Making Soppressata

"Laws are like sausages. It is better not to see them made." (Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck)

This is the third and final part of our series based on interviews by Progressive Charlestown editors Tom Ferrio and Will Collette with state Rep. Donna Walsh (D-Charlestown). In Part One, we covered the Good. In Part Two, we covered the Bad. Today, we cover the Ugly. Well, ugly in the eye of the beholder.

We got Donna to give us a glimpse of what happens behind the curtain at the State House.

When we met with Donna, we covered a lot of ground, including her observations of the changed dynamic in this year’s session.

Donna laughed out loud when we discussed some of the newly elected legislators, including several who were elected on the wave of Tea Party agitation.

Donna helps Chariho Elementary students learn
how laws are made

One of them is NO Kingstown Rep. Doreen Costa (Tea Party-Wonderland). Donna was amazed to read Costa telling the Providence Journal that until she went through freshman orientation, she (Costa) had no idea how a bill was passed. “How can this woman run for state representative and not know such basic information?”

Costa achieved some short term notoriety when she went public with an offer she received from Rep. Teresa Tanzi to do some legislative horse-trading. Costa wanted to co-sponsor Tanzi’s popular bill on prison “good time” (inspired by the recent Woodmansee murder case). Tanzi offered Costa a deal: a prime spot on the co-sponsor list if Costa would vote yes to get Marriage Equality out of her committee.

Costa became an instant talk radio hero by expressing her “shock” at such a deal. Shocked, shocked, was Doreen Costa, that there would be deal-making in the legislature!

Donna observed that the real lesson here was the one Teresa Tanzi learned about not trying to make a deal with a nasty lightweight like Costa.

Donna and House Speaker Gordon Fox -
They are NOT talking about the weather

By contrast, Donna and Teresa, along with progressive caucus colleagues Art Handy, Frank Ferri and Larry Valencia, showed how to use the legislative inside process effectively when they approached House Speaker Gordon Fox right before the final budget vote and saved $1 million in desperately needed funding for South County and Westerly Hospitals. They also lobbied the Speaker to soften the cuts to programs that help working families and the poor.

In similar fashion, Donna worked to preserve more than $700,000 in state funding for its share of the cost of dredging the Ninigret Breachway.

One of Donna’s top economic priorities was a bill to make companies that receive state economic development subsidies, tax credits and loans more accountable through public reporting of the number of jobs created by state support. The legislation did not pass, but is now part of state law nonetheless.

How? Donna worked with the leadership and with the Governor to write the reporting requirements into the State Budget. It was included in Article 19 of the Budget, passed and was signed into law.

Similarly, Donna asked the governor to incorporate her proposed changes to the corporate income tax – cutting or eliminating the tax on small businesses and taxing large businesses on a sliding scale – into the budget. The Governor included it, but the provision didn’t make it into the final budget.

Donna co-sponsored Teresa Tanzi’s legislation to require “combined reporting” – a way to make sure multi-state corporations don’t hide their Rhode Island profits from taxation. Though the measure is complicated, it’s a sensible fair tax reform that has been adopted in many states. Donna noted that if the Assembly had enacted it, enough money could have been generated to save the Neighborhood Opportunity Program.

Instead, the legislature created a study commission, Usually, when the legislature creates a study commission instead of passing a bill, they intend it to die from neglect. But this study commission is different. Multi-state companies will have to file tax returns showing not just their usual figures but the figures the way they would be under combined reporting. This way, the commission will be able to see how much difference combined reporting would make. That should make passage of combined reporting a lot easier next time.

Donna made no apologies or condemnations of the way the General Assembly does its business. “I am much more concerned with results and would rather learn how you get things done, than complain.” She stressed the importance of citizens doing what it takes to bring their issues before the legislators.

“I start working on the next session as soon as the current session is adjourned. If you want to be effective, it’s a year-round job.”