth sports, food pantries, and senior centers. Unfortunately, the process used to award these grants is political.  And the process is not as transparent as it should be.”  

According to a GoLocal review of legislative grants Morgan received a total of seven legislative grants under Fox and as GoLocal previously reported, she received an $8,000 grand under Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in FY 2016. 

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The Fox Legislative Grants included:

FY 2012

Monsignor DeAngelis I (elderly housing complex) $1000

Monsignor DeAngelis II $1000

Coventry Pop Warner $1000

FY 2013

Monsignor DeAngelis I $2000

Monsignor DeAngelis II $2000

FY 2014

Monsignor DeAngelis I $2500

Monsignor DeAngelis II $2500

Morgan Refused to Respond to Questions About Her Grants

"I have requested legislative grants in the past for organizations in my district.  I understand that by and large the money goes to good civic purposes.  However, I have always disagreed with the process. Now is the time to make the process accountable to taxpayers,” Morgan said in a statement. Morgan did not respond to request for comment on the Fox grants on Wednesday.

Republican leaders and reform groups have been raising significant questions about the legislative grant process for decades. In 2012, then-Moderate Party chairman Ken Block blasted the legislative grant program.

“The granting of taxpayer dollars from a slush fund to favored legislators and projects is a horrible way to manage the public treasury,” Block wrote in a letter addressed to then-Governor Lincoln Chafee, House and Senate Leadership and Finance Committees at the time.

Block called on lawmakers to “abolish” the legislative grant process altogether, suggesting that state funds shouldn’t be used for taxpayers who live in “favored districts.”

Instead, legislative leaders have repeatedly defended the funding structure. In 2013, in a GoLocal story written by Stephen Beale, the spokesman for Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, Greg Pare, said he stood by comments he made in 2010, denying that any political favoritism was at work in the awarding of the grants. He said the grants were not related to party affiliation or incumbency. “These grants provide support for many community organizations that have a critical need for it, particularly during these difficult economic times,” Pare added at the time.

According to a GoLocal review in 2015 by GoLocalProv News Editor Kate Nagle, youth sports programs in Providence only received a fraction of the amount that sports programs in Cranston received: 

The final fiscal year 2015 Rhode Island legislative grants are out, and Cranston received nearly twice the House funding for recreation programs than Providence  -- whose youth population is two and half times that of Cranston, and poverty level is three times as much.

Morgan Wants a Lottery

In a bizarre twist, Morgan called for the process not to be scraped or included in the budget process that many reformers have called for, but to create a lottery system.

"The current program distributes roughly $2 million a year.  I propose that 1,000 grants of $1,000 each be created.  All non-profits, youth sport organizations, parade committees and other groups that perform services for the benefit of the general public would be encouraged to apply.  The application would require a detailed description of need and purpose for the funds.  Those qualifying applications would be placed in a pool and, in concert with public citizen witnesses, 250 recipient applications would be selected randomly on a quarterly basis.  With this raffle format and in contrast to the current process of today, Rhode Island would have an accountable, transparent, and fair process.  Every organization would be treated equally, regardless of rank or connection in the State House.  Every organization would have an equal and honest chance to receive needed funds" she explained.

"It is time to change the way we do business on Smith Hill.  This will be a refreshing reform of a tarnished program."

Last week, Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said that he was in favor of reforming the process and would consider adding it into the budget process, but warned that there needs to be some flexibility in the case of emergency situations. He cited last year's need and request by the social service agency Crossroads that serves a significant number of homeless individuals.