Kate McGovern: Rhode Island has a Democracy Problem

"Bills should not need to be reintroduced each year, with sponsors perpetually hoping that this will be the year it will be allowed to come forward."

Consider connecting the dots between two seemingly unrelated topics that emerged in the press before the start of the 2024 session of the General Assembly.

First, there was public speculation as to whether the Senate President could be persuaded to allow votes to take place on bills that have been blocked in previous years.

Secondly, the House Speaker asked legislators to limit the number of bills they submit to facilitate public participation by reducing the length of public hearings.

Here’s the connection: A portion of the high volume of legislation introduced each year can be attributed to the state’s democracy problem.

Unlike other states where legislators routinely vote to approve or defeat legislation, in Rhode Island the House and Senate leadership determine which bills will or will not be brought up for a vote. Hence, our representatives introduce the same bills year after year.

Some bills with broad support languish in “study.” Certainly, study has a legitimate role in avoiding passing frivolous or ill-advised legislation. However, in Rhode Island “hold for further study” is often just a legislative graveyard where the bills remain until the end of the session, only to be reintroduced the following year. For example, bills to stop the sale of assault weapons and to ban payday loans are reintroduced each year without resolution, despite having overwhelming support.

Efforts to prohibit 260% loan interest rates have failed since 2006. Last year, 56 legislators wrote to the House Speaker urging him to allow the measure to come up for a vote. He did so, and an overwhelming, bipartisan vote approved a ban on payday loans in the House. However, the Senate took no action and Rhode Islanders remain subject to predatory interest rates.

A ban on assault weapons has been introduced each year since Sandy Hook without getting a vote. The annual hearings on firearms policy go long into the night. They are a miserable exercise as legislators on both sides argue their talking points with the initial witnesses. Committee members pose “questions” that seldom contain any genuine inquiry. Meanwhile, members of the public wait for hours to testify, then they are allowed to speak for two minutes. But despite all that, the committee doesn’t vote, even with a majority of legislators as cosponsors. It’s like the movie Ground Hog Day but it’s not a comedy.   

Requiring votes to take place on pending legislation would ease the incoming volume of bills and the pent-up frustration of sponsors and advocates alike. Bills should not need to be reintroduced each year, with sponsors perpetually hoping that this will be the year it will be allowed to come forward.

The nonpartisan organization Common Cause rates Rhode Island 49^th out of 50 states for the democratic practices of our legislature. In a functioning democracy, our representatives should be voting on the record, and we should know where our legislators stand on these issues, particularly in an election year.

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Kate McGovern is a resident of Providence.