Gridlock holding up funding to spur construction

RHODE ISLAND'S congressional representatives are frustrated by what they call a governmental gridlock threatening legislation that could spur economic recovery locally and throughout the country. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/JOSHUA ROBERTS
RHODE ISLAND'S congressional representatives are frustrated by what they call a governmental gridlock threatening legislation that could spur economic recovery locally and throughout the country. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/JOSHUA ROBERTS

Rhode Island’s congressional representatives are frustrated by what they call a governmental gridlock threatening legislation that could spur economic recovery locally and throughout the country.
“Let’s knock it off, let’s get things done,” Sen. Jack Reed told a few hundred business leaders at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 congressional breakfast held on April 9 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Providence-Warwick Airport. “Clearly, we aren’t at a point yet where we can decisively say we’ve turned a corner” with the economy.
Reed and fellow Democrats Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. David N. Cicilline and Rep. James R. Langevin spoke at the breakfast on issues facing Rhode Island’s business community, including what they’re focused on in terms of investing in the state’s economy via transportation and job development.
Reed was referencing the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 that, despite a 74-22 vote in favor in the Senate last month, failed to pass in the House before a March 31 deadline to spend from the trust fund that would have fed it.
A 90-day extension of current programs was granted and an end-of-June vote on the $109 billion bill looms.
The bill could give Rhode Island some $227 million a year, for its two-year tenure, which lawmakers say would go a long way toward refueling the construction-job market, creating approximately 9,000 jobs.
“It’s inexplicable that we haven’t passed [it],” said Reed. “[It’s a] significant market [and] we haven’t moved aggressively.”
The money, lawmakers have said, would be used to invest in highways, other roads and bridges, including replacing the I-95 Providence viaduct.
Whitehouse said he felt Congress missed the mark in failing to pass the bill.
“We’ve been legislating [highway bills] since [President] Eisenhower. [This] is the only vehicle we have to rebuild [Interstate] 95,” said Whitehouse. “Ultimately, this [was] an example of gridlock. It was an absolute failure of governance.”
Reed and Whitehouse have been similarly outspoken on their frustration.
Langevin and Cicilline more than echoed their sentiments at the breakfast, with former Providence Mayor Cicilline saying he felt a group had “hijacked” the Republican caucus. Langevin blamed an “ultra-conservative” group for preventing progress. More than passing the “highway bill,” as the group called it, Langevin said an open dialogue and willingness to work together was needed on all fronts of economic development, including developing a workforce that is skilled with tools that employers need.
Langevin has been heavily promoting his RISE (Rhode Island Skilled Economy) tour, where he is advocating creating partnerships that could close that gap.
“One of the things I find frustrating is that there are jobs but not workers,” he said. “We have to have a stronger connection between our industries and teaching skills that employers need right now.”
Many of those in attendance disagreed with Langevin and the others about the primary cause of the state’s 11 percent unemployment rate.
Nearly 49 percent said they see a lack of new business ventures as the state’s greatest problem putting more people to work. More than 29 percent said it was the disparity between available jobs and skills lawmakers are touting.
Less than half of attendees voted in the on-site poll run by AgileQR Inc., a Betaspring-backed venture.
The group also spoke to the problem of rising gas prices – an economic downer if ever there was one.
They explained that a speculative market has been a major problem, going from having one-quarter of bidding groups being those that had no interest in selling oil to what Whitehouse called an “unprecedented” number that is equal to four times the number of actual buyers.
Cicilline agreed.
“Most people looked at it as a casino to gamble and they’re destroying the market,” he said.
He added that one measure Washington needs to take in order to drive the economy into recovery is stabilizing the housing market.
Langevin said efforts should be placed on investing in cyber security, another vehicle he sees as a job driver.
One thing the lawmakers agreed on is that there is no one solution to turning around the state’s economy.
“We have to pass a whole set of bills to give America a fighting chance,” said Cicilline. •

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