Politicians in the state no longer hide their conflicts of interest. It is probably because the voters have become anesthetized to abuses. Here are just a few recent examples.

President of the Senate Valarie Lawson: Despite a revenue deficit and the uncertainty of federal cuts, particularly to Medicaid and other programs for lower income people, the Speaker has signaled her approval of whopping pay raises for Gov. Dan McKee’s cabinet. He also has a tin ear by proposing salary increases.

It is easy to glean why there is support from Sen. Lawson, who retains her high-level job as a head of a teachers’ union. She washes his back, and he washes hers.

The state takeover of the Providence school system appears to be on track for continuation, so state monies must be proposed in the state budget to make sure her union’s teachers get funded. Gov. McKee has already been generous with other union contracts that came up in the present fiscal year, since he needs the vote of those members in what is supposed to be a close race.

R.I. Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone: Mr. Ciccone is a licensed gun dealer who sought and received permission by the state ethics commission to vote on firearms legislation. The ethics commission is a joke. It did not take into consideration his outsized role as the majority leader, where he potentially shapes or blocks this year’s gun bill, which proposes modifications on sales. Further, it has a direct monetary impact on him and the small class of firearms dealers.

Only the gutsy retired adjutant general, Christopher Callahan, voted to block him from participating, citing that the class exception did not apply since the group of those who would profit from a defeat of the bill was too small, and therefore no class existed for the purposes of an exemption. Parenthetically, the toothless Ethics Commission also gave the go-ahead to Speaker Lawson to vote on the top priorities of her teachers’ union.

The Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission: This commission is responsible for making state housing policy and distributed this fiscal year alone $210 million in funds. Some members on the commission represent the same organizations that get the funding.

While some members say they have abstained from the vote awarding the grants, they nonetheless held seats on the funding committee which made the recommendations to award them to their respective agencies. The full board typically approves the subcommittee’s recommendations.

Kudos to Gov. Dan McKee for proposing a budget amendment that strips the commission of formal authority and makes it an advisory board only.

The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) issued a report outlining the conflicts and cited the General Assembly as the culprit in structuring the appointments to the Commission, where their agencies are potential recipients of the money awarded. RIPEC noted that abstention isn’t enough, since a recusal at a minimum is required, which would make the board member leave the room during the discussion of the merits of its agency’s proposal.

Further, while the commission members have said there were abstentions when a conflict arose, the funding subcommittee hasn’t kept minutes since 2020 and votes take place in executive session and are placed under seal. Reform this board!

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.