The General Assembly reconvenes on Jan. 7 with a host of potentially contentious issues to address, including a budget deficit, the state lottery contract and marijuana regulation and legalization. While those and other issues deserve close public scrutiny, so too does the way in which the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature and Gov. Gina M. Raimondo work to resolve them.
There was hope when Gov. Raimondo, also a Democrat, was first elected in 2014, that the governor’s office would work more effectively with legislative leaders than did the previous three governors [two Republicans and Lincoln D. Chafee, the former Republican elected as an independent who then became a Democrat].
Raimondo and her fellow Democrats worked closely in 2015 on her first budget. But disagreements have increasingly overshadowed broadly shared interests in promoting the state and its businesses.
The governor is already on a collision course with House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio over regulation of the state’s medical-marijuana program.
She’s also planning to again propose legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults, but Mr. Mattiello and Mr. Ruggerio have already said they won’t support it. In the end, their position may be what is best for the state, but it is not up to them to decide that on their own.
If Gov. Raimondo again pitches legalizing recreational marijuana use, state lawmakers must hold public hearings and allow debate.
Not doing so would be an affront to voters and a sign of a broken legislative process.
