Projo Politics Blog

Rhode Island found itself in the national spotlight last night, for better or worse.

The Ocean State was featured on ABC News as part of the ongoing segment "50 States in 50 Days," which used the state as a cautionary tale.

"If you want to get a sense of how your state government may look soon, check out Rhode Island," the segment began.

Not exactly a promising start.

"The governor and state lawmakers have had to cut nearly 7 percent of the budget which has impacted almost every aspect of life here from putting off bridge repairs, to giving struggling public schools less money than they need, to raising fees at senior centers," the piece continued.

As reporter Dan Harris spoke, the camera panned images of boarded-up houses, empty shelves at the Rhode Island Food Bank and a stressed-out-looking Legislature.

Rhode Island, Harris says, was one of the first states to be hit by hard times, now as the economy worsens, other states may soon catch up.

"Virginia laid off hundreds of state workers, Missouri is delaying plans to fix its main airport and Minnesota scrapped a plan to expand its 911 system," he says.

An ABC crew came to Rhode Island last week to interview Governor Carcieri -- who is featured in a sit-down with Harris -- as well as advocates for the poor and students at the University of Rhode Island.

Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said ABC was clear about wanting to use the nation's smallest state "as a microcosm for what the rest of the country is starting to experience."

"We knew it was going to be more of a hard-hitting news story about how the national economy is really impacting states across the country," Kempe said.

 Tags  50 States in 50 Days ABC News R.I. state government

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