Projo Politics Blog

By Katherine Gregg, Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- In an unusual move in a non-election year, Governor Carcieri has hit the radio airwaves with an ad that asks listeners not to be fooled into thinking the arrival of hundreds of millions of federal stimulus dollars will solve Rhode Island's budget problems.

In an unusual twist, the state's severe budget crisis has given Republican Carcieri the best chance he has had since taking office to make headway on his cost-cutting agenda, which includes major rollbacks in pension benefits for state and local public employees. At every budget hearing, Rhode Island lawmakers are hearing from union leaders and advocates for the poor that financial help is on the way.

In response, Carcieri went on air with an ad that begins: "This is Governor Carcieri. With a federal bailout on its way, some may think Rhode Island's budget crisis will soon be over. But don't be fooled by those who would ignore the real issues, and simply patch the budget with this new found money. Such sudden windfalls may solve our immediate budget problem, but in the long run they will only make things worse.

In what he calls his own recovery plan, Carcieri says he has proposed "real relief to our cities and towns -- relief from costly unfunded mandates, minimum staffing levels and unaffordable employee pensions and health-care benefits. With less state money available, our mayors and town managers urgently need these tools to balance their budgets without raising your property taxes.''

While some savings are possible this year, even the governor's staff acknowledges that most of his municipal cost-cutting proposals -- which include repeal of a school bus monitor requirement -- are unlikely to save enough money this year to offset the mid-year state aid cuts of at least $74 million that he recently proposed to help plug the state's own deficit.

But his ad says: "Let your voice be heard. ... Call your state representatives and tell them you support my plan to balance the budget. It's the only real plan that our children and grandchildren will be able to afford.''

The ad is being paid for by TransformRI, an advocacy group for which Carcieri serves as the honorary chairman. He also has been the voice on previous radio ads for the group.

TransformRI has not disclosed the source of its advertising dollars, saying it is not a political-action committee in the traditional sense. It was created as a 501c4 "nonprofit corporation" by Anthony W. Bucci Jr., the finance director for Governor Carcieri's last reelection campaign, and two of Carcieri's other financial backers, John Treat and Anthony Marouchoc.

The articles of incorporation filed in late April place the organization at the same West Warwick address as Bucci's insurance company, A.W. Bucci & Associates, also known as the Bucci Insurance Group. It lists Bucci, Treat and Marouchoc as directors of this new organization created to "provide leadership and educate the public regarding responsible and growth oriented public policy in the state of Rhode Island."

Bucci confirmed today that the text was written by Carcieri's communications director John Robitaille "on his own time.''

He said the ad began airing on January 26, and has been booked to run for five weeks.
He declined to disclose how much TransformRI paid for the airtime, while acknowledging the "organization exists primarily to support Governor Carcieri's agenda.''

It remains unclear how much Rhode Island may receive from the federal stimulus package, though the possibility exists that a recently approved Medicaid agreement forged by the Carcieri and Bush administrations may shut out the state from a piece of the stimulus package.

 Tags  federal stimulus funds Governor Carcieri R.I. budget radio ad

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