Rhode Island is only 1 out of 6 states left in the country that does not give our governor the power of the line-item veto. 44 other states balance power between their governors and legislators via the line-item veto. If you have had it with last minute budget shenanigans (like the legislature sneaking a million dollars to Dr. Pedro, a chiropractor who wanted the money to perform non-Medicaid approved procedures, or the legislature pulling a stunt like sneaking in to the budget legislative control over the state’s marijuana program, which would have violated our separation of powers laws) and out of control state spending, a line-item veto will help to bring balance back to our government.
Help us ask Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominic Ruggerio, the two people who have the power to bring the line-item veto legislation to a vote, to give our governor a line-item veto!
Of equal importance, we need you to put a lot of pressure on your state senator and state representative to take a meaningful stance on the line-item veto issue. The vast majority of our legislators are taking the coward’s way out, and taking no public stance on the issue, or, they say something lame like ‘if it comes to the floor I will vote for it’, rather than own the issue and state that they will push hard for the line-item veto to come to the floor for a vote
SEND A PRE-WRITTEN EMAIL FROM THIS WEBSITE TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS (See below).
Please join me in reminding our elected officials how important a line-item veto is to Rhode Island's future. Keep an eye on our progress by viewing the various pages on this site where we will be tracking the positions of all our leaders as the session goes on.
Thanks for helping!
- Ken Block