OP-ED

No tolls, but where’s the money coming from?

Posted 9/27/22

STORY OF THE WEEK

 U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith shifted the focus from a cascade of campaign news last week when he dropped a big decision bringing a sudden halt to Rhode …

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OP-ED

No tolls, but where’s the money coming from?

Posted

STORY OF THE WEEK

 U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith shifted the focus from a cascade of campaign news last week when he dropped a big decision bringing a sudden halt to Rhode Island’s truck tolls. Most Rhode Islanders had forgotten about the legal dispute over the tolling program initiated by former Gov. Gina Raimondo. But the trucking industry has vociferously fought against the initiative in the hope of stopping similar approaches from spreading to other states. Citing how the Wall Street Journal in 1983 panned Rhode Island as “little more than a smudge on the fast lane to Cape Cod, Smith wrote that Raimondo and state lawmakers “figured out a way finally to monetize the “fast lane to Cape Cod …. But tolling highways is tricky and controversial business.” In particular, Smith found, Rhode Island’s truck tolling program violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The trucking industry and Republicans lawmakers (who staunchly opposed Raimondo’s RhodeWorks program) hailed the decision. “It was ridiculous that the General Assembly would adopt a plan that called for new tolls statewide and millions in debt with so little information,” RI Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz of North Smithfield said in a statement. Truck tolls generate about $40 million a year – not a huge amount in the context of the state’s $13 billion budget. Yet if Smith’s ruling stands, it’s unclear where the money will come from to pay for future infrastructure improvements. Gov. Dan McKee and legislative leaders quickly ruled out a move to tax cars, and an appeal of Smith’s ruling to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seems likely, although McKee has not yet announced the state’s next move. Truck toll opponents contend that Rhode Island has adequate money to pay for road and bridge improvements, and that even more would be available through more efficient spending. Supporters of the program say inadequate maintenance funding was a big factor in why Rhode Island’s roads and bridges fell into disrepair – and that while the trucking industry may not like contributing to the upkeep, the money needs to come from somewhere.


ASHLEY’S ANSWERS

 With a bit more than six weeks until the Nov. 8 general election, GOP candidate for governor Ashley Kalus has spent close to $3 million to raise her profile and she’s making an aggressive campaign against Democratic Gov. Dan McKee. Last week, Kalus staged what she said would be the first in a series of events to outline her approach on policy, starting with education. She underscored the importance of the issue and talked about the difference it has made in her own life, while also declining to directly answer some key questions. Does she support banning certain books? Would she restrict teaching about race and racism? Kalus, a 40-year-old transplant to Newport, used a similar approach during an interview this week on Political Roundtable. Asked how voters can get to know her if she doesn’t directly answer some questions, Kalus said in part, “[W]hen we look at the challenges of the schools, if we look at the scores in terms of math and reading in the state, those are our challenges right now. And I want to focus on that and not move from the fact that we've been failing children for a generation by not doing the hard steps that are required for education reform.” Kalus focused on touting her background and criticizing McKee. She declined to say whether she voted for Donald Trump in 2020 – a response that got picked up by the Democratic Governors Association and McKee’s campaign. “The question of Donald Trump is not the question of the governor's race in Rhode Island,” Kalus said. “I am sure that Dan McKee would like that to be because he doesn't want questions about his record. And really what we should be talking about his Dan McKee's record as governor because that is what people are voting on his record and my vision and my ability to deliver a better Rhode Island for the future of Rhode Island.”


SHORT TAKES

Kalus’ campaign confirms it has hired noted mail ballot expert Ed Cotugno …. Kalus spokesman Matt Hanrahan tells me that Kalus sent a letter asking to be removed as a Florida voter when she moved to Rhode Island. Via email, he added: “In March of ‘22, she noticed she had not been, and followed up. At that point, she was officially removed from the rolls. Florida doesn’t automatically clear its voter rolls. Again, when Ashley realized she was still registered in FL, she took the necessary steps to get herself removed.” …. Ted Nesi and Eli Sherman report on how Kalus’ family was still receiving a homeowner tax cut for a property in Illinois after buying a Newport home, although she said her husband was still in Illinois … Kathy Gregg reports on how Kalus (and Gov. McKee) have yet to release their tax returns.


RI BRAIN DRAIN, PART INFINITY

Former Gov. Lincoln Almond, during a WLNE debate with Myrth York in 1994, decried the brain drain of young people leaving the state due to insufficient job opportunities. Almond won that election and he wound up serving two terms that coincided with a prosperous time in America. He was succeeded by fellow Republican Don Carcieri, whose second term ran headlong into the Great Recession. Despite its many assets, Rhode Island still suffers from a brain drain. So if two GOP governors couldn’t make marked improvement over 16 years, during mostly good economic times, why would it be different under Ashley Kalus? Part of her response: “I would say it's not a party thing. It's that we haven't had a leader that's able to get things done. I am different. I've never been in political office before. I'm a business person. I'm an economist by training. I like the policy part as well. But I also have experience in implementation. So it's the vision plus the ability to get things done. That is what I've done in my career. And that is what I will do now. And I also know that I will have to work with others in order to get things done, I will have to work with a Democratic legislature and I intend to do so.”


VOTING

State Rep. Rebecca Kislak and state Sen. Sam Zurier, both Providence Democrats, are leading an effort to promote ranked choice voting in the state, the latter with a study commission. A bill introduced by Kislak would offer RCV for legislative races with at least three candidates. “One of the things about rank choice voting right now is that most of the time, we see that the person who gets the most votes in the first round, ends up with the most votes at the end,” Kislak told me during an interview on Political Roundtable: Election 2022. “And so it doesn't change the results necessarily, but perhaps it gives the person who won more of a mandate.”

politics, Donis

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