MEDIA STATEMENT 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 29, 2016
Contact
Monique Chartier Tel: 401-261-0508


         StopTollsRI Condemns Bully Tactics Directed at Those Who Do Not Submit To The Will
                                                          Of Smith Hill Leadership
                     
​Calls on Governor, Speaker and Senate President to End This Gross Abuse of Power
Providence, RI-- Today, Robert Lafleur, Executive Director of the RI Independent Contractors Association (RIICA) made the shocking announcement that he has parted ways with RIICA as a direct result of intimidation tactics from the General Assembly.  Mr. Lafleur had led RIICA's truck rallies against Governor Gina Raimondo's truck toll plan at the State House several weeks ago and had made a very articulate case about the negative impact of tolls on RIICA's members, on all trucks and small businesses and, most importantly, on the state's residents and economy.

This revelation is the latest in a series of bullying and retaliatory acts that accompanied the passage of the destructive and highly unpopular truck toll bill.  One of the early incidents involved confirmed reports that Speaker Mattiello’s office cited Hopkinton's public opposition to tolls in refusing to meet with town officials about shorted state aid.  Additionally, after the legislature had voted on the toll bill, the speaker moved swiftly to remove three committee members from influential committees who had voted the "wrong" way.  But arguably the most egregious incident had been the district-specific list of RIDOT projects that was circulated, at the height of the debate, among all legislators, as a not-so-veiled threat to muscle them into voting the "right" way on the toll bill.

"The bullying tactics and the punishment that was meted out on Smith Hill reached an unprecedented level during and after the toll debate.  We even received a report that a RIDOT staffer was on the floor of the Senate circulating the list of RIDOT projects in person among senators", says StopTollsRI spokesperson Monique Chartier.  "Nobody thought it could get any worse.  But now we hear that the retaliation has reached into a private sector organization!"

In a just-released statement, Mr. Lafleur said, "Never in my many years of involvement at the State House have I ever seen a more toxic culture of intimidation and fear-mongering by the leadership.”

"This gross abuse of power is a clear violation of the most narrow interpretation of the First Amendment and an attempt to torpedo the democratic process", emphasized Chartier.  "It is unimaginable that someone would lose their job simply because they spoke out against a policy they believed would be detrimental to the state. We call on Governor Raimondo, Speaker Mattiello and Senate President Paiva-Weed to affirm voters' First Amendment rights by condemning and immediately ending these coercive tactics. We also call on the public to contact their respective legislators and let them know that they do not approve of this type of outright coercion.  Elected officials must be reminded that they work for us and that the public will not tolerate these bullying tactics."  
StopTollsRI.com is a coalition of citizen groups opposing not just the Governor’s Truck-Toll plan, but ANY toll proposal. The public is encouraged to take action to oppose tolls at www.StopTollsRI.com.

Member Organizations:

Concerned Island Taxpayers
The Gaspee Project
Little Compton Taxpayers
North Kingstown Taxpayers
Ocean State Taxpayers in Action (OSTPA)
Portsmouth Concerned Citizens
RI Taxpayers
Sakonnet Toll Opposition Platform (STOP)

Supporting Organizations:

RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity
WatchdogRI.com
The Coalition Talk Radio
DontToll.com
Rhode Island Farm Bureau
Rhode Island Federation of Republican Women
Portsmouth Business Association​

NEWS RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Steven Brown: 831-7171
Rick Richards: 521-2251


EDUCATION ADVOCACY GROUPS SEEK SCHOOL DISTRICT RECORDS ON PREMATURE USE OF PARCC EXAM

Citing widespread confusion about the potential use of PARCC exam results in a punitive manner against students in the near future, a coalition of organizations has filed an open records request with every school district in the state to obtain information about any plans they have to use the test for grading or graduation purposes before 2021. 

In various public comments, state Commissioner of Education Ken Wagner has indicated that, in order to provide time for schools to give students necessary support services, he does not believe schools should use PARCC as a high stakes test determining a student’s graduation eligibility until 2021. However, he has refused to revise current R.I. Department of Education policies that give school districts the power to incorporate PARCC scores into students’ grades and to use the test as a high stakes graduation requirement as early as next year. This month, for example, notwithstanding the Commissioner’s comments, Cranston parents were advised that PARCC scores would be a graduation requirement for the Class of 2020.

