Latest news with #EthicsCommission
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ethics panel: Lawson can serve as Senate president while leading teachers union
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The R.I. Ethics Commission decided Tuesday it is not a conflict for Rhode Island's newly elected Senate president to hold that role while she is simultaneously serving as president of one of the state's biggest teachers unions. Senate President Valarie Lawson, an East Providence Democrat, also serves as the president of the National Education Association Rhode Island (NEARI), which represents about 12,000 members in 75 collective bargaining units across the state. The 58-year-old was elected to her new position in the Senate in April after her predecessor, Dominick Ruggerio, died at the age of 76. Lawson sought an advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission asking whether she was allowed to hold her current elected position and her union job. In a 7-1 vote on Tuesday, the panel determined she could. Commission member Hugo Ricci Jr. was the only no vote. 'What is before us is the undeniable power that the president of the Senate or the speaker of the House has,' Ricci said. 'This is unique.' Ricci wanted to continue the matter to investigate what other states have done in similar situations, but the motion failed. Commission Chairman Lauren Jones said the panel can only apply Rhode Island statutes and regulations. 'What other states do in this context is really irrelevant to our situation,' Jones said. 'You've got to call balls and strikes as you see them, according to what vests you with the authority to call the balls and strikes,' member Frank Cenerini added. 'I think, with all due respect, we're drifting away from the central issues in this matter.' In a statement, Lawson said she was pleased that the commission 'affirmed the standard' she had been using when she served in less senior Senate positions. 'It helps to distinguish between a vague notion of a perceived, general conflict and an actual, specific conflict requiring recusal under the Code of Ethics,' Lawson said. 'Further, it ensures that one does not have to be retired or independently wealthy to serve in this role. 'This decision supports the operation of our legislative body as the framers intended: a part-time, citizen legislature comprised of a diverse membership from all walks of life, who can draw from their varied experiences to best serve the public,' she added. Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John Marion told 12 News he was glad to see that Lawson sought the advisory opinion, which he called an 'unusual' request because it's more typical that legislators would ask whether they can participate in specific legislation. 'The Ethics Commission's opinion that Lawson is not prohibited from holding both roles is not surprising and is consistent with past precedents,' Marion said. 'Common Cause Rhode Island believes the commission's advisory opinion is somewhat naive because it didn't explore the full range of powers exercised by the senate president. It did not examine the full scope of agenda-setting and appointment powers.' Marion said Common Cause expects that it is 'likely' that Lawson will likely need to come before the commission again on specific legislation in the future. Alexandra Leslie (aleslie@ is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook. Ted Nesi contributed to this report. Download the and apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch or with the new . Follow us on social media: Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ethics panel says R.I. Senate President Valarie Lawson can lead chamber despite union day job
Rhode Island Senate President Valarie Lawson sought an opinion from the State's Ethics Commission. She got it on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, when the panel voted 7-1 that the ethics code does not prevent her from leading the chamber while also heading one of the state's teachers unions. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current) Rhode Island's ethics code does not explicitly prevent Senate President Valarie Lawson from leading the chamber while also heading one of the state teachers unions. That's why the Rhode Island Ethics Commission saw no conflict for Lawson to continue both jobs, affirming the recommendation of its staff in a 7-1 vote Tuesday. The six-page advisory opinion comes in response to a May 23 request by Lawson. Since she was elected Senate president on April 29, Lawson, an East Providence Democrat, has been dogged by doubts over potential conflicts between the legislative power position and her day job as president of the National Education Association of Rhode Island. Senate President Valarie Lawson seeks opinion on ethical conflicts with teachers union job Lawson attended the meeting with her attorney, Nicole Benjamin of Adler Pollock & Sheehan, but did not speak. In a subsequent emailed statement Tuesday, Lawson described the ethics panel's decision as confirmation of what she has previously insisted — that she can hold both positions. 'It helps to distinguish between a vague notion of a perceived, general conflict and an actual, specific conflict requiring recusal under the Code of Ethics,' Lawson said of the opinion. 'Further, it ensures that one does not have to be retired or independently wealthy to serve in this role. This decision supports the operation of our legislative body as the framers intended: a part-time, citizen legislature comprised of a diverse membership from all walks of life, who can draw from their varied experiences to best serve the public.' All members of the Rhode Island General Assembly, including those in leadership positions, earn $19,817 a year. Lawson also earned a $167,869 salary as teachers union vice president in 2022, the most recent data available based on Internal Revenue Service filings from the National Education Association of Rhode Island. She was elected union president in 2023, after more than 30 years teaching in East Providence Public Schools. But it's probably too soon for Lawson to take a victory lap. The ethics opinion offers several caveats, noting that its recommendation cannot be tailored to any specific legislation, since Lawson's request did not reference any bills being considered or discussed. If and when the Senate considers any policy or funding changes that could financially benefit Lawson, her family, or her fellow teachers union members and administrators, she must recuse herself, the opinion states. Recusal is also required on any discussions or votes in which NEARI is involved in lobbying or through verbal or written testimony. Lawson had previously pledged in her May 23 letter to step aside when potential conflicts arise, a promise she followed through on when the Senate took up two labor-backed bills on June 4. The legislation from which Lawson abstained had proposed extending organizing rights to college graduate students and bolstering information-sharing between collective bargaining units and their members' employers. John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, expects the conflicts to continue to crop up given the wide scope of education and labor bills still pending before the chamber this year — and in future sessions. 