Rhode Island
R.I. constitutional convention ballot question opponents mobilize to convince voters to just say no • Rhode Island Current
Hours before a commission started work Wednesday to lay the groundwork for a once-in-a-decade ballot question in November asking voters if Rhode Island should hold a constitutional convention, nearly 40 labor and civil liberties groups launched a preemptive attack to persuade voters to say no.
Members of Rhode Island Citizens for Responsible Government gathered at the Planned Parenthood offices in Providence Wednesday morning to launch the Reject Question 1 campaign. Speakers declared that well-funded special interest groups could use the convention as a means to constitutionally restrict women’s reproductive rights.
“Our state has made incredible progress over the past five years to make abortion care more accessible,” said the coalition’s chairperson, Vimala Phongsavanh, senior external affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. “Rhode Islanders cannot go backwards — yet that is what could happen if there is a constitutional convention.”
Rhode Island is one of five states, along with Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa and New Hampshire, where people automatically have the chance to vote to hold a constitutional convention every 10 years. The General Assembly may also propose amendments during any election year.
Overall, 14 states mandated periodic constitutional convention referenda.
Rhode Island’s convention question typically goes on the ballot in years ending in the number four, but voters rejected ballot questions seeking to convene one in 1994, 2004 and 2014. The most recent convention was held in 1986 — the last such of any state in the nation. The 1986 convention featured an anti-abortion ballot question that voters overwhelmingly rejected.
Few seem to fully comprehend what the constitutional convention questions entails, according to a poll released by the University of New Hampshire Thursday. The survey found 53% of respondents said they had heard nothing about the topic. Only 36% said they understood the topic.
That lack of information is placed squarely on the lackluster job done by past commissions, Rhode Island State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse Editor J.H. Snider said in an email Monday.
The problem, he said, is that past commissions have framed the debate on the potential cost and risks without much discussion on the benefits. Proponents for holding a convention to change Rhode Island’s governing documents say it gives the public a chance to update how the state government operates.
“Any serious discussion about the upcoming referendum should start with why this provision exists in Rhode Island’s Constitution; that is, what democratic function it was designed to serve,” Snider said.
The latest commission, made up of eight legislators and four members of the public, is tasked with holding public hearings to learn about potential issues that might be addressed if voters support holding a convention for inclusion in the voter handbook mailed to all registered voters before the Nov. 5 election.
The commission must complete a report by Sept. 1.
With this tight deadline, the commission used its first meeting Wednesday at the State House to establish its purpose and elected its two co-chairs: Rep. Robert Craven, a North Kingstown Democrat, and Sen. Dawn Euer, a Newport Democrat.
“Rhode Island’s Constitution is a living and breathing document that charts the course of our daily lives,” Craven said. “We are fortunate that it requires public input every 10 years because that is what true democracy looks like.”
Craven said the panel’s work will include reviewing the work by prior commissions, “but we will also not be bound by what has come before us.”
“Times change and so do the issues the public deeply cares about,” he said.
The commission’s next meeting, tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 30 at the State House,will mostly consist of figuring out the logistics for the next five weeks — along with the potential for public comment on the convention question.
“We’re not trying to answer the question as to whether or not people want a constitutional question,” Euer said in an interview after the commission’s first meeting. “We’re trying to create a framework of understanding of what issues are on peoples’ minds.”
Coalition calls for convention rejection
At the 1986 convention, delegates approved a Paramount Right to Life Amendment declaring that life begins at conception. It was defeated by 66% of voters in the November election that year.
“There’s absolutely no reason to believe the constitutional convention in 2026 would be any more sympathetic to civil rights and civil liberties than the one in 1986,” ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown said at Wednesday’s press conference.
But Snider said the defeat of the 1986 right to life amendment, along with other recent rejections of anti-abortion referenda in heavily red states, suggest the measure would fail if it were to come up again.
