One month after adjourning without a budget for fiscal 2018, the two houses of Rhode Island’s General Assembly resolved their differences and agreed to pass the budget. Should we cheer now?
It would be one thing to label this tempest in a teapot a self-inflicted wound. In fact, it’s more like the heads of the two legislative houses – House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio – after pointing weapons at each other, turned and opened fire on the state, disrupting municipal and school finances.
The bottom line? There will be a fiscal 2018 budget and there will be a statutory review of Speaker Mattiello’s signature legislative achievement, a rollback of the state’s car tax, salving all egos but leaving the state with an upset stomach.
Cities and towns, not to mention their citizens, were left in limbo during the monthlong imbroglio, a fact that didn’t seem to faze the players in this game one bit. This is the kind of thing that voters should remember when the next election rolls around.