High profile organizations & individuals in Rhode Island offer a bizarre response to voter registration controversy. Center renews calls for investigation.

STATEMENT: Bizarre & Inadequate Response to Voter Registration Controversy

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

High Profile Orgs & Individuals Defend Broken Status Quo Even After Admission of Wrongdoing by S.O.S.

Renews Call for Governor to Appoint an Independent Investigator

Providence, RI – Even after a statement from Rhode Island’s Secretary of State acknowledging that the research released yesterday by Ken Block exposed a problem that needs fixing, supporters of the state’s status quo quickly and dutifully fell in line to cast inaccurate accusations about the message and the messenger.

Conversely, the Governor and the Secretary of State remained silent with regard to the calls to action issued by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity yesterday. Bold action and clear statements from political leaders would help comfort the voters of Rhode Island that the state’s election process is being conducted legally and with proper integrity.

“The responses so far are both inadequate and bizarre. While one might expect the state’s Democrat Party to blindly defend the practices of its own, I did not expect a commissioner of the Board of Elections and Common Cause to run to the defense of a purposely broken voter registration system,” said the Center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse. “Attacks on the messenger are usually designed to deflect attention from the truth of the core issue.”

Rhode Islanders need a credible alternative to the status quo and its destructive progressive ideas. You can help.

Click here to find out more >>>

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

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Inadequate … in that the Governor, who refused to fulfill her campaign promise to appoint an independent investigation into the 38 Studios debacle, has not responded to Center’s call for such an investigation after clear evidence was presented that our state’s voter registration process may violate federal law, potentially opening the door to illegitimate votes being cast.

Further, the Secretary of State similarly has yet to issue a clear and unequivocal statement declaring whether or not Rhode Island’s current voter registration practices are in compliance with federal law, as the Center also demanded.

Bizarre … in that the statement from the Democrat Party directly contradicts the statement from the Secretary of State; and also improperly attacks the messenger by falsely claiming that Block’s research, that has brought these voter registration problems to light, is an assault on voting rights.

Similarly odd is that the good-government group, Common Cause RI, departed so wildly from its normally measured, policy-oriented approach. Instead, it launched a highly personal and unsubstantiated attack on Block, by claiming his research insinuated that fraudulent votes have been cast. Block did not make such a claim.

Perhaps most bizarre was the unhinged reaction from a sitting Commissioner of the Board of Elections, Steve Erickson, who on social media and on radio all but admitted voter registration problems. Erickson also seemed to advocate that the potential illegalities be swept under the rug, with problems instead addressed in a non public manner, behind the scenes. He also accused Block and the Center of engaging in in partisan politics.

“This is not a partisan issue, Steve, this is an American democracy issue,” replied Stenhouse from his Twitter account.

The Center’s full statement yesterday highlighted bi-partisan support for its call for an independent investigation and put forth additional recommended action items.

Earlier this week, Stenhouse, as guest-host for the award winning public affairs television program, State of the State, interviewed Ken Block about his research and the surprisingly dismissive reaction from the Secretary Of State. The 30-minute interview can be watched here.

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

Following the voter registration research by Ken Block, Center Calls for independent investigation Into potential illegal voter registration practices.

Center Calls for Independent Investigation to Look Into Rhode Island Voter Registration Irregularities

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Center Calls on Governor, Attorney General to Initiate Independent Investigation Into Potential Illegal Voter Registration Practices

Resignations In Order?

Bi-Partisan Support for Investigation and Comprehensive Election Reform Analysis

 

Providence, RI – Following the release today of city-by-city and district-by-district voter registration and 2016 election voting research by Ken Block, via his Simpatico Software Systems data analysis company, the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity calls on the Governor and/or the Attorney General to initiate an independent investigation.

“Claims that the State of Rhode Island is violating federal elections law, specifically the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), must be formally investigated and addressed,” urged the Center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse.“This shocking data means our current registration practices may need to be amended, with individuals appropriately held accountable, if voters are to maintain confidence in our State’s elections integrity. Today, our Center calls on the Governor to publicly respond. The magnitude of these findings potentially shake the very foundation of our state’s democracy.”

The Center also demands a public statement from the Office of the Secretary of State and from the Board Of Elections, specifically declaring whether or not current voter registration practices are in compliance with federal law.

