Letters

More oversight needed of quasi-public agencies

Posted 10/14/14

To the Editor:

Rhode Island’s quasi-public agencies, such as the Rode Island Airport Corporation, RI Resource Recovery Corporation, RIPTA, the RI Turnpike and Bridge Authority and more than a …

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Letters

More oversight needed of quasi-public agencies

Posted

To the Editor:

Rhode Island’s quasi-public agencies, such as the Rode Island Airport Corporation, RI Resource Recovery Corporation, RIPTA, the RI Turnpike and Bridge Authority and more than a dozen more, perform essential government functions and provide essential services. Equally important as the work they do is their accountability to the public.

These agencies are empowered to collect fees and generate revenue and to manage significant public resources, yet most of them are exempt from many kinds of public oversight, such as executive and legislative budgetary review required of other state departments. Consequently, these agencies need to be more transparent, not less, because while they operate independently, they would not exist but for their relationship with state government. Like all other state departments, they need to demonstrate a commitment to protecting the interests of Rhode Island taxpayers by achieving the highest standards of open, effective and ethical operations.

Approved by the General Assembly this year and signed into law by the governor was legislation I sponsored, 2014-S 2585Aaa (and its companion House bill, 2014-H 7138A), “The Quasi-Public Corporations Accountability and Transparency Act.” This legislation requires the agencies to carry out their government missions effectively, and exemplify a commitment to transparent, accountable and effective government. The new law – which applies to more than a dozen-and-a-half agencies and several agency subsidiaries – codifies the role and responsibilities of the agency board members, establishes specific transparency and accountability requirements and calls for a performance audit every five years, beginning in 2015.

This is landmark law, developed after years of hearings with the various quasi-public agencies operating in our state. Enactment of the legislation ensures that all of these agencies abide by the same set of standards for ethics and transparency and will guarantee that the work they are doing on the public’s behalf is open and accessible by the public.

James C. Sheehan

Senator District 36

Narragansett,

North Kingstown

Chairman, Senate

Committee on

Government Oversight

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  • bendover

    Section 16. Borrowing power of general assembly. -- The general assembly shall have no powers, without the express consent of the people, to incur state debts to an amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of insurrection or invasion; nor shall it in any case, without such consent, pledge the faith of the state for the payment of the obligations of others. This section shall not be construed to refer to any money that may be deposited with the state by the government of the United States.

    Senator Sheehan; You and all the rest of your ilk are pontificating gas-bags. I guess you missed class that day regarding the above from Article VI, section 16 of the RI Constitution. How and why quasi public agencies have been allowed to go out, float bonds, and obligate taxpayers for payment while the general assembly stands by in silence, allowing this to happen is beyond stupifying. Instead of running for re-election, all of you should be running for a criminal defense attorney. You should all be put on trial for high crimes and misdemeanors for obligating taxpayers of this State for tens of millions of dollars in payments. In my court, and the court of public opinion of many fed up constituents, you would be tried, convicted and hung. A bit Draconian perhaps, but it would send an undeniable message...Ignore the Constitution and rule of law at your expense. We've had enough of you blowhards.

    Tuesday, October 14, 2014 Report this