RI Senate plans forum on struggling state economy; will discuss consolidating government

RI Senate plans forum on struggling state economy

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The state Senate will consider Monday how to repair Rhode Island’s damaged economy, which is expected to continue struggling even as other parts of the country rebound.

Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed scheduled the public forum at Rhode Island College around key issues expect to arise during the next legislative session starting in January, including government consolidation, federal stimulus funding, the foreclosure crisis and the state’s faltering budget.

Rhode Island began sliding into recession in early 2007 and it’s expected to recover slower than the rest of the country. Unemployment stood at 12.9 percent in October, a jobless rate worse than every state except Michigan and Nevada.

Paiva-Weed and House Speaker William Murphy, both Democrats, began the year by promising to focus on the state’s dismal economy. Their legislative record, however, was limited besides passing a bill meant to encourage the development of an offshore wind farm and overhauling the leadership of the state’s Economic Development Corporation.

Monday’s agenda includes a discussion of how other states have consolidated government services to save money. Republican Gov. Don Carcieri, Democratic lawmakers and local leaders have recently pitched ideas that would merge functions among Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns.

The General Assembly would likely have to change state law to make such a system work on a large scale.

Senate Fiscal Advisor Peter Marino will also brief lawmakers on state finances, which have grown increasingly grim. Plummeting tax revenues and overspending have resulted in a nearly $220 million budget deficit for the current fiscal year ending in June.

“It’s not pretty, but it sets the table for the next stage of budget deliberations,” Paiva-Weed spokesman Greg Pare said.

Lawmakers want Carcieri to submit a plan for bridging the budget gap.

House lawmakers held a similar gathering Tuesday but left without committing to any particular economic or budget plans.