Projo Politics Blog

A ban on cell phone use behind the wheel, it appears, might not be the cure-all for Rhode Island’s fiscal troubles.

State budget officials, who initially estimated that such a law could generate $6.2 million in fines between this year and next, have amended that projection just a bit.

The new estimate: $437,000.

Call it a $5.8 million misstep.

State Budget Officer Rosemary Booth Gallogly said the revised figures are still subject to a more in-depth analysis, but for now they offer a more accurate picture.

The initial calculations were based on the assumption that police officers would write almost 100,000 tickets every year, or more than 270 per day.

House Democrats, who first questioned the original estimates, wasted no time zeroing in on the blunder last week.

“With a budget that has so much pain, we need to make sure it’s as correct as possible,” House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox said through a spokesman. “We need to rely on numbers that are reliable and accurate and not just [a] guess.”

Fox said the cell phone stumble may be an indication of other problems in Governor Carcieri’s proposed budget plan, unveiled on Friday. “The [House] Finance Committee will go through the whole budget to make sure there aren’t other examples that are as glaring as this one,” he said.

--By Cynthia Needham, Steve Peoples, Katherine Gregg, Scott MacKay and Jennifer D. Jordan
Journal State House bureau writers

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