Stop the HPV Vaccine Mandate & Preserve Parental Rights
REGULATORY DESPOTISM? To view our press conference videos, photos, media links, and for more info …
Governor’s BOND & TOLL plan will waste over $650 million
PAY-AS-YOU-GO a Superior Approach.
The plan under consideration would more than double the cost of the project and would enrich special-interests without any added benefit for Rhode Islanders. The Center’s new report shows how to make RhodeWorks “work” for Rhode Island.
[button url=”https://rifreedom.org/2015/07/making-rhodeworks-work-for-rhode-islanders/” target=”_self” size=”medium” style=”royalblue” ] Read the PayGo Report here [/button]BREAKING: New Federal HUD Rule Validates Center’s RhodeMapRI Claims
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2015
As Forewarned, HUD Finalizes Rule in Effort to Desegregate Local Neighborhoods via Plans like RhodeMap RI
State Planning Officials Denied True Agenda and Federal Connection
Providence, RI — Following weeks of speculation in national news stories, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week has finalized a new housing rule that confirms the federal connection and hidden agenda of the controversial RhodeMapRI plan, as forewarned almost 9 months ago by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity
“Despite denials by officials from the RI Division of Planning, it is now fully apparent that RhodeMap RI is nothing more than a Trojan Horse to implement a federal agenda,” commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “RhodeMap RI is a social-engineering tool of the federal government that will supersede the sovereignty of municipalities and will infringe upon the rights of private property owners … all in the name of the HUD’s warped vision of how to achieve social equity.”
Rhode Island administration officials have continually denied any connection with this federal agenda, yet recent developments belie their claim. The stealth advancement of the true agenda behind the RhodeMap RI plan, as the Center has maintained from day one, was further validated at a recent forum conducted by the nationally renowned Brookings Institution, a major supporter of the Obama administration’s anti-suburban ‘regionalist’ policies. In a video of the event, one supporter of the new HUD rule stated in effect, that keeping the purpose of the rule “obscure” may be the best political strategy to “get it through” (1:23:43 mark). Similarly, the Center has suggested that this type of intentional deception is how RhodeMap RI was able to become an official part of the state guide plan without any approval of the RI General Assembly.
This revelation is important, as two critical pieces of related legislation are now in legislative limbo due to the abrupt closure of the 2015 legislative session:
House bill H6107-A, which stealthily passed the House Finance Committee in an eleventh hour suspended-rules maneuver, would provide RhodeMap RI proponents with a vital tool to advance its agenda … namely, to expand a dual-tiered property tax system that would likely raise property taxes on single-family homeowners; but could also reduce overall revenues to municipalities by dramatically reducing property taxes on a multitude of loosely defined affordable housing units. Potentially unconstitutional in Rhode Island, a similar policy in the town of Barrington is being challenged in a citizen-initiated lawsuit now in the state’s Superior Court.
Conversely, House bill H6040-A, which passed the entire House, would restore some measure of sovereignty to municipal governments by allowing them to opt out of some of the more burdensome housing mandates of the RhodeMap RI plan.
Neither bill had the chance to be officially considered in the Senate.
Rhode Islanders are encouraged to contact their legislators to reduce the negative impact of RhodeMap RI via an easy-to-use online tool at The Gaspee Project, a partner organization.
The Center has published multiple reports and related analysis pieces on RhodeMap RI, which can be viewed at RIFreedom.org/PropertyRights.
Media Contact:
Mike Stenhouse, CEO
401.429.6115 | info@rifreedom.org
About the Center
The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise think tank. The mission of the 501c3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms.
2015 Legislator Scorecard – Now Live!
HOW DOES YOUR REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR RANK?
Preliminary ratings show RI General Assembly turns state in the wrong direction once again!
[button url=”https://rifreedom.org/rifreedomindex/” target=”_self” size=”medium” style=”royalblue” ] Interactive Scorecard Here [/button]STATEMENT: Childcare Subsidies Will Enrich Labor Unions
STATEMENT
June 16, 2015
Childcare Subsidies Will Enrich Labor Unions
Non-transparent process leads to added taxpayer burden
As the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity predicted in 2013, the non-transparent process surrounding union negotiations for childcare subsidies will enrich labor unions while adding to taxpayers’ burden. In another budget cycle during which the state government is hunting for every dollar it can find, Governor Raimondo and the General Assembly have made dues to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) a priority.
