6:00 AM Mon, Mar 09, 2009 | Permalink
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Rep. David Segal has joined the ranks of lawmakers on the payroll of an interest group lobbying the Rhode Island legislature.
Segal, D-Providence, disclosed his new job with the activist group FairVote on his own Web site a week after FairVote missed the Jan. 15 deadline for all entities that hire lobbyists to report "anything of value" they have given a legislator to the secretary of state. FairVote subsequently filed the required report.
The 29-year-old Segal's new gig has included interviews with out-of-state legislators on FairVote's push here and elsewhere for the preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.
"I have earned approximately $4,000 to date, since early October,'' Segal said in his Jan. 22 online statement.
Segal also said he asked the state Ethics Commission for guidance on what he can do as a legislator while working for FairVote, but got none.
Commission lawyer Jason Gramitt acknowledged Friday that no opinions have been issued since Superior Court Judge Francis Darigan ruled that the commission has no authority over the legislative activities of legislators, in a case involving former Senate President William V. Irons that is currently on appeal to the state Supreme Court.
"Out of an abundance of caution,'' Segal said, he will not, for now, "sponsor, testify on, nor vote on bills on which FairVote lobbies."
Segal was the lead sponsor last year of two bills promoted by FairVote. One would have stripped the governor of the power to appoint replacements when a U.S. Senator dies in office or resigns mid-term, requiring special elections instead. Another called for runoff elections.
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