The confusion and mixed messages are generating anxiety among some parents and students similar to what occurred with PARCC’s predecessor, the NECAP. Today’s open records requests to school districts – filed by the ACLU of Rhode Island with the support of more than a half-dozen other organizations – are designed to determine which school districts have discussed using PARCC before 2021 as a graduation requirement or a grading tool, and to publicize the information to parents who may be perplexed by the conflicting messages being sent by RIDE and who wish to object to the premature use of the test results in such a manner.

Cranston parent and Parents Across RI  (PARI) Advisory Committee member Debbie Flitman said today: “RIDE officials are misleading parents and students about the use of the PARCC assessments as a graduation requirement. I recently attended a meeting where RIDE officials told participants that PARCC testing is not a graduation requirement for the classes of 2016-2020. Based on this information, I was under the impression that this was a statewide directive. Confusion set in when I attended a Class of 2020 Orientation at Cranston High School West, where students and parents were told PARCC testing is a graduation requirement. When I pushed officials further, I learned that RIDE regulations allow school districts to use PARCC testing as a graduation requirement if they so choose. Why isn’t RIDE being upfront with this information at their meetings?”

Rick Richards, a former employee in the Department of Education’s office of testing, stated: “With school districts free to use or not use PARCC results to punish students, it will matter more than ever where you live. This approach has the potential of deepening disadvantages already embedded in the state's educational system.”

ACLU of RI executive director Steven Brown said: “It is unfortunate that RIDE is giving school districts open-ended authority to use PARCC results so soon without any need to demonstrate that they have provided necessary support services to the students who will be adversely affected. This is very poor public policy and an abdication of responsibility on RIDE’s part. It is particularly unfortunate that we, rather than RIDE, must find out exactly what is going on across the state.” 

Tracy Ramos from Parents Across RI, said: “Parents and students deserve clear information about the use of PARCC tests. The Commissioner's recent comments indicate that schools shouldn't be focused on test scores. This request will help clarify for parents what's really happening in our districts.”

Under the Access to Public Records Act, school districts have 10 business days to respond to the request. The organizations joining the ACLU in support of the request for the documents included RITELL, Young Voices, Providence Student Union, RI Disability Law Center, Coalition to Defend Public Education, Parents Across RI, Youth Pride, Inc., and Tides Family Services.

A copy of the open records request is available here: http://riaclu.org/images/uploads/PARCC_Open_Records_Request_022416.pdf

-- 
Johanna Kaiser
Development & Communications Associate
ACLU of Rhode Island
128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220
Providence, RI 02903
P: (401) 831-7171
F: (401) 831-7175
www.riaclu.org

Heeeeeee's Baaaack ... Yup, that "Personality Plus" Mayor we've all come to know & love .. especially if you called his house looking for comment at 8:56 @ night ... The "One & Only" Allan Fung, Grand Poobah of The Great City of Cranston ... We survived that wild & wacky election ... Thanks, Allan, for getting us tolled BTW, ... only to have long buried accusations of "Police Gone Wild" finally surface in the form of the much vaunted Rhode Island State Police Report (See Below) ... Well, buried in the bowels of the Cranston Events Calendar is a "Call of Special Meeting of The City Council" ... With the Agenda to include : "Fiscal impact of the Rhode Island State Police Report on the Cranston Police Department" presentation by  Council Internal Auditor Anthony Moretti." The takeaway? While rumours as to the exact dollar impact vary wildly ... there are some who are pointing to a price tag of upwards of 8 Million Dollars$ Yup, ya read that right .. 8 Million Simollians! Here is the Official Agenda Memorandum....

UPDATE!
Here is the report we've alllllll been waiting before ... hang in there .. it takes a few seconds to load ....

​

​February 16, 2016
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
Filippi presents bill to guarantee taxpayers the right to sue government for unlawful use of tax dollars
 
STATE HOUSE – Representative Blake Filippi (I-Dist. 36; Block Island, Charlestown, South Kingstown and Westerly) testified before the House Judiciary Committee on January 27th regarding legislation (2016-H 7169) that proposes a constitutional amendment to empower the people of Rhode Island to sue the government over unlawful spending.
 
