Last week Providence Business News spoke with House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, and a major theme of the question-and-answer cover story involved how the speaker was planning on dealing with the legislature's reputation for having ethically challenged members.
This week, PBN talks with House Minority Leader Brian C. Newberry, and it would seem that Mr. Newberry and the speaker have only one thing in common – the ultimate say on who makes it to the General Assembly belongs to the voters.
For example, Mr. Newberry does not believe the Ethics Commission coverage extension makes any sense. In that, he is wrong.
It may be that some inside knowledge of an issue being debated will be lost if someone involved in the issue in private life cannot speak about it. But to allow anyone who is an insider to take part in debate (much less vote) is exactly the problem. Where does insider intelligence end and insider dealing start?
In a state as small as Rhode Island, making all legislative dealings as free from conflicts as possible is the only way to move forward.
Mr. Newberry does note that one way to improve the reputation of the state for transparent, fair dealings is to have a more robust two-party system. Competition is the equivalent of sunshine in a democratic society. And here he is absolutely on the money.
But the beginning of that process is the need for the Republican Party to improve its offerings to challenge the hegemony of the Democrats. The opportunity is always there if good arguments are made. •