According to Block’s research, results from the 2016 General Election show that more than thirty percent (over 143,000 votes) of the total votes cast were from voters who did not have a validating drivers license or social security number on file in Rhode Island’s voter registration system. In every city and town in the Ocean State at least 20% of all votes cast last November, were by individuals without such personally identifying information (PII) on record. In five towns, over 40% of voters had no listed PII.

Rhode Islanders need a credible alternative to the status quo and its destructive progressive ideas. You can help.

Click here to find out more >>>

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

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“That the voter registration process in Rhode Island may have been corrupted is a very serious issue. Whether or not this has led to actual voter fraud is one of the reasons a thorough and nonpartisan investigation is required,” continued Stenhouse. “For starters, any public official knowingly involved in any unlawful registration process, should resign immediately.”

Given the apparent disinterest in this issue by Secretary Of State, Nellie Gorbea, the Center argues that this issue cannot be adequately self-policed, therefore its call for an independent investigation. Earlier this week, Stenhouse, as guest-host for the award winning public affairs television program, State of the State, interviewed Ken Block about his research and the surprisingly dismissive reaction from the Secretary Of State. The 30-minute interview can be watched here.

The Center has already received bi-partisan support for its call for an independent investigation and for potential future legislative action. State Representatives Jared Nunes (D, Coventry) and Blake Fillippi (R, Block Island) have pledged to support and work with the Center, and other concerned parties, on these calls to action.

The Center further recommends additional actions regarding reforms to the state’s overall election process:

  • Executive order or legislation requiring Rhode Island’s Secretary of State to backfill PII information for the hundreds of thousands of voter registrations that are missing this information.
  • Review of Rhode Island’s “Motor Voter” and automatic registration policies to determine if they comply with federal law
    Review of state’s absentee mail ballot, emergency voting, and voter ID laws to ensure they comport with the reformed voter registration process
  • Consider a constitutional amendment to codify appropriate reforms so as to ensure election integrity for future generations
  • State or Federal lawsuit on behalf of potentially disenfranchised voters, in order to assure prompt and clear action to cure any legal defects in advance of the next election cycle

Contents of Block’s letter of complaint to the US Justice Department, along with detailed city-by-city and district-by-district charts can be viewed here.

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

This ordinance drips with typical elitist RhodeMapRI arrogance, where town planners believe they know what's best for town farmers.

Statement on Exeter’s Mini RhodeMapRI Proposed Ordinance; Public Hearing Tonight

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 26, 2017

Exeter Planners Plan to Restrict Property Rights?

Farmland Sustainability Cannot be Achieved via Regulation

Providence, RI – Tonight, residents and farmers in the town of Exeter will once again turn out en masse to speak out against a proposed new ordinance that would restrict property rights for landowners. According to the nonpartisan Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity, the Ocean State’s leading pro-family, pro-business research and advocacy organization, the ordinance comes directly out of the RhodeMap RI playbook.

“This ordinance drips with typical elitist RhodeMapRI arrogance, where town planners believe they know what’s best for town farmers,” said Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center, which years ago led the public protest against the anti property-rights statewide scheme. “The planners’ radical vision for a sustainable and bucolic environment directly countermands the rights and freedom that farmers need to operate a sustainable business.”

Rhode Islanders need a credible alternative to the status quo and its destructive progressive ideas. You can help.

Click here to find out more >>>

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

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The ominously named ordinance, the Exeter Farm and Forest Accessory Business Overlay, would arbitrarily restrict normal business activities of farmers and could lead to future property-rights infringements on other property owners, and could create a precedent that might spread to other cities and towns.

While the Center believes that land-use decisions should be made locally, as opposed to via state or federal mandates, it is also important that residents and policymakers understand that ordinances such as these are part of a larger, anti-business, anti-family radical green agenda.

The Center encourages property rights advocates to attend this evening’s 7:00 p.m. public hearing at the Metcalf School cafeteria, located at 30 Nooseneck Hill Road in Exeter.

Earlier this month, this same ordinance was temporarily pulled after hundreds of concerned citizens over-flowed the town council chambers in opposition. But the town-planners apparently were not to be deterred: As former President Ronald Reagan famously said, “The more the plans fail, the more the planners plan.”