“So what Steve Brown and the others who have been promoting his well-publicized arguments have been essentially saying is that Rhode Islanders will vote against their own interests on one of the most high salience issues in American politics if a convention (or legislature or citizen petition) puts this issue on the ballot,” Snider wrote in his email.
“That, in my opinion, amounts to a direct attack on constitutional democracy, which is the foundation of our system of democracy.”
Brown acknowledged at least one positive change came out of the 1986 convention: the creation of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.
“But again, it was the General Assembly, not the convention, that voters approved a constitutional amendment making sure that the legislators themselves were subject to the Ethics Commission,” he said.
Should a majority of Rhode Islanders want to move ahead with a convention, the state would have to set up a special election to select 75 convention delegates to represent each district in the House of Representatives. AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Patrick Crowley said the AFL-CIO is prepared to run a union-backed convention delegate in each district if that is the case.
“We are preparing for the bad news,” he told reporters. “We are not going to let the corporate powers take away our rights.”
Crowley said his organization has already contributed $5,000 toward the campaign to oppose the convention question.
“But make no mistake, we are going to be outspent if corporate money is allowed to pour into Rhode Island,” Crowley told reporters. “There’s just no way that $10 contributions from working people or $20 contributions and low-dollar contributions from Planned Parenthood or the Latino Policy Institute is ever going to compete against someone like the Koch brothers.”
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Rhode Island
Travis Kelce’s watch found in Rhode Island after Kansas City mansion was burglarized of $20K in cash: report
Travis Kelce’s stolen watch was reportedly found in Providence, RI, this week after the NFL star’s mansion in Leawood, Kan., was burglarized last month.
Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News Friday that a watch taken from Kelce’s residence — and not previously disclosed to the public — was recovered.
Details have yet to be revealed on what type of timepiece was stolen or how much it was worth.
Authorities previously shared that the unidentified criminals stole $20,000 cash from Kelce’s home. They did not specify whether any other items were taken at the time.
Sources told ABC News that they think the athlete’s home was specifically targeted — and thoroughly surveyed — before the Oct. 7 burglary.
Just two days before Kelce’s pad was broken into, burglars also raided the home of his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
Authorities have theorized the burglars may have targeted the athletes as their public football schedule reveals when they will be away from their residences.
“There is a concern about what happens if the athlete or his/her family members are present,” a security source told the outlet.
The insider shared that the burglars have gained access to Kelce and Mahomes’ houses by “posing as delivery men, maintenance workers or joggers to learn about residences, neighborhoods and security systems.”
Captain Jason Ahring from the Leawood, Kan., Police Department told Page Six that they are not releasing any information pertaining to an open investigation and maintained they will not be commenting.
Meanwhile, a Providence Police Department Public Information Officer told Page Six that they do “not have any record or involvement related to this incident.”
Kelce, 35, has yet to address the crime, but Mahomes, 29, previously expressed how “disappointing” the violation was.
“I can’t get into too many details because the investigation is still ongoing, but it’s obviously something you don’t want to happen to anybody — and obviously yourself,” Mahomes said during a press conference earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a source told Page Six that Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, was “thankful that no one was hurt and that neither of them were home during the robberies.”
Kelce’s home was broken into around 7:30 p.m. local time on Oct. 7 – just 15 minutes before his team kicked off against the New Orleans Saints.
Meanwhile, Mahomes’ mansion was burglarized while he was celebrating Kelce’s 35th birthday on Oct. 5.
Rhode Island
Are you owed back wages? Here’s where you can find out.
U.S. Labor Department is encouraging Rhode Islanders to use their online tool to find out if they’re among those owed more than $2.5M in back wages
PROVIDENCE – More than 1,500 Rhode Island workers are owed a total of $2.5 million in back wage, and just in time for Christmas, the U.S. Department of Labor wants to put it in their hands.
The money, $2,576,342, was recovered from employers in Labor Department investigations.
The Labor Department encourages anyone who believes they may be owed back wages or knows someone who may be owed wages use their Workers Owed Wages online tool. Anyone who uses the WOW search tool can simply input their current or former employer’s name to learn if the division is holding wages on their behalf.