“Unfortunately, R.I. and Federal case law generally prohibits the people from contesting the legality of government spending,” said Filippi. “Hard-working Rhode Island families dutifully pay their taxes. Then, if the government unlawfully spends their money, they can’t sue. That is unfair and needs to change. It is the people’s money and they should have the right to bring an action when it is spent unlawfully,” said Filippi. 
 
“We must amend our Constitution to effectuate this reform,” explained Filippi.  “This particular legal topic is complex and changing our Constitution must be approached cautiously. However, providing Rhode Islanders with this legal right will ensure the people have recourse if their money is unlawfully spent. This change will act as a needed oversight mechanism by the people over their government.”
 
Co-sponsors of the bill are Rep. Sherry Roberts (R-District 29, Coventry, West Greenwich), Rep. Justin K. Price (R-District 39, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond), Rep. Anthony Giarrusso (R-District 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) and Rep. Patricia Morgan (R-District 26, Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick).
 
###
 
 
Louise L. Tetreault
Senior Policy Analyst
State House of Representatives
House Minority Office
82 Smith Street, Room 106
Providence, RI 02903
401-222-2259

For Immediate Release
Advisory for event TODAY (Thu.) at 3:30 p.m. ET
 
Contact
Jared Moffat, Director
401-419-8794, jmoffat@mpp.org
 
State Lawmakers to Introduce Legislation Thursday to Regulate and Tax Marijuana Like Alcohol in Rhode Island
Senate and House bill sponsors will join co-chair of Regulate Rhode Island at a news conference TODAY at 3:30 p.m. ET in the State House (Room 101) to discuss the Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — State Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Cranston) and State Rep. Scott Slater (D-Providence) will introduce legislation Thursday that would end marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island and replace it with a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol.
 The bill sponsors will discuss the proposal at a news conference at 3:30 p.m. ET in Room 101 of the Rhode Island State House. They will be joined by the leaders of Regulate Rhode Island: co-chair Professor Andrew Horwitz, a criminal defense lawyer, and director Jared Moffat.
 “Our current policy of marijuana prohibition has created an underground marijuana market that is entirely out of our control,” Slater said. “Most of the problems associated with marijuana stem from its illegal status. Rather than continuing to ignore these problems, let’s adopt a sensible regulatory system that addresses them.
 “If Rhode Island wants marijuana to be a source of revenue, it should regulate and tax the hundreds of millions of dollars in adult marijuana sales currently taking place in the underground market,” Slater said. “It should not impose onerous fees on seriously ill people who use marijuana for medical purposes, as our governor recently proposed.”
 The Marijuana Regulation, Control, and Taxation Act would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow one mature marijuana plant in an enclosed, locked space. It would create a tightly regulated system of licensed marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, processing facilities, and testing facilities and direct the Department of Business Regulation to create rules regulating security, labeling, and health and safety requirements. It would also establish wholesale excise taxes at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store, as well as a special sales tax on retail sales to consumers.
“We should regulate and tax marijuana in Rhode Island and treat it similarly to how we treat alcohol,” said Miller, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. “In a legal market, products would be tested, labeled, and packaged appropriately, and consumers are protected from the black market where they can be exposed to other more harmful illegal substances. Our legislation would put the illegal marijuana dealers out of business while generating tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue that we can invest in our communities.”
Fifty-seven percent of Rhode Island voters support changing state law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, according to a survey conducted in April by Public Policy Polling. Only 35% were opposed. 
 “Most Rhode Island voters support ending marijuana prohibition and regulating marijuana like alcohol, and the level of support grows every year,” Horwitz said. “We hope this year that legislators will demonstrate leadership on this issue and replace our destructive and wasteful policy of marijuana prohibition with a system that makes more sense.”
  
