THE FUTURE OF RHODE ISLAND

Contrary to what people may think, I actually believe that there is a potentially bright future for Rhode Island. I am quite negative about much of what is, but that does not preclude me from being positive about what Rhode Island could be.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Pollyanna about such things and I certainly do not see the Rhode Island landscape through rose colored glasses, but I do believe that the sinking ship of state has the potential to be righted.

As I mentioned in earlier pieces, I see the current crisis in Rhode Island as a wake up call. It is a situation whereby Rhode Island can rise from its ashes, that is, assuming Rhode Islanders have the commitment to do so.

Rhode Island is different from other states in many ways. We have a strange demographic which leans toward older, less affluent people. We are situated in the Northeast and we are between New York and Boston, a factor that keeps pricing for goods and services higher than the rest of the nation.

Still, as a state we are quite poor at managing money and economic development. We educate our children, and pay dearly for it, only to have them leave the state for employment. We not only lose a viable economic engine, we pay the education costs of our competitors.

The current budgetary crisis is a direct result of spending from the heart and not from the head. We are poor planners and we are suckers for a cause. This is not all bad, except when it reaches extremes. That is where Rhode Island is at present.

The need to rein in the budget and to prepare a plan for the future is essential. Quite frankly, I am not so sure that the current administration and the presently seated legislature are up to that task.

The need to relinquish local control, the need to reasonably fund social welfare programs, the need to avoid quick fixes to balance a budget, the need to avoid further taxing an already over-taxed population, the need to create a better system of governance and the need to stop the wastefulness of government are all critical at this point in time.

Rhode Island’s future will depend on how these issues are dealt with in the legislature. If Rhode Island fails in this attempt, it will have a long future of being a second rate state, a laggard in many respects.

Sure, Rhode Island is beautiful. And sure, it is a great place to live. And so forth, but that doesn’t really pay the bills. A reliance on tourism and being a great place to live is not the sole basis for competition in the world of economic development.

Rhode Island has been presented with an opportunity. As my mother would always remind me, it is always darkest before the dawn. This is true here. The question is whether or not Rhode Island will make the requisite adjustments to bring about a dawning of a new day or whether the dawn will bring rain.

Therefore, I can only conclude that there is much potential for Rhode Island’s future. This potential is only limited by the dolts that occupy government. The people, having been purposely kept unaware of matters (assuming that they could understand them if they were presented), will continue to be the downfall of Rhode Island.

Until we can replace the ignorance and apathy of the voting public, and until we can rid Rhode Island of the “I’ve got mine” mentality, this state will continue in a downward spiral or at best maintain itself in its current state of dismal malaise.

If I were a betting man I would not put my money on Rhode Island gloriously rising from its ashes. I think it is an even bet that there will be quick fixes that are bandages for the problem. There are no smiles in Mudville.

THE BUDGET

In Rhode Island budgeting, the Governor proposes and the Legislature disposes. That said, there is often a misconception as to where the fault in the budgetary process lies. In reality, there is more than enough blame to go around.

The Legislature has long been wild in spending. The seemingly unsatisfied spending spree of the Assembly has clearly gotten us to where we are today. The Assembly always thought that there would be more money coming in and that the ride would never end. It did.

Now that the budget has been stretched to its furthest extent, the State must now consider what to do in light of the uncertain times and limited funding. That begs the question, what needs to be done?

The bottom line is that government revenue is governed by three factors: spending, raising money from taxation, or expansion of the tax base. There are no other factors in this equation.

The ability to expand the Rhode Island tax base at this time is speculation at best. It would be nice, but since it is speculative, it is more like spending in anticipation of winning the lottery. Such is impractical. If the base is expanded, it should not be spent in anticipation. It should be a seed planted for a future fruit.

That leaves taxation. It is a difficult budget position to argue for a tax increase in light of the fact that Rhode Island’s current tax situation puts its residents in the highest of brackets in most tax categories. Thus, the more tax option is an unlikely solution.

This then makes the reduction in spending as the sole option for budget reform. Now each and every special interest group will complain that their ox is being gored, but the reality is that a difficult financial time requires a tightening of the budget.

The real issue is whether or not the budget cuts are being done with reason and with effectiveness. Bad budget cutting decisions will only exacerbate the already terrible situation. To make decisions on programs require work to consider effectiveness in a per dollar mentality.

