Raimondo says government continues to operate despite budget impasse

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Gov. Gina Raimondo said Wednesday that state government continues to operate despite a budget impasse and urged lawmakers to resolve their differences and send her a budget that she can sign.

"Government is functioning," she said in a short news conference, noting that ferries are running, beaches are open and that roadwork continues. “My team and I spent the last five days working together to deal with this budget impassegovernment will continue to operate without interruption.”

But she said the longer the stalemate lasts, the harder it becomes to operate government.

Raimondo said Rhode Island has a long history of passing budgets before the July 1 deadline.

The Senate passed an amended $9.2 billion state budget plan Friday, but the House was abruptly sent home by Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. The speaker said he ended the session when he learned the Senate planned to make a last-minute change to the budget in regards to phasing out the car tax.

Raimondo said she has spoken to Mattiello and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio about the impasse, but she declined to say what they talked about.

Ruggerio floated an idea to end the budget impasse that has the state operating on last year’s spending plan. He told Providence Journal reporter Kathy Gregg the idea that the Senate would remove the budget amendment that caused the House to go home, and instead extract a promise from them to enact a “trailer bill” that would accomplish the same intent of allowing the state to stop the car tax phase out if revenues fall.

Mattiello said the idea is a non-starter.

“A trailer bill is nothing but the same amendment in a different form,” Mattiello said in a statement. “The suggestion does not make any sense to me.”

Mattiello is standing by his promise to keep his body out on recess throughout the summer.

Raimondo said while the problem will not be evident to the public immediately, as time goes on, the lack of a budget will take its toll.

“We are charting out the calendar of the trigger dates. July 31 and August 1 there will be payments to cities and towns for school aid and aid to cities and towns,” Raimondo said. “And that will be one of the first times that people will notice the difference.”

She also said she has every intention of keeping Rhode Island’s “economic momentum” continuing.

Gary Sasse, who has been watching budgets from both inside and outside various administrations, said businesses are not impressed by squabbling lawmakers, that it undermines their sense of stability, and faith in the state. He also said the whole situation should have been avoided.

“It came out at the last minute,” said Sasse, a former director of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, as well as a former director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration and the state Department of Revenue. “It clearly was a political power play and it makes the state look foolish.”