WHAT: News conference to introduce legislation that would end marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island and replace it with a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol
WHEN: TODAY, Thursday, February 11, 3:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Rhode Island State House, Room 101, 82 Smith St., Providence
WHO:
Sen. Joshua Miller
Rep. Scott Slater
Professor Andrew Horwitz, Regulate Rhode Island co-chair, criminal defense lawyer
Jared Moffat, Regulate Rhode Island director
 

NEWS RELEASE
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
JoAnne Leppanen: 401-861-1601; 617-470-8183
Steven Brown: 401-831-7171


PATIENTS IN NEED OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA SPEAK OUT AGAINST GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED “SICK TAX”


Patient Advocate Says Governor’s Proposal Will “Wreak Havoc”;
“It is breaking our hearts,” Says a Patient


Rhode Islanders who use medical marijuana to help manage chronic and debilitating medical conditions spoke out today against a proposal in Governor Gina Raimondo’s 2017 budget that would levy heavy taxes on medical marijuana plants grown by patients and caregivers.

At a news conference held by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition, patients said this “sick tax” on medical marijuana would be devastating to them and many other patients and caregivers, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to access the medicine they need to manage their pain and other medical symptoms. The proposed tax, the groups said, has generated a palpable fear in the patient community and should be struck from the proposed budget.

“If these changes become law, I will be effectively forced out of the medical marijuana program,” said Peter Benson, an East Greenwich resident and medical marijuana patient who is paraplegic and uses medical marijuana to control painful and persistent muscle spasms.   

The “sick tax” would, according to a fact sheet prepared by the Governor’s office, impose a $150 per plant charge on patients lawfully growing marijuana for medical purposes, and a $350 per plant charge for caregivers volunteering their time and energy to grow plants for sick patients. The proposal also reduces the number of plants that patients can grow.

Ellen Smith, from Scituate, is both a medical marijuana patient and a caregiver for five other patients. She said of the proposed tax: “It would add more than $8,000 a year to the cost of growing medicine for my patients. They can’t afford it and neither can I. It is breaking our hearts.”

The Governor’s fact sheet claims that each marijuana plant is “estimated to generate an average of $17,280 of annual revenue for a caregiver,” and that therefore the tax “amounts to just 2 percent of the value of marijuana produced.” But JoAnne Leppanen, executive director of the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition, noted that patients and caregivers are growing the plants for medical purposes only and make no money from the plants. She pointed to the difficulties and costs patients already face in growing marijuana, and said: “This is a draconian proposal based on fictional numbers that undermines the purpose of the medical marijuana program. It will wreak havoc on the lives and health of thousands of Rhode Islanders.”


Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, added: “Having a medical marijuana program means little if the state makes it impossible for all but the wealthy to actually participate in it. The patients and caregivers affected by this proposal grow medical marijuana to ease their symptoms and to help others; they are not running a lucrative drug trade. The state should treat them just as they would any other patient using legal medication. Imagine charging sick patients prescribed codeine a special tax based on the street value of the medication if they illegally sold it. We fervently hope the Governor will take this troubling tax proposal off the table.” The ACLU has long supported the availability of medical marijuana for patients who could benefit from its use.

-- 
Johanna Kaiser
Development & Communications Associate
ACLU of Rhode Island
128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220
Providence, RI 02903

                                                                          PATIENTS SPEAK OUT!

                  NEWS CONFERENCE ON GOVERNOR'S "SICK TAX" ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS

TOMORROW, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, AT 11 A.M.

Three patients who rely on medical marijuana to alleviate the effects of their debilitating illnesses will speak out at a news conference on Thursday, February 11 at 11 A.M. to describe the devastating impact that approval of Governor Gina Raimondo's "sick tax" would have on them. The tax, proposed in the Governor's 2017 budget, would impose a $150 per plant charge on patients lawfully growing marijuana for medical purposes, and a $350 per plant charge for caregivers volunteering their time and energy to grow plants for sick patients.

The news conference is being held by the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition and the ACLU of RI at the ACLU's office in downtown Providence. Both organizations are calling for this overly burdensome tax to be struck from the proposed budget.

WHO: Rhode Islanders suffering from debilitating illnesses, RI Patient Advocacy Coalition, and ACLU of Rhode Island

WHAT: Patients will speak out against Governor Raimondo’s proposed “sick tax”

WHEN: Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 11 A.M.