It is hard work, especially when it can be so manipulated by the special interest groups determined to maintain their domains at any cost. Such resistance, while expected, must be countered logically. Sure, everyone wants everyone else to have a healthy, happy life. Sure, we all want children and elderly to live comfortable lives. The only problem is that this is not paradise and money doesn't grow on trees. To fund a program for someone else means that money has to be taken from another.

A budget without a heart is difficult, but a budget without a head rings a death knell for the state. A budget cut will not necessarily result in the safety net of society being withdrawn. These social advocates can still raise money privately, it is just far more difficult than having the government seize money from people for their programs via taxation.

There is clearly a need to reform the spending methods of Rhode Island government. The idea of capping spending and pegging growth to the cost of living, along with a process for increased budgets in emergencies, may be a creative way with working with social program spending.

Another idea is the deregulation of Rhode Island. By deregulating the state, there will be savings, if only on the need to retain people to enforce the regulations. This will stop the dog from chasing its tail.

The difficult budget cycle is a good for Rhode Island. It can provide for the rise of the Phoenix from the ashes of its budget woes. The needs of Rhode Island must come before the special interests that control the legislative process. I have long argued that the voter initiative process could have stripped these special interest lobbyists from their control, but, alas, the special interests have prevailed on this issue as well.

Rhode Island must now confront its budget crisis. The time is now. The belt has been expanded over the years; now it needs to be contracted.

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

I am one of those who have long contended that the Governor of Rhode Island is one of the least powerful governors across the nation. It evolved that way through the quirks of Rhode Island governance. That said, I do think there is a strong role for any Rhode Island governor who can master the bully pulpit.

It is certain that any executive who is not given the full power to execute stands at a distinct disadvantage, but there are many ways to minimize that handicap. The idea is to reach out to the people.

We have a tradition of governors in recent times that have played ball with the legislature to get along. Some enter the office full of vim and vigor and actively seek to confront the problems facing the state only to be put into place or otherwise get beaten down by the existing power structure.

The large problem here is that these governors are forced to operate in a political system governed by political parties. The old saying that you have to dance with the one who ‘brung’ you is most appropriate.

While there is a need to operate in such a manner there will never be a true governance in conformance with the needs of the state and the desires of the people. To rectify this there needs to be a reasoned, if not complete, abandonment of political party politics and use the office to go directly to the people of the state.

Of course, this requires an informed population, an issue I discussed in earlier writings. The people, if given all the facts, are much more likely to either support or reject any particular issue. The Rhode Island people, I contend, are only ignorant of state affairs; they are not simply stupid when it comes to government.

If one is not given a complete picture, one must utilize the facts one has in reaching a conclusion. Thus, an ill-informed or un-informed population is the greatest enemy to an impotent governor.

To fully empower the governor, the governor must act in a manner that makes governance translucent if not completely transparent. There is, in my view, a place for state secrets, but that place should be severely limited. All public business should be conducted openly and with a constant eye to informed disclosure to the people.

If that is ever attained, then a governor can seek the assistance of the people in supporting programs that may be different from those of the legislature and the judiciary. Until then, a governor is merely spitting into the wind.

The people will support a policy that is in their best interest over special interests when it is clearly demonstrated that the special interests are damaging the society. It is not real rocket science.

Therefore, the first step for any governor is to free himself or herself from the binding ties of politics. The second step is to seek a complete and simplified disclosure of the matters of state. And the third step is to bring the people around through the use of constant public discussion of issues.

This requires much heavy lifting. Most find the path of least resistance to be a far easier course to follow, but it is not what the people need to fill such a weak office. The people need a visionary that is willing to work to fully educate the population and then seek their support.

In the future I will discuss the more technical aspects of the Executive branch and explore in more detail my concept of what a Rhode Island governor should be doing in light of the office’s position compared to the other two branches of government.

OPEN GOVERNMENT

When I speak of open government, I mean having government that is capable of being understood by the common person. If we allow universal voting, then we cannot possibly expect a truly educated electorate unless they are totally informed as to the inner workings of government. It is not brain surgery.
To that end I have long advocated an open government process. I have long advocated for budget reforms that would mandate that the budget be written in a manner that is capable of being understood by a person with an eighth grade education level. I have long advocated for programs that bring voter awareness of pending legislation. And I have argued for reforming the system to eliminate politics.