'Our comments have never been that it's illegal to hold both positions,' Marion said in an interview after the meeting. 'It's just that it's perilous to hold both positions because it's difficult to manage the conflicts.' Lawson is no stranger to the overlap between legislative office and teachers union priorities. Indeed, her ascension through the ranks of the Senate, starting as majority whip in 2023, and in 2024, as majority leader, came months into her role as president of the 12,000-member state teachers union. Last year, she sought ethics advice on potential conflicts between her teachers union job and proposed pension changes under consideration by lawmakers; the commission gave her the go-ahead to vote on the bills in question, invoking the class exception of the state ethics code, which lets elected officials participate in discussions or decisions that benefit themselves within the context of a larger group of people. But the Senate president has outsized influence, setting the daily calendars for the upper chamber, participating as an ex-officio member on every Senate committee, and most importantly, leading behind-the-scenes negotiations to determine which pieces of legislation advance to a vote. Ethics Commissioner Hugo Ricci Jr., who cast the only vote against the opinion Tuesday, cited concerns with Lawson's new 'undeniable power,' as Senate president. Lawson's predecessor, the late Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, left his own union job when he was elected to the president position, Ricci noted. 'What I am trying to say is, could mere recusal be sufficient?' Ricci asked. 'She is in a class of one. She is not a general member of the Senate anymore. She is president of the Senate. With that comes mass powers.' Ricci's line of questioning set off a brief but testy exchange with fellow commissioners, who insisted that they were limited to Lawson's specific request, as well as state ethics regulations. 'We must accept the good faith of a recusal until a complaint is filed,' Commission Chairman Lauren Jones said. 'If the president is saying, for the record, as she has in her application, that she will appropriately recuse herself when matters come before her, we have to take that.' Commissioner Frank Cenerini agreed, invoking a baseball analogy. 'We have all been appointed by the governor, yet we have no problems reviewing complaints against the person who appointed us,' Cenerini said of the nine-member panel. 'It comes down to an issue of character. You've got to call the balls and strikes as you see them. Ricci proposed delaying a decision to give ethics staff more time to review the potential conflict, including considering what other states have done in similar situations. But his motion failed with no secondary support. Marion, however, acknowledged Ricci's concerns in a later interview. The staff report recommending Lawson could preside over the Senate while keeping her union job was 'somewhat naive' in its consideration of the unique powers bestowed upon the top chamber leader, he said. 'It talked about how she sets the consent calendar, but not the floor calendar,' Marion said. 'It mentioned she is not on any one committee but failed to say she can participate on any committee.' Marion continued, 'I think she'll be back before the commission on specific bills and on actions that she takes that they didn't cover.' Ethics Commissioner Matthew Strauss was absent from the meeting Tuesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Lawson may serve as president of both the state Senate and teachers union, R.I. Ethics Commission says
Commission member Hugo L. Ricci Jr., a retired judge, issued the lone 'no' vote, asking if the staff had taken into consideration 'the vast power' that the Senate president holds. Advertisement 'Mere recusal may not be sufficient,' Ricci said. 'She is in a class of one. She is not a general member of the Senate. She is the president of the Senate, and with that comes vast powers.' Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Ricci noted that former Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, He said Ruggerio represents the only precedent for this specific situation, and he sought to ask Lawson, who attended the meeting, whether she agreed with what Ruggerio did. But other commission members cut off that line of questioning, saying Tuesday's meeting was not an investigatory hearing. Ricci also asked what others states do regarding situations of this type. But the commission chairman, Lauren E. Jones, said the Ethics Commission can only apply Rhode Island statutes and regulations. 'What other states do in this context is really irrelevant to our situation,' he said. Advertisement After the meeting, reporters asked what Lawson thought of Ruggerio's decision to leave his union post, 'I can't speak to the legality of a precedent, whether that applies or not,' Lawson said, adding that she's not sure why Ruggerio did not hold both positions simultaneously. Lawson said she has recused herself from certain votes during her tenure in the Senate, including two recent votes on labor-related bills. And, she said, 'I'll continue to be thoughtful and mindful in the process and use the standards outlined by the commission.' In a written statement, Lawson said, 'I am pleased that the Ethics Commission has affirmed that the standard I had been using as a senator, as whip, and as majority leader remains applicable in my role as president of the Senate. She said the Ethics Commission decision 'helps to distinguish between a vague notion of a perceived, general conflict and an actual, specific conflict requiring recusal under the Code of Ethics.' Also, Lawson said, 'It ensures that one does not have to be retired or independently wealthy to serve in this role. This decision supports the operation of our legislative body as the framers intended: a part-time, citizen legislature comprised of a diverse membership from all walks of life, who can draw from their varied experiences to best serve the public.' Lawson, who is 58, earns After the meeting, Common Cause Rhode Island executive director John M. Marion said the advisory opinion analysis is 'a little naive' about what the office of