By Douglas G. Mancosh
Like many Rhode Island businesspeople and citizens, I am alarmed by the direction in which our state government is headed.
As a state, we have many advantages. Yet we can’t attract skilled employees, because of high taxes and poorly performing schools. Our state budget is chronically out of balance, and we plug the gaps with gimmicks that shift expenses from the current year to the next, or use a one-time windfall like the tobacco settlement funds. We have had numerous scandals in the General Assembly, and many legislators are self-focused, not citizen-focused.
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Yet in spite of all these facts and many more, there is little change in the people we elect year after year.
Businesspeople and citizens need to, as the coach used to say, “get in the game” and invest in new, better-qualified General Assembly members. And they need to do it now.
I am writing today to ask your help in the fight to improve the quality of the General Assembly. I serve as president of the Citizens Foundation of Rhode Island (CFRI), a nonpartisan group with the simple goal of electing better legislators. In June, we distributed a candidate questionnaire to the statewide political parties, all city and town chairs and all current General Assembly members. We then spent hundreds of hours researching races and interviewing candidates. We talked to candidates from all over the state and the breadth of the political spectrum.
Our core issues are:
A constitutional amendment limiting tax increases and spending.
Education reform (as recommended by the Education Partnership).
Voter initiative.
Bringing a higher standard of ethics to state government.
The result of our efforts is a list of candidates – mostly, fresh faces – who are simply better than the current crowd of self-serving insiders. This group represents the seeds of much-needed change at the State House. The CFRI is focused on providing these candidates with the resources they need to mount winning campaigns.
When I looked over a list of Rhode Island business leaders and saw how few had made reportable contributions to General Assembly candidates, I was surprised – and disappointed. I tried to imagine how Rhode Island business leaders might justify their inactivity and how to counter their arguments against getting more involved.
“Since my business is not regulated, General Assembly decisions don’t have a direct impact on me or my business,” someone might say.
There is not a business or a businessperson in this state that hasn’t felt the sting of poor decision-making by this General Assembly. As a businessperson, the state’s underperforming school systems have either prevented you from attracting a decent employee from out of state or finding someone from Rhode Island well-educated enough to handle the task at hand.
“I’m a member of the Chamber, and like its sister organizations in the state, it is effective in lobbying for the business community,” might be another response.
The mission of the CFRI is different. We want to take the General Assembly members to task and seek to replace those who are fiscally weak and not business-minded. This is a job the Chambers are not equipped to do, but it is essential if we are to improve state government for all citizens. In fact, if we are successful, we’ll make the Chambers’ job much easier.
“I don’t have time to get involved in politics – or to sort through the myriad of General Assembly races,” is something we already hear.
On some level, I understand the hesitancy to get involved. But we’ve already done the hard work. Now, all you need to do is take 10 minutes to support them financially. Simply visit www.citizensfoundationri.com, and support the CFRI candidates by contributing online.
And, of course, please vote on Nov. 7 for candidates who will help change “business as usual” on Smith Hill.
Douglas G. Mancosh serves as the president of the Citizens Foundation of Rhode Island, a nonpartisan political action group. He is also president of BB&S Lumber Co. and Fiber Composites LLC.