I willingly admit that many of these changes have begun to be implemented. There is far greater access to legislation that is pending, although the ability to access information is not as easy as it could be. Further, there is a move afoot to make public spending records available to folks. The real problem is that these efforts are not widely publicized and therefore are largely wasted.

The need for people to be able to immediately consult a budget and know exactly where their public funds are being spent is a no-brainer. Further, the actual pay-outs need to be fully disclosed, along with a purpose for the expenditure.

The fact that government is in budgetary shambles is reflective of a system that minimizes actual public scrutiny. The public, largely unaware of what is actually happening until after the fact, makes it far too easy for shifty politicos to do grave damage to the system.

There has been some progress towards full disclosure of special interests, and there will probably be a bit more concern for conflicts as a result of pending legal actions against various unscrupulous legislators, but this again comes too little, too late.

The fact is that we say that our election system works and yet we look at an electorate that hasn’t a clue. We want to expand voting, but we are not willing to give the full picture to the voter. By creating ignorance in the voting population, we are certainly assured of having much more of the same in the future.

To have a completely accessible and readable budget would be a step in the right direction. To then put it into the education curriculum would be an even better step. To have a readable budget on line would be good. To publicly disperse this information with a public awareness campaign would be fine.

Many of these ideas are bantered about during elections but they rarely come to fruition after the election fades into the collective memory. We need to have these small steps taken before we can logically walk into an election booth as informed citizens. Without it, we are simply reliant upon a clueless electorate to vote in people based on personality instead of performance.

Such behavior is just downright stupid. It allows our leaders to tend to the public’s needs in a manner that is overly paternal. It robs the people of their freedom as well as their tax money.

In the next touch on this topic, I will attempt to further explain what a readable budget would consist of and make it clear why such an effort, albeit costly and time consuming, could actually benefit the operation of the State of Rhode Island.

Also, I will try to consider other options for opening up state government for a wider understanding of its proper role in regulating its people.

ENERGY

Somewhat surprisingly Rhode Island is becoming innovative in the area of energy. While it may not be exactly what Rhode Island needs, it is clearly a step in the right direction.

The recent embarking on a course of wind energy may prove there is at least some effort being given to the future needs of the state. The problem with this is that these types of projects are not often moved to completion.

Alternative energy for Rhode Island makes good sense. The issue of how to come to the conclusion may be at issue, but it is hard to fault those who may be at least trying to make the dream come to fruition.

A wise energy policy, especially for a New England state, if proven successful, could lead to a major surge in productivity in the region. Additionally, by leading the way in the use of alternative energy, Rhode Island would stand poised to capitalize on this market should it result in success.

While it may seem foolish to plan an alternative energy policy during a period of difficult financial times, such thought needs to be dismissed by the potential it contains. When in the darkest times one can complain or light a candle. This effort may be challenged by funding in the near future, but if it proves its worth, such funding may be considered innovative.

The use of wind and ocean power seems only logical. The need to effectively and efficiently harness this type of power is the real issue. It can be accomplished under present technology, however the real concern for government is the structuring of the plan so as to provide the best deal for the people of Rhode Island and not for the sheer benefit of the investment community.

By lessening our reliance on oil, especially foreign oil, we are making our state far more independent from the strings of both national and international policy. We are in effect fashioning our own destiny.

Certainly Rhode Island needs to consider the trade offs related to such energy development. There needs to be environmental safeguards and there needs to be a policy for the proper development and use. Consideration must also be given to how this will impact the state’s economic well-being.

For decades Rhode Island industry has been challenged by high electricity rates. This factor, albeit one of many, has caused industry to leave the state. By looking at a new way to manage energy there is no guarantee that the industrial base will ever return to Rhode Island, but by eliminating one of the several obstacles in the way of industry, we can at least position ourselves to seek its return.

A revitalized energy policy may in fact spawn other more efficient energy developments in this state. That all said, it is in our best interests to wisely develop and continue to support energy policy that seeks to free us from the high cost of energy in Rhode Island.

In the future I will try to further expound on the use of such power and then explore just how the energy policy will drive the economic development policy in Rhode Island.