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

As the Center recommended over summer 2017, Rhode Island families and businesses would have been better off had the General Assembly not reconvened this year, after prematurely shutting down in June.

Statement on General Assembly Special Session: Negatives Outweigh Positives

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2017

Negative Measures Outweigh Positive Steps

State Would Have Been Better Off Had Lawmakers Stayed Home

Providence, RI – Capitulation to the harmful progressive-Democrat agenda was enough to turn what might have been a positive special fall session of the state’s General Assembly into a net negative. This according to the nonpartisan Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity, the Ocean State’s leading pro-family, pro-business research and advocacy organization.

While the package of Justice Reinvestment bills that the Center backed are now heading to the Governor, and while evergreen contracts for government workers and invasive tracking-cameras on highways were temporarily defeated, other negative measures, advanced by the state’s union-progressive wing, far outweighed these positives.

Rhode Islanders need a credible alternative to the status quo and its destructive progressive ideas. You can help.

Click here to find out more >>>

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

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“Many Rhode Island families and business will suffer from the intrusive new free-time-off mandates imposed last evening on employers,” said Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “Another hit to our state’s already dismal business climate, along with fewer good paying job opportunities, will be the result.”

Also according to the Center, in a step backward for constitutional rights, legally exercising one’s first-amendment rights can now lead to termination of one’s second-amendment rights. Further, local property taxes will increase under overly-generous new pension disability guidelines, offsetting the local automobile property tax relief enacted earlier this year.

As the Center recommended over the summer, Rhode Island families and businesses would have been better off had the General Assembly not reconvened this year, after prematurely shutting down in June.

In June, the Center published a full analysis of the 2018 budget, which additionally discusses:

  • The Center’s call for the state to fulfill its promise to cut the sales tax rate to 6.5%
  • How major portions of the progressive agenda are advanced in this budget
  • Per capita spending comparison with our better performing New England neighbors
  • Other deceptive patterns observed in the budget process, including “scooping”
  • Other positive and negative provisions in the budget and impressions of the overall 2017 legislative session

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

The Center recommends that the voters of Rhode Island should decided the fate of the proposed new PawSox stadium, and avoid eminent domain.

Center Recommends Public Referendum on PawSox Stadium

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 14, 2017

Bonds Should Be Approved by Voters

Eminent Domain Reforms Also Recommended

Providence, RI — The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity, in seeking to advance good government that represents the people, recommends that the voters of Rhode Island should decided the fate of the proposed new stadium for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

With hearings set to begin on related and controversial legislation, the Center believes an alternative path is a superior approach: where the people of Rhode Island have the question placed directly before them in a 2018 referendum, as is the process for most public bonds. The 38-Studios moral-obligation bond disaster demonstrates what can happen when lawmakers bypass the public.

“There is simply too much distrust of government right now for the public to accept what will be perceived as a backroom deal. If this stadium is to be publicly owned, then the people should have a direct say,” suggested Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “This is not your typical corporate subsidy deal and has many subtleties. Proponents and opponents should have the chance to make their case to the public and let the chips fall where they may.”

Rhode Islanders need a credible alternative to the status quo and its destructive progressive ideas. You can help.

Click here to find out more >>>

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

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Regarding the related issue of eminent domain, the Center encourages state and local officials to avoid setting any precedents before it is clear the public supports the venture. The further Center reiterates its position that the government seizure of private property should never occur for private economic development purposes. However, the fact that the proposed stadium would be publicly owned, presents an added consideration; but is yet another reason why the public should first make the call.

The Center continues to recommend that state eminent domain statutes be reformed to prohibit eminent domain for private uses, similar to the bill (S2409) submitted by Senator Mark Cote (D, Woonsocket) in 2016.

“The Pawtucket Red Sox are all about its fan base. It’s only proper that those fans should decide this issue,” concluded Stenhouse.

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

After the shock of announced job losses from Benny's & Alexion, will lawmakers continue to push our state towards the progressive anti-business agenda?

Alexion & Benny’s Shock; General Assembly Special September Session; Mandated Paid Leave, Criminal Justice Reform, Hair-Braider Freedom & More

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 12, 2017

Benny’s and Alexion Should Serve as Shock to the Status Quo

Special Fall Session: Mandated Paid Leave Would be Yet Another Suffocating Burden on Rhode Island Businesses

Providence, RI — After the reality-shock of announced job losses from Benny’s and Alexion, and when the General Assembly reconvenes next week, Rhode Island legislators will be put to the test: Will they continue to push our state into the progressives’ anti-business, anti-family land of make believe?

