To him, ideology
is more important than constituents’ needs
By
Will Collette
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| Aqua-Flip to the rescue, whether you want to rescued or not |
Tomorrow,
Thursday April 9, Rep. Blake “Flip” Filippi (Tea Party-Lincoln) will have a hearing
on H-5352, his bill which would eliminate the Rhode Island recreational salt water
fishing license which currently costs fishermen $7 a year.
Normally,
you would expect constituents to jump for joy at the prospect of not having to pay for a license. However, the reaction to Flip's bill has been exactly
the opposite.
The
1,800 member Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers
Association, whose members supposedly benefit from Flip’s bill, are adamantly opposed. And they’ve repeatedly delivered this message to Filippi to his face and by e-mail and phone call.
The Cranston Herald reports that Filippi's bill is also opposed by the RI Party & Charter Boat Association.
The Cranston Herald reports that Filippi's bill is also opposed by the RI Party & Charter Boat Association.
Flip
told
the Westerly Sun’s Brook Constance White that he has heard from those
constituents and now, according to her report, “no longer wants to repeal the law [i.e. the license and fee]
immediately.”
But
there are two problems with that claim. First, the bill being heard before the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday calls for immediate and complete repeal. Don’t take my
word for it – read the bill HERE.
Flip says that he wants to amend his bill to only cut the license fee from $7 to $3, but Flip has said a lot of things that has not panned out from the first day he started to campaign for state representative.
Flip says that he wants to amend his bill to only cut the license fee from $7 to $3, but Flip has said a lot of things that has not panned out from the first day he started to campaign for state representative.
No matter how many times Flip says he really doesn't want to actually repeal the state license (just reduce the fee), the fact remains that he still done nothing to change H-5352 even though it's been almost two months since his constituents told him he had introduced a bad bill. By his actions - as opposed to his words - he wants total repeal.
Second,
the saltwater fishermen like the $7 fee because the
state uses the money to maintain and improve fishing facilities and also leverages lots of federal matching dollars. Those funds are then used for popular projects such as the
newly renovated boat ramp at Galilee.
They did not ask Filippi for a $4 reduction and they do not support such a reduction, but apparently Flip doesn’t understand that “NO!” means “no.”
When
Bob pointed out that repealing the state $7 saltwater fishing license would
mean that Rhode Island anglers would then have to get a $25 federal license
(the RI license serves in lieu of the federal license), Flip said that what he
really wanted to do was repeal the federal license, writing in a February 28 e-mail:
“My intent is to first eliminate the federal recreational fishing license, and then the state license. In the meantime, I intend to bring the cost of a state license down to $3 (the cost of administering the program), or preferably, $0.”
Huh?
He never explained how he, a guy who represents a rural legislative district in
Rhode Island (where
he doesn’t even reside) is going to get the feds to repeal the federal
license.
Then
Flipper told Bob that he felt the state license fee was unconstitutional, a
claim he repeated to Ms. White at the Westerly Sun. Because Rhode Island
citizens have a Constitutional right to beach access (though this right was abridged by a recent court decision out of Westerly – which
the state intends to appeal) and the right to fish, Flip feels that the
license fee, which he considers to be a tax, is unconstitutional.
I
also support the right of all Rhode Islanders to access to all of our beaches and the right to fish.
Progressive Charlestown has carried a number of articles on that subject including
several
by leading beach access activist Jim Bedell.
But
Filippi’s notion that it’s unconstitutional to impose a fee or license on
something that’s protected in the Constitution may be popular with the radical
crowd Filippi hangs out with, but has no actual basis in reality or the law.
Lots of
things protected by the Constitution are subject to fees, licenses and
taxes. I could give you a long list, but here's one example that
demolishes Filippi’s point: guns.
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| "Nullify those federal fishing licenses or die!" |
Filippi
is pretty notorious for holding radical positions on the Constitution such as
his support for “nullification,”
the principle that states can ignore federal laws they deem unconstitutional.
Nullification by the South over slavery was one of the proximate
causes of the Civil War. In case you need reminding, the South lost that war and with that loss went any legitimacy for nullification.
There is no support for the concept of nullification
in the law, despite the claims of Flipper and his friends at the Tenth Amendment Center. Maybe it's enough to have the support of the neo-racists and militias in the states' rights movement.
Filippi set his sights on the federal license - over which he has no power - because the RI state Constitution has stronger language on beach and fishing rights.
Under Filippi's discredited nullification theory, our state Constitution trumps federal law. To make his point, Filippi is willing to cause harm to Rhode Island anglers.
Under Filippi's discredited nullification theory, our state Constitution trumps federal law. To make his point, Filippi is willing to cause harm to Rhode Island anglers.
But maybe this is really the whole point of this exercise. It seems to me, based on Filippi's response to the fishermen, that he really doesn't give a shit about fishing or fishermen.
Instead, he seems to want to make this issue a chance to push his states' rights/nullification agenda - at their expense. His February 28 e-mail to Bob Yarnall might have been the only instance of accidental honesty uttered by the Flipper during this whole episode.
Right
now, the RI state license recognized in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New
York. Oh, and older anglers (65+) get the RI license for free.
If Flip’s bill passes, not only will Rhode Island saltwater fishermen have to get a $25 federal license with no discount for seniors, but they will also need to buy state licenses if they want to fish in our neighboring states. No reciprocity.
Plus, Rhode Island loses the federal and state funding needed to maintain and improve our fishing facilities.
If Flip’s bill passes, not only will Rhode Island saltwater fishermen have to get a $25 federal license with no discount for seniors, but they will also need to buy state licenses if they want to fish in our neighboring states. No reciprocity.
Plus, Rhode Island loses the federal and state funding needed to maintain and improve our fishing facilities.
Flip
has been told that his unsolicited “help” is
unwelcome and actually causes a lot more harm, expense and aggravation than
simply leaving well enough alone. Opposition to Filippi is coming not just from South County but across the state - read this article from the Warwick Beacon. But Filippi thinks he knows what is best.
He
is the one that District 36 voters picked last November despite evidence
that he doesn’t even live in the District and that he holds radical
views out of step with the voters. At least until November 2016, we’re
stuck with him.
Finally, I can tell you with absolute certainty that you never would have seen former Rep. Donna Walsh (D-District 36) pull a stunt like this.
Finally, I can tell you with absolute certainty that you never would have seen former Rep. Donna Walsh (D-District 36) pull a stunt like this.
To
minimize the damage that he might do to saltwater fishing, the Rhode Island
Salt Water Anglers Association urges you to contact members of the House
Environment and Natural Resources Committee which must approve either this
Filippi bill (H-5352) or some yet-to-be-unveiled substitute and tell them
to leave well enough alone.
Here
are the names of the members and their e-mail addresses:
House Committee on Environment and
Natural Resources
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