PBN: What prompted you to go into public service and run for governor?
BLOCK: What pushed me into politics and creation of a new political party was the simple fact that in the 20 years I’ve lived here, my elected officials – our elected officials – haven’t addressed the two things that most Rhode Islanders care about. They haven’t fixed our economy, they haven’t ensured that we have good jobs; and they’ve fallen down in providing a quality education to our children and our grandchildren.
I’m running [as the Moderate Party candidate] for governor because those are the basic building blocks of our quality of life. We’re not doing it right. … I feel, to a large extent, it’s because we’re not getting the right people running for elected office.
PBN: As a businessman who has never run for elected office, what qualities do you have that you believe the other candidates lack?
BLOCK: I understand small businesses. I own two successful small businesses in this state. I do everything [for the businesses]. I am an active software engineer. I do the payroll. I help to build the traffic signals, when necessary. I’ve sold those signals at trade shows around the country. I’ve built a national brand. And, when I have to, I’ll plunge the toilets.
I have the drive and the ambition to really get in there and make the substantial change that we so desperately need for this state.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
PBN: How do plan as governor to work with the General Assembly, which may be resistant to changing the way that they do business?
BLOCK: There’s a tremendous opportunity [for change]. There already is massive upheaval inside our legislature, with close to a 25 percent turnover, based on people who have decided not to run and who have [decided to] chase other opportunities. As governor, I will work very closely with the General Assembly. As governor, I will personally testify at legislative committee [hearings] about the issues that are important to me. If I’m not there, some of my staff will be, because that level of communication is important to really be an effective governor.
PBN: Your position paper on the Rhode Island economy begins with the section, “no more silver bullets.” What past or current projects do you consider silver bullets?
BLOCK: I’d say Curt Shilling’s 38 Studios deal is a prime example of looking for the home run. The home runs aren’t there, and they are incredibly risky. Our use of tobacco money to close the budget deficit, our expenditure of desperately needed stimulus money to plug the holes we have in our deficit, these are all silver bullet answers that are short-lived and ultimately leave us in worse condition than when we started.
PBN: One of the biggest problems facing Rhode Island is the structural deficit that is part of the state budget. How will you address that?
BLOCK: This [coming] year’s deficit could be as much as half-a-billion dollars; $400 million seems to be the consensus opinion right now. My approach is that I want to go right at the waste and fraud inside our social services spending, using technology to help ferret out corporate waste and fraud within our Medicaid program in particular. In Texas, my software business helped bring the country’s first welfare debit card system into that state. … I want to target Medicaid spending in Rhode Island; it’s a $1.5 billion program annually. Today, there’s not a shred of systematic, technologically focused waste and fraud detection going on. In states that do this, they find between 10 and 20 percent of waste and fraud.
PBN: Are there other sectors that you would look at in terms of waste and corruption rather than just social spending?
BLOCK: Absolutely. But in talking to state workers inside government, a great many of them said they are certain we are providing benefits to people who are deceased. … I don’t believe that our state is well set up from a human resources standpoint. We have very restrictive contracts with labor inside state government, and the net result is that people can’t move within silos of government. I think that hurts the professional development of the worker and ultimately causes them to be unhappy with their jobs.
PBN: What role will the R.I. Economic Development Corporation play under your administration?
BLOCK: Under the Block administration, the EDC needs to play an amped-up role in the economic recovery of our state, and in the … inducement of new businesses to come here, and in existing businesses to expand.
PBN: Do you think that the EDC has been doing a good job?
BLOCK: No, I don’t. I know way too many small-business owners who haven’t had a good experience with our EDC, who haven’t gotten some of the basic things they need for success from our EDC. I personally think that the 38 Studios decision ultimately was a bad one. There is way too much risk.
We go out to bid for a professional capital venture firm to manage those dollars, and [the firms] put their own money in, at least matching us one for one, so they are induced to pick well.
PBN: Venture capital funds always have a large number of projects that fail, compared to the number of successes. How will the state manage those losses?
BLOCK: By picking proven venture capital firms, with a track record of success, and doing multiple deals within a sector, and multiple sectors, you mitigate your risk across the board. Venture capital firms do this on a daily basis. The state shouldn’t be in the business of picking winners and losers. Leave it to the professionals.
PBN: You have called for a constitutional amendment to cap increases on property taxes in Rhode Island? Would that be similar to Massachusetts’ Proposition 2 1/2?
BLOCK: It is. The medium-term goal is get there. If we were to cap our property taxes right now to an increase of 2.5 percent, that would be an incredibly negative impact on the ability to pay for what we need to do. We have to phase our way down to that. But Massachusetts has shown us that we can get there. We need the fiscal restraint, and that property tax cap is a way to force that fiscal restraint.
We also need constitutionally mandated revenue sharing with our cities and towns. When the state budget is blown, it doesn’t help things when we push that problem down to our cities and towns by withholding promised state aid.
Lastly, we need the governor’s line item veto, to be able to increase my ability to negotiate and interact with the General Assembly.
PBN: You tout education and retaining talent as one of the keys to Rhode Island’s future prosperity. What kinds of programs do you envision to do that?
BLOCK: We have systemic problems in our educational system. First, I don’t think we have an appropriate contract with our teachers. We should have a white-collar, professional contract for the white-collar professionals that are teaching our children. Instead, we have a blue-collar contract that is more appropriate for the manufacture of widgets on an assembly line. …
The second thing that we need to do is develop a new method for teacher assessment. I would work with the board of regents and with the department of education to [develop a] four-point metric: 25 percent test scores, 25 percent administrative review, 25 percent peer review, and 25 percent parental review. A four-point metric will absolutely identify the teachers who aren’t performing well.
PBN: What do you think about the new state funding formula for education?
BLOCK: Finally, finally, finally we have one! And it’s crucially important that we now fund that formula.
PBN: What kinds of investments do you support in the energy sector?
BLOCK: Rhode Island has two natural resources in abundance that are appropriate for renewable energy. We have the tides, and we have the wind. … We need to be on the forefront of that, and we should become as energy independent as we can of fossil fuels, by going after the wind. It might cost us a little bit more in the short run, but once we put that in place, and inevitably, when the price of fossil fuels goes through the roof, and it will, we will be in terrific position with fixed-price energy.
PBN: What do you see as the future of the Moderate Party in Rhode Island?
BLOCK: I see a bright future. What I’m doing is showing all those people in life who have their heads down, busy doing whatever it is with their careers that they’re doing right now, that it’s important to pay attention to politics, and it’s important to run and to make a difference.
I just reached a point – in my professional career, in my role as a taxpayer, a voter and a father – that what we have in this state isn’t working. The political status quo is killing us. I wasn’t getting the solutions I needed out of my government.
I set up a whole new political party with the express intent of getting capable leaders who are out there, not just business owners, and giving them a socially neutral place to come, and address the issues that most Rhode Islanders care about: fix the economy and fix the educational system. •
