Gov. Palin to resign as Alaska governor
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July 3
WASILLA, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday she is resigning from office at the end of the month, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race.
The former Republican vice presidential candidate made the surprise announcement from her home in suburban Wasilla on Friday morning. She said she would step down July 26 but didn't announce her plans. "Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," Palin said in a statement released by her office. Your Turn: Why do you think Sarah Palin is prematurely stepping down as Alaska's governor? "It is my duty to always protect our great state. With that in mind, my family and I determined that it is best to make a difference this summer, and I am willing to change things, so that this administration, with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future, can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success," she said. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell will be inaugurated at the governor's picnic in Fairbanks at the end of the month, Palin spokesman Dave Murrow said. Palin was first elected in 2006 on a populist platform. But her popularity has waned as she waged in partisan politics following her return from the presidential campaign. Her term would have ended in 2010. 
The flood of legislation never materialized from the State House this week, but the water did. From the men's bathroom that is. A broken flush feature on a urinal in a first-floor men's room led to a not-so-minor flood that swamped the marble rotunda with more than half an inch of water Friday morning, creating a soggy (and ridiculously slippery) situation in the landmark building. We here at Political Scene are not normally in the habit of bathroom talk, but this one was hard to avoid. Water poured down the stairs and through cracks in the ceiling, drenching the stairs and the basement below. "Because of the force of the flow, it allowed it to really spread out," said State House Superintendent Ed Butler who was on the scene with a crew that worked quickly to mop up the mess. Butler reported that the building did not sustain any permanent damage.
July 2
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Making good on an earlier warning, Governor Carcieri has vetoed legislation allowing Twin River to operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, while also forcing the owners of the Lincoln track and slot parlor to drop their plans to suspend greyhound racing Aug. 8 and run a full 200-day season. The Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association soon after issued a statement criticizing the governor's veto, saying that the owners were "disappointed with Governor Carcieri for prioritizing big banks over Rhode Island jobs." The owners of the bankrupt slot parlor had served notice of their intent to suspend the live races .Aug. 8 after conducting the minimum of 125 annual racing days required by current law. Legislative relief from their obligation to run the races, at a steep loss, was also one of the conditions of the Chapter 11 restructuring plan filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court District last week. The House and Senate approved the bill nonetheless,despite warnings from Gary Sasse, the director of the state Department of Administration, that the state could lose upward of $25 million in needed gambling revenue if legislators interfere with the restructuring plan that Twin River owners, a subsidiary of BLB Investors, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week. Under that plan, Twin River would turn over the keys to the greyhound track and slot parlor to its lenders, who would be free to bring in a new operator within 120 days, unless an alternate agreement was reached. The agreement hinged, in part, on the state's approval of round-the-clock gambling, which promises to raise an additional $3 million to $4 million in state revenue, and the legislature's agreement to relieve Twin River of the obligation to run greyhound racing. In his message, Carcieri said he vetoed the legislation because dog racing at Twin River has become increasingly "unprofitable,'' the $9 million operating subsidy the owners currently pay the dog-owners "contributes to Twin River's crippling debt,'' and "most of that money inures to the benefit of out-of-state kennel and dog owners and not Rhode Islanders.'' This entry was first posted at 5:01 p.m. and updated at 5:31 p.m.
July 1
The resolution creating the five-member commission was introduced Tuesday by Senate Finance Chairman Daniel DaPonte, D-East Providence, and Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors, D-Cumberland, and approved by the full Senate the same day, before the Senators joined their colleagues in the House in taking a break, of indeterminate length, with scores of high-profile bills still hanging in limbo. The resolution notes that there are numerous municipal pensions systems that are not members of the state retirement system but nonetheless "an integral part of the state's annual budget expenditure as well as the state's economy as a whole.'' "As such, the General Assembly finds that in order to provide the citizens of the State of Rhode Island with the highest level of financial accountability while protecting the public employee's right to accrued pension benefits, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive review and study of municipal pensions.'' The commission would be comprised of five including the Senate majority leader, his Republican counterpart, the Senate Finance Committee chairman and two other Senators appointed by Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, though they can each designate members of the public to take their place. The study will encompass the same array of issues covered by a House study commission over the last year and a half: "funding, investments and management, eligibility, age of retirement, benefits, contributions, vesting, disqualification, review of any and all statutes, rules or regulations pertinent to municipal pensions.'' The panel has until June 30, 2010 to report its findings and recommendations.
wrote, My pension fund was fully funded until some greedy as@hole decided to take my private pension and put it with the state. Whose fault is... Read the rest, write another...