“The laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division provide the foundation for U.S. workers’ rights, including the rights to be paid legally required wages and other important protections,” the Labor Department said in announcing the effort.
The tool is available in both English and Spanish.
Rhode Island
McKee names new RI housing secretary. What we know.
US cities with ‘impossibly unaffordable’ housing markets, per report
Researchers found the least affordable housing markets by comparing average incomes with average home prices.
PROVIDENCE – Gov. Dan McKee has named a new housing secretary: Deborah J. Goddard.
Who is she? Goddard, the former managing director for policy and program development at MassHousing, currently leads the Massachusetts-based DJ Goddard Consulting, which has done consulting work for the Rhode Island Department of Housing among other public, quasi-public and nonprofit agencies, according to a press release from the McKee administration.
Prior to this role, Goddard served at the executive vice president for capital projects at the New York City Housing Authority from 2016 to 2019, where she oversaw $3 billion of construction builds and helped advance the agency’s energy and sustainability programs, the press release said.
She is scheduled to start her new $238,597 job on Dec. 2. In the interim, her name has been submitted to the Rhode Island Senate, which is in recess, for advice and consent after the legislature convenes in January.
“Deborah Goddard is a deeply committed and accomplished housing professional whose work has benefitted people from all backgrounds,” said McKee. “Housing affordability and availability in Rhode Island have never been more important than they are right now. I am confident Deborah’s knowledge and experience will guide the department to achieving our housing goals.”
Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said he “look[s] forward to the Senate’s thorough review of Ms. Goddard’s appointment through the advice and consent process.”
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said he met with Goddard for the first time a day earlier “and she was very impressive.”
In her own turn, Goddard said her career has been “dedicated to creating and preserving housing opportunities … for the unhoused, for renters and homeowners, alike, with attention to equity.” As such, she said, “I am very aware of the persistent headwinds that we face in this arena, but they are not unique to Rhode Island nor are they new.”
The Rhode Island Department of Housing has been run by an interim chief – former Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors – since Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor’s last day in July in one of the state’s most critical jobs.
A former Senate majority leader, Connors – who quit a job as a top aide in the Raimondo administration after his arrest for driving under the influence – had most recently been chief of staff in the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services, making $184,000 annually.
On the day of his interim appointment, the governor’s office said: “He is not being considered for the permanent position and will return to his role at EOHHS at the end of this process.”
Pryor is now a partner in Palm Venture Studios, which “works to rescue and build companies that positively impact human and planetary health,” according to his LinkedIn profile..
How did we get here?
Spokesman Andrea Palagi told The Journal at that time that McKee’s office would interview local candidates for the permanent position over the coming weeks, and a national search would only be initiated if a qualified candidate could not be found. As it turned out, there was no national search.
Pryor announced that he was leaving in late June after close to a decade leading Rhode Island’s economic development efforts as its first commerce secretary and, for a year-and-a-half as head of its Department of Housing,
The hunt for his replacement stretched out over several months, amid significant jockeying between the many arms of Rhode Island’s housing community for advantage − and appointment.
The Department of Housing is responsible for managing hundreds of millions of previously dedicated state dollars and the newly approved $120-million housing bond.
But the picture that has emerged in the wake of Pryor’s departure was of an agency beset by employee infighting, leaks about end-runs in the award of contracts, and complaints to the governor’s office about the management styles of both Pryor and Assistant Secretary Hannah Moore, whom Pryor brought into the department with him.
More recently, Rhode Island’s deputy housing secretary, Deborah Flannery, resigned to take a job with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Her last day is imminent.
The Department of Housing was unable to pinpoint the amount Goddard and her firm have been paid as a consultant or promised. As for her role, spokeswoman Emily Marshall listed non-specific duties, such as: “drafting regulations for internal review, and co-authoring multiple grant applications, among other responsibilities.”
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