PAWTUCKET – Absent some dramatic turn of events, there will be no Pawtucket Red Sox stadium deal this legislative session.
House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello says he will not allow the introduction of a bill asking for state subsidies to fund the proposed $83 million Triple-A stadium deal, unless it’s requested directly by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo.
“Speaker Mattiello is not putting a deal before the House Finance Committee that was negotiated by the governor, as the chairwoman of the Commerce Corporation, without endorsement and her stamp of approval,” said Larry Berman, a spokesman for Mattiello. “The speaker finds it highly unusual that the governor is unwilling to endorse a financial plan that she and her team negotiated.”
Indeed, R.I. Commerce Corp. – an arm of Raimondo’s administration – took an active role in negotiating the proposed plan with the PawSox ownership group and Pawtucket city officials.
Raimondo, however, has since provided lukewarm support, telling reporters Monday she thought it was “a good deal for taxpayers of Rhode Island,” but not her top priority.
Tuesday evening she released a statement saying she hadn’t received any legislation.
“My staff at Commerce worked to guide the city and the team toward the framework for a deal that would protect Rhode Island’s taxpayers. However, final legislation from the city has still not reached my desk,” she said.
Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio has since come out saying it’s too late in the legislative session to review such important legislation. The session is expected to end sometime in the middle of June.
“At this point, it is too late in the session for a thorough, public review of a proposal of this magnitude,” Ruggerio said.
Raimondo agreed.
“I agree with Senate President Ruggerio that consideration of a new ballpark is too important to rush this legislative session.”
But Ruggerio left the door open for the possibility of revisiting the stadium proposal during a special legislative session later this year.
“Should legislation be forthcoming, I am not opposed to reconvening in the fall to consider it in a deliberative and public manner,” he added.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien’s office told Providence Business News as recently as Tuesday morning the city was ready to submit legislation this week. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.
To build the new stadium as proposed would cost an estimated $73 million. The Apex Department store property in Pawtucket was chosen as a site, and the land would cost an additional $10 million.
The proposal included a financing plan for the PawSox ownership group to pay $45 million, with state and city taxpayers paying the rest. State taxpayers would pay about $23 million. Pawtucket taxpayers would pay an additional $15 million.
The team, which currently plays at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, says it needs a new ballpark. The team’s lease to play in Pawtucket ends in 2020, and the ownership group has flirted with the idea of moving outside of Rhode Island, making clear now with its second proposal that it wants public money.
Mattiello supported the team’s first proposal to move the team to Providence, which would have come at a greater cost to taxpayers, but he’s made it clear he’s unwilling to support anything this time around without the governor.
“The stadium is a significant taxpayer investment, and with the governor sending mixed signals, it is likely too late in the session to initiate a proposal of this magnitude,” he said through a spokesman.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