During the General Assembly's aborted rush to adjournment Friday, the Senate approved a resolution - introduced earlier the same day - to create a nine-member special commission to study a swath of issues surrounding marijuana. Among them: "The experience of individuals and families sentenced for violating marijuana laws...The experience of states and European countries, such as California, Massachusetts and the Netherlands, which have decriminalized the sale and use of marijuana.'' The sponsors of the eleventh-hour legislation include Sens. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston; Leo Blais, R-Coventry; Rhoda Perry, D-Providence; Charles Levesque, D-Portsmouth, and Susan Sosnowski, D-South Kingstown. In a brief interview Wednesday, Miller said the legislation was sparked by the referendum-driven move to decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts, and what he perceives as "a national trend towards decriminalization.'' Asked why he waited until what was to be the last day of the session to introduce the measure, Miller said he and his fellow sponsors felt it was "very important'' for this study to be "defined as an issue'' completely separate and apart from the passage - over Governor Carcieri's veto - of legislation allowing the creation of state-regulated dispensaries to sell marijuana for medicinal use. Miller said it also "took that long for it to be taken seriously.''
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- There's a little confusion on Smith Hill about when the state will officially celebrate Independence Day. July 4, as most of us know by now, falls on a Saturday. The federal government will be closed on Friday, July 3. But we're told that Rhode Island's state employees will recognize the birth of the nation on Monday, July 6. That means most federal offices will be closed Friday (there will be mail, however), but most state offices -- including the Division of Motor Vehicles -- will be closed Monday, according to Governor Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe. Why the difference? State law is very specific on this one. If July 4 falls on a weekend, "then state employees will celebrate the holiday on the following Monday," according to general law 25-1-1.
June 30
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Carcieri on Tuesday reluctantly signed into law a $7.8-billion budget package that raises Rhode Island's gas tax by 2 cents per gallon, cuts millions of dollars from cities and towns, and trims pension benefits for thousands of state workers and teachers. If he had the option, the governor said, he would not have signed the plan, which boosts overall government spending by $900 million, or 13 percent, for the coming year, relying heavily on federal stimulus funds to plug the state's largest budget hole in decades. Carcieri signed the budget bill, for the fiscal year that begins Wednesday, in the privacy of his office. His staff waited hours to issue a statement. "My signing this budget is not an endorsement of it in its entirety. I had intended to allow this budget to become law without my signature, however it was delivered to my office too late to do so," Carcieri said in a letter to House Speaker William J. Murphy. "I am signing for this reason: over $40 million of state funding, plus hundreds of millions in federal ... funds are at risk if the budget does not become law before July 1." Indeed, looming deadlines linked to savings proposals eliminated much of the political jockeying that usually accompanies budget feuds between the Republican governor and the Democrat-dominated General Assembly, which crafted the final version of the budget. "Unfortunately, the General Assembly chose a short-sighted scheme with narrow political goals that addresses some but defers more far-reaching, difficult choices for yet another year," Carcieri said in a statement, blasting an unspecified cut of $57.6 million across all state departments and $5 million from consultant contracts. In a brief interview, the governor warned that staffing cuts or furloughs are possible. "To come up with another $70 million is going to be very painful, frankly, on state employees," he said. "That means we're going to have a very difficult time living with the contractual agreements we have."So we're already starting discussions with labor because we're going to have to either reduce the work force further with something that winds up being compensation reductions. We're not going to find $70 million without some fairly serious stuff. But the governor noted that the tax-and-spend plan could have been worse for Rhode Island's taxpayers. On the same day that Massachusetts Governor Patrick signed a budget that raises the Bay State's sales tax by 25 percent, Carcieri signed a budget that avoids raising sales or income taxes. Lawmakers rejected Carcieri's push to cut the state's corporate income tax, but left untouched a tax break for high earners known as the alternative flat tax. The most significant tax changes include the gas tax bump -- which diverts millions of dollars to the beleaguered Rhode Island Public Transit Authority --- and the elimination of preferential treatment of capital gains. "I'm pleased to learn that the governor has signed the budget. We did not increase broad-based taxes and we further reduced spending from the governor's March proposal, which at the end of the day was $125 million out of balance," said House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino, generally considered the architect of the legislature's budget. "I note that the governor finds the spending cuts to be a challenge and I hope the administration is up to it." There was little reaction across Smith Hill following Carcieri's move, which was expected as the state closes a $590-million budget hole, a