It
has zero chance of passage AND nothing at all to do with his campaign promises
By
Will Collette
During the campaign, Blake Filippi promised to introduce bills to repeal the state income tax on Social Security,
reduce utility taxes, stop the Copar Quarry and give everyone in District 36 a
lollipop as soon as he took office. However, it has taken Rep. Blake Filippi (I or R
from maybe Block Island, Lincoln or Providence) more than a month to introduce
his first bill which he did on February 5.
It’s
House Bill No. 5321, an old
chestnut that has been introduced in past General Assembly sessions at the
request of the Charlestown Town Council, meaning at the request of the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance.
The bill calls for a moratorium on comprehensive
permit applications from for-profit developers. Unlike earlier, failed
versions, this bill would restrict the moratorium just to the town of
Charlestown.
The
bill says Charlestown needs this moratorium so it will not be “unreasonably burdened” by permit
applications since it is also working on a new Comprehensive Plan.
This
moratorium idea has been a particular priority for CCA Party leader and
Charlestown Planning Commissar Ruth Platner.
In
a lot of ways, it makes sense that this would be Flipper’s first bill since it
(a) panders to his most important constituency, the CCA Party and (b) fits his
radical philosophy of nullification, the peculiar belief that you can pick and
choose which laws apply to you by nullifying the laws you don’t like.
Ironically,
this bill runs counter to Filippi’s libertarian principles because it imposes
limitations on business. But it’s probably too much to ask that Flipper be
consistent.
However,
this bill has absolutely no chance whatsoever of passing (which may be why he consented to introduce it). Let's review the reasons why that is the case.
One primary reason is
that this bill reinforces Charlestown’s image at the State House of being a
town full of spoiled brats with a boundless sense of entitlement.
Asking
to be exempt from a state law that applies to all the other 38 Rhode Island
cities and towns is not going to be a winner, no matter how often Council Boss
Tom Gentz travels to Providence and holds his breath until he turns blue.
The
excuse that Charlestown is working on a new Comprehensive Plan doesn’t cut it,
either, since every one of the 39 cities and towns are under the same June 1, 2016 deadline
to come up with new and updated Comprehensive Plans. If Ruth Platner is not up to doing her job, maybe it's time for her to resign.
Another
primary reason this bill will fail is that Charlestown has
no political clout at the state legislature.
Charlestown used to be
represented by two smart, dedicated and well-respected legislators – Rep. Donna
Walsh and Sen. Cathie Cool Rumsey. They proved their competence at getting laws
passed and policies changed, although even they couldn’t work miracles and get
every CCA Party whim enacted into law.
But
last November, Donna and Cathie were defeated by two Tea Party fringe
candidates – Filippi and new Senator Elaine Morgan, who has been accused of impersonating a police officer.
Charlestown
is also represented by veteran legislator, Senator Dennis Algiere. But despite his
seniority in the Senate and popularity with the Democratic leadership, Algiere is a Republican and for any legislation to be
enacted, it will have to be supported by Democrats. Indeed, no bill will even
get considered without the consent of the Democratic leadership.
On
top of all that, Charlestown is small. Even if we still had Donna and Cathie in
the legislature, Charlestown has a full-time population of 7,781 in a state of
more than one million people. That’s less than 1% of the state population.
 |
| This map redraws municipal borders to reflect the differences in population size. Charlestown is the little dark blue wedge in the lower left |
We
do not get credit for our legions of non-resident property owners. While their ownership of the CCA Party
may make them the single most important population group in Charlestown, that
does not translate into political power at the General Assembly.
So
now Blake Filippi has lost his political virginity but not the way he promised.
When
he was romancing Charlestown seniors, he promised the elderly the Social
Security tax cut.
He
promised Copar Quarry victims instant relief.
He promised property tax relief by
shifting 15% of sales tax revenue to cutting local taxes.
He
promised rate-payers they wouldn’t have to pay state tax on National Grid’s
recent big rate hike.
He
promised to get all of these things going as soon as he was sworn in and told the Block Island Times
that since he was a lawyer and had written legislation in the past, he was
ready to file bills right away.
Yet, after more than a month, this first bill seems to be the best he can do (or maybe, being a hard-core radical who doesn't really believe in government, this is all he chooses to do).
Like so much of what Flipper has said
since he first emerged on the political scene last July, this is simply not
true.