As Katherine Gregg has reported in the Providence Journal, the budget on which the Rhode Island House will vote tonight includes $2.15 million in raises for independent childcare providers whose clients receive state subsidies. The expense to taxpayers is the only indication that the state has given that it has a first-ever agreement with the SEIU local representing the private providers.
In 2013, the General Assembly and Governor Lincoln Chafee changed state law in order to allow the childcare providers, who are not government employees, to unionize in order to negotiate rates with the state. In a short time frame, and through a process tainted with controversy, the SEIU won the right to represent the approximately 540 providers.
Despite a related ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity believes renders the state law unconstitutional, the Chafee and Raimondo administrations continued negotiations. Now, at the conclusion of the completely non-transparent process, elected officials are poised to pass the costs on to the heavily burdened people of Rhode Island.
“With our unhealthy economy and projections of government deficits on into the future, Rhode Islanders have to start catching on to the game, here,” said Justin Katz, Research Director for the Center. “If needy families are having trouble finding providers because the subsidies are too low, the General Assembly could have increased the rates without the involvement of an expensive labor union.”
Details of the agreement still have not been made public. Based on budget numbers provided by the House Speaker’s office and the Center’s review of similar contracts in other states, the amount of the increase going entirely to the labor union could be around $1 million – about half of the total raise.
The state should immediately release details of the agreement so the people of Rhode Island and their elected officials can make informed decisions prior to budget votes.
Media Contact:
Justin Katz, Research Director
401.835.7156 | info@rifreedom.org
About the Center
The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise think tank. The mission of the 501c3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms.
MEDIA RELEASE: 2015 Legislative Scorecard Update: Overall GA Index falls to (-58)
Freedom Index “Live” Update
Overall Legislative Index Once Again Pointing in the Wrong Direction
Providence, RI — As 2015 bills receive floor votes, an updated interactive scorecard of legislator voting records can be viewed live online, published by the nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. The near real-time RI Freedom Index – Live rates individual pieces of legislation, according to whether or not they preserve or infringe upon the freedoms of Rhode Islanders, then scores General Assembly legislators based on how they voted for each bill.
While not all 2015 bills have been evaluated, to date 155 bills have been rated as qualifying for the Freedom Index scorecard; 92 with a negative rating, 59 with a positive rating and 4 yet to be rated, with an aggregate negative rating of (-58) (down from (-29) last week), meaning once again, the General Assembly is on a path to do more harm than good when it comes to legislation that preserves the freedom and, therefore, the prosperity of our state’s residents.
Not a single Senator scored above (0) on the Freedom Index, in a chamber which has see many more full-floor votes than has the House, which has a number of Representatives tentatively with positive scores.
With the online tool, voters can monitor the scorecards – as votes occur – for all legislators, and can sort and filter by party, district, bill category, and legislator score. The tool also includes separate interactive district maps for the House and Senate.
For more information about current and prior year Freedom Index posts, please visit RIFreedom.org/FreedomIndex.
About the Center
The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise think tank. The mission of the 501c3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms.
MEDIA RELEASE: 2015 Legislative Scorecard NOW LIVE
| Freedom Index “Live” Rates Legislators as they Vote |
| Preliminary 2015 Ratings Indicate Legislative Track Once Again Sending Ocean State in the Wrong Direction |
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An interactive scorecard of 2015 legislator voting records is now live online, announced today by the nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. The new, near real-time RI Freedom Index – Live rates individual pieces of legislation, according to whether or not they preserve or infringe upon the freedoms of Rhode Islanders, then scores General Assembly legislators based on how they voted for each bill. While not all 2015 bills have been evaluated, to date 103 bills have been rated as qualifying for the Freedom Index scorecard; 58 with a negative rating and 45 with a positive rating, with an aggregate negative rating of (-29) … meaning once again, the General Assembly is on a path to do more harm than good when it comes to legislation that preserves the freedom and, therefore, the prosperity of our state’s residents. To date, only 9 bills (7 Senate, 2 House) that qualify for the RI Freedom Index have received actual floor votes, apparently leading up to yet another stampede of end-of-session committee and full-chamber votes. Based on initial votes and preliminary bill ratings:
With the online tool, voters can monitor the scorecards – as votes occur – for all legislators, and can sort and filter by party, district, bill category, and legislator score. The tool also includes separate interactive district maps for the House and Senate. |
| About the Center |
| The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise think tank. The mission of the 501c3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms. |