gap equal to almost 20 percent of state-only spending. There are a handful of increased fees, including one for dock permits and another for the expungement of criminal records. But the budget largely avoided threatened cuts to programs for thousands of seniors, poor and disabled Rhode Islanders. Cities and towns will lose $55 million -- all that remained of the general revenue sharing program -- and their school districts will lose $26 million from the $690 million provided in the enacted budget for fiscal 2009. That includes the elimination of $5.8 million for professional development, and a $20.3 million reduction equal to projected pension savings. The outcome would have been far worse without federal stimulus dollars. The budget cuts $33.9 million in state funds from local education, but replaces it with $35.6 million in federal stimulus dollars that won't be available for more than another year. State officials have expressed concern about "an exit strategy" once the funds dry up. On pensions, despite threats of lawsuits by public employees unions, the budget adopts age 62 as the new "target" age for retirement for state workers and teachers. It is a hugely complicated formula, but simply put: the farther away from retirement the employee is, the higher the age requirement. Carcieri said the budget doesn't go far enough. "It was an opportunity missed," he said. "I'm not proud of it because I think it's just going to leave us continuing to struggle."
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Carcieri Tuesday urged the General Assembly to give voters a chance to extend the state's ethics code to cover legislative votes and official actions taken by Rhode Island lawmakers. Reacting to a ruling Monday by the state Supreme Court , Carcieri urged the assembly to pass a resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2010 ballot to strengthen the Ethics Commission. Carcieri said the amendment is needed "to regain confidence and trust of the people of Rhode Island." "I believe the intention of the voters was to hold all elected officials, including members of the House and Senate, to the same high level of ethical standards," Carcieri said in a statement. But House Speaker William J. Murphy was cool to the idea. In a brief interview Tuesday, Murphy, a West Warwick Democrat, said: "I don't care what state you are talking about, you are always going to have one or two people who are going to do the wrong thing. That's human life. But the bottom line is: I can tell you that my members who are in the House of Representatives are here for the right reason, and I am just a little cautious to make a regulation for one person.'' In its historic and long-awaited decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Rhode Island legislators can be prosecuted for ethics violations involving their political activities, questionable acts on behalf of constituents or businessmen -- but not, for their official legislative votes or actions. The decision marked a victory for former Senate President William V. Irons, who had been accused of voting on legislation in a way beneficial to pharmacy giant CVS while collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance commissions from Blue Cross on a health-insurance policy for CVS employees in Rhode Island. In December 2004, the state Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe Irons broke state ethics laws by voting on pharmacy freedom-of-choice legislation in which he had a substantial conflict of interest,'' and that he "used his public office to obtain financial gain from CVS, his business associate.'' The Supreme Court rooted its decision in the so-called speech-in-debate clause in the Rhode Island Constitution that says no legislators "shall be questioned in any other place" regarding their official votes or actions. The intent of the clause, the majority said, is not to protect legislators from being prosecuted for acting to benefit themselves, but to protect the public by allowing elected officials to carry out their duties without fear of prosecution. With the Ethics Commission paralyzed and unable to even render advisory opinions last spring, state Rep. David Segal, D-Providence, introduced a bill bill that would extend the ethics code to state legislators, "notwithstanding'' the speech-in-debate clause. But the bill had not made any progress -- and had not even had a hearing -- when the House went on hiatus in Saturday's early morning hours. And Murphy in an impromptu interview outside his office on Tuesday signaled little interest in moving it forward. While the court's day-old decision is "a hot topic for today,'' he said "bottom line: every constitution in all 50 states has a speech-in-debate clause, so I mean this is something we will analyze over the summer recess...and I do believe you need an Ethics Commission. You absolutely need an Ethics Commission, but I think, in certain times, the Ethics Commission has gone so far that we've now discouraged people from running for [the] General Assembly.'' The original version of this story was posted at 3:30 p.m.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill in which registered sex offenders who temporarily live in the state for at least 14 days would have to register at the police station in the community where they are residing. Bill sponsor Sen. James Doyle, D-Pawtucket, simply told the chamber "it's a good bill" and urged passage. The vote was 33 to 0 and came without floor debate. A registered sex offender would have to register with the local law enforcement within 24 hours of the 14th day in the state. The bill requires House passage. The House may return into session later in the summer, as may the Senate. It's unclear the extent of legislative topics the chambers would take up later in the summer.