WHERE: ACLU of RI office, 128 Dorrance St., Ste. 220, Providence, RI 02903


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
JoAnne Leppanen: 401-861-1601; 617-470-8183
Steven Brown: 401-831-7171

-- 
Johanna Kaiser
Development & Communications Associate
ACLU of Rhode Island
128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220
Providence, RI 02903
P: (401) 831-7171
F: (401) 831-7175
www.riaclu.org
​

MEDIA STATEMENT 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 8, 2016
Contact
Monique Chartier Tel: 401-261-0508




Job Lot Shock Announcement Underscores Imminent Peril of Tolls

StopTollsRI.com Calls on State Leaders to Immediately Withdraw Toll Legislation

Providence, RI-- On Saturday, at the grand opening of their new store in North Kingstown, Ocean State Job Lot made the shock announcement that they are suspending the construction of a new $50 million warehouse due to Governor Gina Raimondo's proposal to toll trucks.

The Governor's administration has said that truck tolls would simply put the state on the same field as other states which toll.  But no other state comes close to cramming so many gantries into such a small area, nor does any other state toll trucks only, a legally questionable approach that would almost certainly lead to tolls on cars.  And Job Lot, a Rhode Island-based company, said that under the pending toll legislation, they would pay $1 million a year in tolls, a figure that is more than six times what they currently pay in tolls to RI, MA, CT, NH, VT, ME, NY and NJ combined.  (View their testimony here, courtesy of the Gaspee Project.)
Job Lot is only the latest in a series of Rhode Island businesses who have said they will be significantly impacted by tolls.  On Saturday, the CEO of Cranston-based Taco John Hazen White, Jr, expressed real concerns about tolls and indicated that the company is in the process of calculating their impact.   UPS, Greylawn Foods and at least two trucking companies, TW Byrne Transport and M&D Transportation have gone further than Taco, publicly stating that they would move operations and jobs out of state if tolls are implemented.

"The testimony of M&D Transportation's Mike Collins at the Senate hearing was riveting and indisputable", says StopTollsRI.com spokesperson Monique Chartier.  "He offered to show the numbers.  His company simply cannot survive in Rhode Island if tolls are implemented."

"But these are only the companies who have chosen to speak out", continues Chartier.  "How many more companies are quietly watching events on the sidelines, poised to reduce their work force or move over the border if truck tolls come to the state?"

Last week, RIPEC, the R.I. Public Expenditure Council, released revenue projections of the toll plan based upon RIDOT's own numbers.  They showed that, while tolls do not adequately fund bridge repairs in the short term, they produce an unprogrammed surplus of over $700 million over the long haul.

"So tolls don't get the job done short term", points out Chartier.  "But long term, they become a permanent tap into the veins of Rhode Island residents and businesses, exactly as everyone has feared."

The RIPEC study also concluded that the industries hardest hit would be manufacturing, transportation and warehousing/logistics - the very industries the Governor’s recent Brookings study held out as "valuable opportunities for development and growth in RI".

"With Job Lot halting the construction of a $50 million new warehouse and UPS transferring a dozen jobs from RI to MA, tolls are chasing jobs away before the bill is even voted on in committee", emphasizes Chartier.  "The shocking announcement Saturday by Job Lot should jolt everyone awake to the very real danger posed to Rhode Island by tolls. We call on state leaders to immediately withdraw this toll legislation before the damage to the state's economy and job base becomes irreversible."

StopTollsRI.com is a coalition of citizen groups opposing not just the Governor’s Truck-Toll plan, but ANY toll proposal. The public is encouraged to take action to oppose tolls at www.StopTollsRI.com.

Member Organizations:

Concerned Island Taxpayers
The Gaspee Project
Little Compton Taxpayers
North Kingstown Taxpayers
Ocean State Taxpayers in Action (OSTPA)
Portsmouth Concerned Citizens
RI Taxpayers
Sakonnet Toll Opposition Platform (STOP)

Supporting Organizations:

RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity
WatchdogRI.org
Rhode Island Farm Bureau
The Coalition Talk Radio
DontToll.com
Rhode Island Independent Contractors & Associates
RI Federation of Republican Women
Portsmouth Business Association