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, in seeking to advance a more prosperous society, finds it unacceptable that our Ocean State continues to rank 45th in both family prosperity and in business climate, and that business and individuals continue to flee our state. A pro-family, pro-business agenda that advances cultural and economic well-being in the real world, both from a public policy and civil society perspective is the goal. Related values, according the national Family Prosperity Index, include family self-sufficiency, marriage, and work.

The Center today puts forth mini-statements on some of those issues that the General Assembly is expected to take up during this special session.

Rhode Islanders need a credible alternative to the status quo and its destructive progressive ideas. You can help.

Click here to find out more >>>

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is the Ocean State’s leading voice against the wreckage caused by our state’s progressive agenda.

As the state’s leading research organization, advancing family and business friendly values… the mission of our Center is to make Rhode Island a better place to call home – to raise a family and to build a career.

While progressives value government-centric, taxpayer-funded dependency… our Center believes in the value of hard work and the free-enterprise system.

We understand that in order for more Rhode Island families to have a better quality of life, that more and better businesses are needed to create more and better jobs.

Your donation will help us fight the union-progressive movement and, instead, advocate for pro-family, pro-business policies and values.

Please make a generous, tax-deductible gift to support our Center today!

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Mandated Paid Leave – only in a land of make believe do employer mandates NOT lead to a loss of jobs and/or pay!  The General Assembly will consider and vote on at least two bills that would mandate that most Rhode Island businesses offer paid leave to all employers.  One reason why our Ocean State has the WORST business climate in the nation is exactly this kind of persistent meddling in the free-market, which advances a radical social justice agenda, by demanding employers pay for mandated handouts to their employees. The progressive Fair Shot Agenda would further harm the Ocean State’s 45th rank in family prosperity and sixth worst business climate. Its two anti-business mandates – mandatory paid leave and a minimum wage hike – would impose even more burdens on an already over-taxed and over-regulated private business sector … with the inevitable result being a loss of jobs and a loss of opportunity for meaningful work for Rhode Island families who are struggling to improve their quality of life.

Criminal Justice Reform – in the real world,  keeping families together and productive is the key to prosperity. As part of its Family Prosperity Initiative, the Center, in written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee, joined with advocates from the left in generally supporting the reforms being advanced by our state’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative package of legislation, in the hopes that more people can become more productive members of their families and of society, instead of becoming or remaining unnecessarily embroiled in the criminal justice system. The Center recommends that the gratuitous anti-gun sentencing provisions in H5115 and S0011 be removed.

Hair Braider Freedom – pure fantasy to over-regulate this harmless industry.  The Rhode Island House passed H5436 in May that would exempt hair braiders from burdensome state licensing requirements. The  Center supports regulatory reforms that would free natural hair braiders from the occupational licensing mandates currently imposed on the harmless practice. This licensing burden is especially harmful to many people who would prefer to start new careers and earn paychecks instead of receiving welfare checks. Unfair and unreasonable occupational licensing restrictions must be repealed if we want more Rhode Islanders to have a chance to improve their quality of life and engage in entrepreneurial commerce. Only 14 states, along with the District of Columbia, require hair braiders to acquire a specialized license. In Mississippi and Iowa, hair braiders have to register with the state. Specialty licenses require 600 hours of classes and can cost thousands of dollars.

Pretend “Domestic Violence” Bill Is Actually a Broader Ambush On Second Amendment Rights – Imagine losing your 2nd Amendment rights by exercising your constitutionally guaranteed 1st Amendment rights. This is the untold secret of legislation that appears likely to pass state’s General Assembly this month. The General Assembly will consider voting on some version of H5510 & S0405, the so-called “Domestic Violence” bills. These bills would ostensibly remove the Second Amendment rights of people against whom domestic violence restraining orders have been issued. However, it has been under-reported that these bills would also remove the Second Amendment rights of individuals convicted of a variety of misdemeanor charges, such as cyberstalking or disorderly conduct. This hidden provision has not been subject to proper public debate, and should be of  deep concern to center-right and left lawmakers who are being misled by the radical progressive agenda.   Read More