PROVIDENCE, .R.I. -- The Senate has voted and sent to the governor a bill to allow round-the-clock gambling, seven days a week at Twin River, while also forcing the owners of the bankrupt track and slot parlor to drop their plans to suspend live greyhound racing on Aug. 8, and run a full 200-day season. The vote was 25 to 10. The House approved the bill Friday, despite strong warnings a day earlier by Gary Sasse, the director of the state Department of Administration, that the state could lose upward of $25 million in gambling revenue if legislators interfere with the restructuring plan. Under its bankruptcy plan, Twin River would turn over ownership of the 62-year-old track and slot parlor to its lenders, who would be free to bring in a new operator, within 120 days, unless an alternate agreement was reached. The agreement hinges, in part, on the legislature agreeing to relieve Twin River of its current obligation to run at least 125 days of greyhound racing each year, which has been a losing proposition. The owners blame their financial arrangement with the dog owners' association for some of their money troubles, since the racing nets them only $1.75 million, not nearly enough to cover the $2.5 million expense or the $9.7 million subsidy they are committed to paying the greyhound owners by a contract. Lobbyists for the greyhound owners assert that elimination of the races would cost 225 jobs and at least $7.5 million in direct and indirect state revenue, including sales and income taxes paid by the workers out of their wages and millions of dollars in slot-play by gamblers lured to the track by the dog races. But Sasse, in a letter to key lawmakers last week, wrote: "To the extent that the enactment of the legislation were to interfere with the completion of the restructuring agreement, the legislation could actually result in the BLB bankruptcy filing becoming a protracted, free-fall proceeding - as opposed to a consensual one - which could result in the state incurring millions of dollars in related expenses, as well as an estimated decrease of 10 percent or more in revenues to the state from the facility." Governor Carcieri has left no doubt he will veto the legislation. Here is the vote tally: Voting yes Bates, R-Barrington Voting no Not voting SOURCE: Senate roll call
By Steve Peoples PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Carcieri said Tuesday afternoon he's signed the $7.8-billion state budget behind closed doors in his office. The spending plan becomes law Wednesday, the beginning of the new fiscal year. The Senate had approved the budget Friday. Check back for more on this developing story.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Two top executives from Harrah's Entertainment, the Las Vegas-based company that financed the 2006 drive for the proposed Narragansett Indian casino in House Speaker William J. Murphy's hometown of West Warwick, were back at the Rhode Island State House Tuesday morning to meet with Murphy. On her way in and out of the meeting, Harrah's Senior Vice President Jan Jones said she was here to get a better understanding of the lay of the land now that Twin River's owners have filed for bankruptcy, under terms that will soon require them to surrender ownership of the Lincoln track and slot parlor to their lenders. Asked if Harrah's is interested in buying the facility or simply bidding for the management contract, Jones said: "We are actually looking at all different options.'' Acknowledging that the exact nature of what will be made available is up to the lenders, "there certainly is resource to invest,'' she said. Murphy met in his State House office with Jones, Harrah's lawyer David Satz and lobbyist and one-time Celtics basketball star Kevin Stacom. In an interview after the meeting, Murphy said he invited the team to his office after reading that they were headed to Rhode Island to scope out the opportunities for Harrah's at Twin River. "It is not something we need to get involved in right now, and when I say we, I mean as the House of Representatives," Murphy said. "But they have expressed an interest in the facility in Lincoln...[and] put it this way: whatever shakes out in bankruptcy court, whatever happens, I would feel very comfortable if Harrah's came in and were either to be the management company to run the facility, or if Harrah's, at some point became ... the purchaser of the facility.'' Asked if the Harrah's delegation mentioned a role for their former casino partners here, the Narragansett Indians, Murphy said: "We did not get into specifics.''
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