Meanwhile, Providence Democratic Rep. John Lombardi begins his annual push for a midsession lobbyist-contribution ban.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — With the R.I. General Assembly back in session, the annual fundraising jamboree begins anew — and so does Providence Democratic Rep. John Lombardi's annual push for a midsession lobbyist-contribution ban.
The House Speaker traditionally holds the first big fundraising event of the year. It is viewed as a must-be-there event for lobbyists.
In keeping with this tradition, Speaker Nicholas Mattiello opens the 2018 season with a $200-a-ticket fundraiser at the Providence Marriott Downtown on Jan. 17, the day after Gov. Gina Raimondo's State of the State address and the day before she delivers her 2018-19 budget proposal to lawmakers.
On Jan. 25, Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio will have his own $200-a-person fundraising event in the Public Kitchen & Bar at the Renaissance Providence Hotel.
Next up — back-to-back, $150-a-person fundraising events at the Crowne Plaza for the Warwick Democrats who hold the No. 2 leadership spots in the House and Senate. House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi — the reigning king of legislative fundraisers — has scheduled his event for Feb. 1 and Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey for Feb. 8.
Year-end reports are not due until the end of January for 2017. But this is how much Rhode Island's top-ranked lawmakers had in their political accounts when the third quarter came to a close on Sept. 30:
— Mattiello had $309,205 in his account, after raising a total of $248,270 and spending a total of $106,659 over the first nine months of the year.
— Ruggerio, who was promoted from majority leader to Senate president in the middle of the 2017 session, had $149,554 in his account after raising $172,447 and spending $104,893 in the same span.
— Shekarchi had a stunning $666,856.79 in his campaign account at the end of September, and no announced plans to run in 2018 for any office other than the House seat he last won, in 2016, running unopposed. Three-quarters of the way into 2017, he had raised $164,606 and spent a relatively modest $30,805 on fundraising expenses and donations to the Providence St. Patrick's Day Committee, the St. Mary Feast Society, the R.I. Troopers Association and the like.
— McCaffrey had a more meager $186,246.20 in his account at last report.
For Lombardi, a former Providence City Council president and acting mayor, the effort to ban political contributions by lobbyists to General Assembly members from Jan. 1 through July 1 has been an annual exercise in futility since 2013.
Lombardi said he keeps trying because he believes it is "the right thing,'' a simple step that would "eradicate the appearance of impropriety'' and a reform that might "start to erase some of the things that have happened in the past.'' He cites the 38 Studios debacle as an example of backroom dealings that had a disastrous effect on the state. A fellow Providence Democrat, state Rep. Raymond Hull, has cosponsored the legislation.
The legislation was permanently "held for further study'' after a Jan. 24, 2017, hearing during which the ACLU of Rhode Island registered its opposition. In written testimony, the ACLU wrote that while the legislation is "certainly well-intentioned and may have the beneficial effect of freeing up the nights of lobbyists during the legislative session, we submit that it does not address issues of corruption in any meaningful way, but it does impede the exercise of First Amendment rights."
(When asked Friday where he stood, one veteran lobbyist, Frank McMahon, said he was ambivalent. He said the proposed ban would not impede with his talking-and-testifying approach to lobbying, and he might welcome the reprieve. But he said he also realized "fundraisers are kind of a part of Rhode Island's political nature." )
In 2011, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported that 29 states had restrictions on "giving and receiving campaign contributions during the legislative session." In some states, the ban was largely limited to lobbyists. The current count was not readily available last week.
Mattiello said: "Fundraising can be and is an unpleasant task. However, unfortunately, you have to raise funds in order to be competitive electorally and win the honor of being able to serve your community.'' He said the six-month legislative sessions take lawmakers away from their families and day jobs as it is, and placing limits on fundraising during those months would effectively cut into the lawmakers' off-session time.
Lombardi acknowledged that he accepts political donations from lobbyists and said he will continue to do so until the law changes.
Lombardi is also the lead sponsor of a perennial bill that would double the terms of state lawmakers, from two years to four, but limit them to three consecutive terms. Aside from Hull, his cosponsors are freshman Reps. Camille Vella-Wilkinson, D-Warwick, and Julie Casimiro, D-North Kingstown.
Frias undecided
To run or not to run in 2018? That is the question facing Steve Frias, the Republican who came within 85 votes of beating Mattiello in his Cranston home district in the last election.
The short answer: "I have not made any decisions about running again. I am touched by the encouragement that I received from people to run again. It was not an easy decision for me to run last time and it will not be a simple decision for me again."
The longer answer: "People may wonder what I will do. I wonder what the General Assembly will do this year under Speaker Mattiello."
An out-front opponent of the proposed PawSox stadium-financing plan, this is Frias' read on Mattiello's stance: "Because he barely escaped defeat, Speaker Mattiello is now talking about listening to the voters. By reversing the position he had in 2015 and now refusing to support a new taxpayer-subsidized stadium for the PawSox owners, I think Mattiello is listening to the voters on that issue. However, I think he needs to do a better job of listening to the voters on other issues, like the line-item veto and the ... free tuition controversy." (Here he alluded to WPRI reports on free tuition the state colleges gave to the family of a top Mattiello aide.)
His opinion on the state budget deficit and car tax relief? "As a constituent, I also think a good representative not only listens to the voters but is honest with them, too. Year after year, the General Assembly passes these gimmick-filled budgets, and year after year the result are budget deficits.
"We need spending cuts not only to balance the budget but also to pay for car tax relief. Speaker Mattiello still hasn’t figured out a way to pay for this campaign promise. I do support car tax relief, but the car tax relief included in this year’s budget is either being paid for from some budget gimmick or from millions in new sales tax revenues from shopping on the internet and higher cigarette taxes.
"I think Speaker Mattiello has an opportunity to lead here by example when it comes to controlling spending by significantly reducing the General Assembly’s budget."
A barbershop poll
Speaker Mattiello's barber — Ralph Petronio, 74, of City Hall Barber Shop in Cranston — may have a say in the fate of the proposed stadium-financing deal for the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Responding to a reporter's questions on the first day of the new legislative session, Mattiello said he is "absolutely not opposed to the deal,'' but the "House reflects the mood of the public,'' and the public is not keen on using public money to build a new stadium for the privately owned team.
His evidence? "I talk to my barber, which I've recently done."
Reached by Political Scene at the Park Avenue barber shop where he has cut hair for the last 32 years, Petronio shared what he told Mattiello: "Most of my customers, I would say 75 to 90 percent, do not want it. The[ir] answer is: Let the Boston Red Sox pay for it. Not us. That's my opinion and the customers' opinion here. ... They'll say: 'Hey Ralph, this Pawtucket Red Sox. Are they crazy? Tell Boston to pay for it.' "
Petronio said he "doesn't want to lose'' the car-tax phaseout that Mattiello championed and fears the outlay for a new stadium could jeopardize that. "You gotta get the money from somewhere, you follow me?"
Mattiello said most of his House colleagues are hearing the same thing from their constituents. "They all stop us at supermarkets and local establishments. and it's pretty easy to get a sense of where people are. ... It's not an exact science, I'll be the first to admit. But we are listening as closely as we can."
What would it take to get his support?
"To get my support? Very easy,'' he said. "Convince the public that the public wants to make the investment."
"I don't think the final paragraph has been written on this,'' he said. "Let's see ... how the hearings go."