The plan would dedicate $60 million to restoration. Governor Raimondo’s press secretary equated it to treating a broken bone with aspirin; Speaker Mattiello said the plan was not “a viable, sustainable, thoughtful solution.”
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – House Republicans on Monday held a press conference to talk about their “solution to the bridge restoration issue that has surfaced in recent weeks.”
“Our plan calls for $60 million dedicated to bridge restoration from the current budget,” they announced in a statement.
“We recognize that our bridges need immediate first aid,” Minority Leader Brian Newberry said in the statement. “As a result, we have crafted a funding stream that begins the restoration of the most structurally deficient without delay and in a fiscally prudent manner.”
In short, the statement says, “We are proposing funding bridge restoration from current spending,” as opposed to Governor Raimondo’s stalled proposal to float $900 million in revenue bonds, financed by new tolls on big trucks.”
Governor Raimondo’s Press Secretary Marie Aberger equated the Republican plan to treating a broken bone with aspirin, and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said the plan was not “a viable, sustainable, thoughtful solution that will properly address our critical infrastructure needs.”
At their press conference, the Republicans unveiled a proposed amendment to the budget bill that would redirect $60 million to bridge repairs in the year that begins on July 1.
The amendment is one of at least 20 that lawmakers have had drafted for potential discussion during Tuesday’s House budget debate.
The GOP proposal hinges, part, on a 2 percent reduction in state personnel cost, to produce $15 million in unspecified savings, and on the state’s redirection of $760,000 in state-sponsored gambling that the budget bill directs to marketing the Newport Grand video-slot parlor.
Their page-and-a-half amendment would also make a number of “one-time” scoops from the reserve funds of a number of quasi-public agencies, such as Narragansett Bay Commission and the Rhode Island Health & Education Building Corporation. It would also redirect $19 million in tobacco-settlement dollars currently earmarked for an “information.”
And this is their plan for Fiscal Year 2016 alone.
The GOP wants the state to commit to $720 million in bridge repairs, over 12 years, without borrowing which, Morgan said, would just put $35 million to $40 million in interest payments into the pockets of Wall Street bankers. Morgan acknowledged the GOP did not yet have a detailed bridge-repair financing plan for 2017.
But Rep. Michael Chippendale, R-Foster, said the GOP goal, in part, is to show the public there are options to Governor Raimondo’s much-criticized truck toll plan. “Dare to dream [Rhode Island] can do things in a different manner,” he said.
Criticizing Raimondo’s proposal for floating revenue bonds, the Republicans said in their statement, “Borrowing $900 million as one sum has too many drawbacks and a real potential for economic harm. Our proposal allows us to begin the work immediately and get our construction trades back to work in a fiscally responsible way.
“Of course, the legislature will need to commit to continued funding at this or higher levels for the next 10-12 years, but the deficient state of our infrastructure demands that sustained commitment. We hope our House colleagues will concur and vote to include this Article amendment in this budget. There is little time to lose,” Morgan said in the statement.
Governor Raimondo’s Press Secretary Marie Aberger had this response to the Republican plan:
“While we appreciate that House Republicans recognize the critical need for additional funding to repair our roads and bridges, scraping together one-time dollars this year won’t solve our problem. This amendment is like treating a broken bone with a couple of aspirins: we might feel slightly better for a few minutes, but it won’t address the long-term problem.
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