Secretary of State Edward Inman has unveiled "Rules Tracker," a free e-mail notification system that should serve the business community well. The new system should also provide the public with quicker, more in-depth access to state regulations.
The idea is simple. If a rule or regulation related to your particular industry is established, or amended, an e-mail will arrive at your computer.
"Instead of having to call and track down a new rule through a state agency, citizens can now learn about them automatically…," said Inman.
Citizens can subscribe to the service online with their e-mail address and the area or areas of interest they select to be notified about at the Secretary of State’s Web site: www.state.ri.us. Just click on the Rules Tracker link.
In addition to reports on new regulations or specific changes to existing ones, the program will alert subscribers to public hearings.
Rules Tracker represents a major step forward for public access. It is a system drawing praise from the business community, the environmental community, and political watchdog groups.
"As we move from a paper world to an electronic world, the opportunities for the easy and inexpensive dissemination of information are boundless," said Inman. "In the Information Age, availability and access becomes even more critical for the health of our economy and the strength of our democracy…Information builds knowledge. And knowledge builds power – the power to succeed in business and the power to be actively involved in the democratic process of government…Innovative uses of technology are allowing us to get more information into more hands than ever before in our state."
In the business world, time is money. Rules Tracker should save business owners time. And perhaps it will help bring the business community a step closer to the bureaucratic process.
The General Assembly has long been perceived – for good reason – as being pro-labor. And the knock on business all along, has been that business interests have failed to state their case – that they have simply avoided the process altogether. There is some truth to that. Small business owners can find it hard to carve out several hours of an afternoon to pace the halls of the State House waiting for a committee hearing to commence.
Every step forward in terms of technology is a move in the right direction for the business community. Inman is right when he says that information builds power.
By knowing more about what is going on at the State House, business interests will strengthen their case when the time comes to lobby for rules and regulations that strengthen Rhode Island’s economic climate.
We encourage businesses to take advantage of this new tool and to make every effort to make their voices heard in the political process.
No time to waste
this summer
If your son or daughter is a college student, summer has begun — and if they attend high school, it will begin soon.
Have they secured a summer job? Are they signed up for a sports or arts camp, or perhaps a city or town playground program? Have they selected the books they plan to read this summer or obtained a schedule of summer events from the public library?
If they have not, it is important that you help them to do so. And if you don’t think it’s all that important, go to the mall. Any mall. Providence, Warwick, North Attleboro – it really doesn’t matter.
Too many of our children are simply hanging around, doing…nothing!
It isn’t that they are getting into trouble. Most of them are not. But loitering at a shopping mall night after night, in some cases until late at night, is not doing them – or the malls – any good.
Many of these kids are being dropped off by parents who have embraced the idea of a mall as a giant babysitter. There isn’t anything wrong with taking in a movie. Or shopping for a new pair of jeans. But go to the mall yourself this Friday night and see how many of the kids are actually shopping.
This isn’t about kids having the right to do as they please. No one is arguing that. This is about wasting time. It’s about adults who should know better – who should recognize a very real responsibility to provide guidance.
