Archive for May, 2026
RI House Minority Leader Chippendale’s Statement
Thursday, May 28th, 2026
Link to the RIPEC Housing ROI Executive Summary
Critical Date for Candidates – June 22-24
Thursday, May 28th, 2026
Portsmouth Republicans
Saturday, May 23rd, 2026Your Portsmouth Republican Town Committee has been busy this month beautifying our spot and participating in the Tiverton Celebrates parade.
Remember
Saturday, May 23rd, 2026
Join Us
Tuesday, May 19th, 2026
Long-Overdue or Last-Minute Politics? Democrats Co-Opt Republican Inspector General Reform
Thursday, May 14th, 2026
Long-Overdue or Last-Minute Politics? Democrats Co-Opt Republican Inspector General Reform
For more than twenty years, Rhode Island taxpayers have demanded a truly independent Inspector General empowered to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in state government. On May 14, 2026, House Speaker Christopher R. Blazejewski announced he will introduce legislation to create such an office, and Governor Dan McKee indicated support. While action is long overdue, the sudden reversal by Democratic leadership appears to be an attempt to appropriate a core Republican priority only after being compelled to do so.
Republicans in the RI General Assembly have been the driving force behind this issue for years. Rep. George Nardone has been one of its strongest advocates, and in 2024, House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale personally invited Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro to testify before the Rhode Island House Finance Committee, making clear that Rhode Island needs fully independent accountability office. Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz has also heavily promoted the need for an Inspector General and filed such legislation many times.
On Monday, Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate John Loughlin put forward a bold, practical plan to deliver immediate transparency by transforming the existing Lieutenant Governor’s Office, using only its current $1.447M budget, into a functioning Inspector General operation starting on Day One. Loughlin stated, “Rhode Islanders are sick and tired of watching their tax dollars disappear into a black hole of inefficiency, cronyism, and outright corruption while the General Assembly talks a big game but delivers nothing — year after year after year.”
Less than four days later, Speaker Blazejewski, who served as House Majority Leader for the past five years, during which time no meaningful progress was made to create an IG’s office, suddenly announced his intention to move forward. And Governor Mckee, who has often stated that he is “agnostic” about the need for an Inspector General, appeared to lend his theoretical support. The timing strongly suggests this move was triggered by Loughlin’s initiative.
Rhode Islanders have paid dearly for allowing government to oversee itself, from the Washington Bridge collapse now projected to cost taxpayers over $400 million for demolition and replacement, to the RI Bridges/UHIP system that ballooned from an estimated $135M to nearly $800M while suffering a massive data breach exposing the personal information of almost 650K residents, the failed $99M state payroll system plagued by glitches, and the infamous 38 Studios debacle that ultimately cost Rhode Island taxpayers nearly $54M.
House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale stated, “We are pleased the Speaker appears to be coalescing around the position House Republicans have long championed. While our final support will depend on the actual legislative language once it is introduced, this announcement represents a welcome 180 from Democratic leadership and a meaningful acknowledgment that the status quo has failed.”
The Rhode Island Republican Party remains committed to delivering real, independent oversight that protects taxpayer dollars and restores trust in government, and it continues to support our candidate for Lieutenant Governor’s initiative. Loughlin emphasized that his plan will move forward regardless of what the legislature does. He intends to launch the RI Reports platform from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to identify and expose and eliminate government waste, fraud, and abuse across state government, all without spending any additional taxpayer dollars.
House Minority Leader Chippendale concluded: “House Republicans stand ready to work on serious Inspector General legislation – but it must be independent, properly empowered, and protected from political influence. Rhode Islanders deserve real oversight, not another office in name only.” Senate Minority Leader de la Cruz concurred: “Even though good ideas take the scenic route in Rhode Island, I’m proud to be leading that charge. Rhode Islanders deserve accountability, transparency, and real oversight of their tax dollars. It’s past time we deliver.”
State Overreach
Thursday, May 14th, 2026Representative Richard Fascia comments on the state’s overreach when it comes to municipal countrol for housing projects in this week’s edition of the Cranston Herald:
The state is stealing municipal control
By Rep. RICHARD R. FASCIA May 13, 2026
Recent legislation at the House of Representatives (H-8006) mandates a 30-year structured tax schedule for new or existing low-income housing in any Rhode Island municipality. This concept is yet another attempt to take total control away from small towns and cities and impose a statewide “one-size-fits-all” form of governance.
This bill is not just about housing, it’s about who controls local taxation and who bears the cost of state policy. H8006 declares that certain housing is a matter of statewide concern, and then it limits how municipalities can tax those developments. It sets the structure, it sets the formula, and it tells cities and towns they cannot go above it – and for that matter, they cannot go below it. This is a direct loss of local control that should not be simply given away. Local municipalities are unique and cannot all be painted with the same wide brush. Moreover, the seizure of that control demeans the integrity of local government and casts aside the rights of local citizens to control their own financial destiny.
Conceivably, through individually crafted tax incentives, cities and towns could otherwise encourage more new development to meet the state imposed minimum affordable housing threshold. This legislation impedes that creativity. Cities and towns are ordered to meet state requirements for affordable and low-income housing, but are then restricted on how to achieve those goals and absorb the resulting financial impact.
No one likes paying taxes, yet property taxation is one of the most fundamental powers of local government and it should be controlled locally. More importantly, it’s how communities fund their schools, maintain roads and provide police and fire services.
This bill takes that authority and restricts it from the state level on down.
The bill in question sets a specific graduated scale that slides from 8% to 15% over a 30-year period. Cities and towns are saddled with this formula, which they had no input on, regardless of the financial repercussions the development might have. These developments will still require the aforementioned services despite having no crystal ball to anticipate costs 30 years in the future. Under this bill, municipalities may not be able to collect the full revenue needed to support those developments or the wider resulting growth. Those additional costs do not disappear; they shift to existing taxpayers. Those taxpayers receive nothing more in return as a result of the state-imposed low-income housing threshold, or the tax plan in question. Nothing.
We need to be honest about the position we are putting our communities in. We already cap their ability to raise revenue through the 4% levy limit. We tell them they cannot increase their tax levy beyond that ceiling, regardless of rising costs to support the state-imposed affordable housing mandate. However, at the state level, we do not hold government to the same discipline when it comes to spending.
Now, on top of that cap, this bill further restricts how municipalities can collect revenue from mandated affordable-housing development. It ties their hands even more. It limits their ability to manage their own budgets and respond to local needs. Our towns, especially those outside the urban core (like Johnston and Cranston) are already frustrated. We feel like the state continues to tie our hands, whether it is zoning, planning, or now, taxation. This bill reinforces that concern by telling us that even our local tax policy is no longer fully our own.
The state should be working with municipalities, not restricting them. They should respect our ability to make decisions based on local budgets, our own infrastructure and the local taxbase. I am never in favor of taxation, but if we must have taxes the structure should be fair to everyone and controlled at the local level, not by the state. We know what’s best for our cities and towns, and we should make our own decisions.
Post Script: Sadly, Bill H-8006 was passed on May 5, 2026 on a vote that included all but four Democrats voting in the affirmative.
Rep. Richard R. Fascia represents House District 42, which includes parts of Cranston and Johnston.
See less
Monday, May 11th, 2026
|
|
|