One of the biggest and most overlooked election stories may have come out of the country’s smallest state.
Rhode Island, only 1,200 square miles and home to a little more than 1 million people, is rarely the subject of national political interest. With a majority-Democratic legislature, Democratic governor, and an all-Democratic congressional delegation, the state’s politics might seem sleepy to outsiders. Hiding beneath the surface is a much deeper story.
Much of Rhode Island’s Democratic leadership is, put simply, quite conservative. The long-standing (and now outgoing) Democratic Speaker of the House, one of the state’s most powerful elected officials, voted down abortion rights legislation, and has an A rating from the National Rifle Association. Democrats in the state House voted in 2010 to cut taxes for the rich, and in 2011, a majority of Democrats voted for repressive voter I.D. laws. The Rhode Island Democratic State Committee stripped the Women’s Caucus of privi
PROVIDENCE A progressive advocacy group with money behind it and two state senators on its paid staff on Tuesday announced its arrival in Rhode Island with an ambitious, $300-million legislative agenda that seeks to address racial and economic injustice.
Part of a regional coalition, Renew Rhode Island also hopes to address a severe shortage of affordable housing . a rapidly accelerating eviction emergency, widespread food insecurity, and climate change.
The group is holding a virtual event to officially announce its launch at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The hopes and aspirations of the group are big and so is the projected price tag for its legislative agenda, which at $300 million is described as 2.5 percent of the state budget.