Senate president involves. Advertisement While it mentions the Senate president sets the 'consent calendar,' it doesn't mention her influence over the calendar of bills voted on the Senate floor, he said. And while it mentions she no longer sits on particular committee, it doesn't mention that the Senate president has ex officio power to sit on any committee, he said. Marion said he is glad that Lawson sought guidance from the Ethics Commission, but he said it's unusual for an opinion to address a potential conflict without reference to specific legislation. And he said he expects Lawson will be back before the Ethics Commission to address whether she may vote on particular bills. Marion noted that two of the four Senate presidents in state history stepped away from their day jobs to lead the chamber, and the two Senate president who kept their other jobs — William V. Irons and Joseph A. Montalbano — " were pursued by the Ethics Commission." In 2019, the state Ethics Commission And in 2024, the Ethics Commission But the circumstances are different now that Lawson is president of both the Senate and NEARI, Marion has said. Advertisement 'Lawson is no longer a classroom teacher or vice president of NEARI,' he said. 'She's president of NEARI, responsible for a very large organization with lots of business before the state Senate. Her duty to lead NEARI at the same time as exercising the vast powers of Senate president create a unique challenge.' Marion said other legislators might be able to sidestep conflicts of interest by recusing themselves from certain votes and stepping out of the room during any debate. 'But as Senate president, you can't really step out of the room when the final decision needs to be made,' he said, noting the Senate president plays a pivotal role in deciding which bills make it to floor votes and in negotiating with the House and the governor. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
ND Ethics Commission has no authority to punish officials violating ethics laws, state leaders argue
Photo illustration by Mark Harris for ProPublica. Source images: Getty, Kyle Martin for the North Dakota Monitor. This article was produced for ProPublica's Local Reporting Network in partnership with the North Dakota Monitor. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week. Ever since North Dakota voters created an ethics watchdog agency seven years ago, dubious lawmakers have pushed back against giving it power to actually keep an eye on state officials. That was true in the session that just ended, as legislators shut down many requests from the Ethics Commission, keeping the agency on a modest budget and rebuffing measures that would have given it more latitude in its investigations. The offices of the governor and attorney general also argued during the session that the state constitution does not permit the commission to create or impose penalties for ethics-related violations. 'I was hopeful that the tide was turning,' said Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, a Democrat from Fargo and member of the Appropriations Committee, which worked on the commission's budget. 'But my general perspective is that the legislative body as a whole, specifically the majority party, is very hostile to the Ethics Commission and their work.' Voters created an ethics commission in North Dakota. Then the Legislature limited its power. North Dakotans, fed up with what they saw as ethical lapses by public officials, voted in 2018 to amend the state constitution and create the Ethics Commission. The amendment set rules for public officials and empowered the commission to both create more rules and investigate alleged violations related to corruption, elections, lobbying and transparency. North Dakota was one of the last states to establish an ethics agency and since then, the commission has struggled to fulfill its mission, the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica reported this year. The amendment left some ambiguity about the commission's role and whether it can enforce ethics laws, leading to ongoing disagreements about how it operates. State leaders' actions this year further hamstrung the agency at a time when public officials across the country have been working, in various ways, to reverse or rein in policies created through citizen-led ballot initiatives, including those related to abortion and employee benefits. Danielle Caputo of the national nonprofit Campaign Legal Center said several state governments have worked to undermine ethics initiatives in particular. North Dakota leaders' assertions this year that the ethics agency cannot punish officials for wrongdoing is another example of that, she said. 'We have seen what appears to be a concerted effort in those states to overturn ballot initiatives or to twist their language in a way that's most beneficial to those who want less enforcement,' said Caputo, whose organization has studied the issue. She said North Dakota is 'one of the more egregious examples of that that I've seen.' In an email to the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica, the governor's office called Caputo's take a 'gross mischaracterization' and said the governor does not oppose the Ethics Commission. In a separate email, Chief Deputy Attorney General Claire Ness called the notion that the attorney general's office is undermining the intent of voters 'unimaginable.' As government officials debate the commission's authority, North Dakotans have reported more concerns about ethics violations to the agency this year than in any other. The commission as of late May had received 72 complaints this year. There were 41 complaints filed in all of 2024. By the end of last month, the commission had 63 pending complaints, some of which date back to 2022. The agency — which has three full-time staff members and five commissioners who receive a small stipend to oversee the work — has yet to disclose whether it has substantiated a complaint. (State law requires that the commission keep complaints confidential until the end of the process, so little is known about the nature of the filings.) The Ethics Commission supported House Bill 1360 this session that it said would have overhauled its process to speed up investigations and allow it to close cases sooner. Under the measure, sponsored by eight Republicans and two Democrats, the commission would have been able to settle and dismiss complaints at any time instead of at only certain stages in the complaint process. It also would have been allowed to investigate alleged ethics violations without someone filing an official complaint. The agency currently cannot investigate some North Dakotans' tips because they must be submitted as formal complaints, which some complainants are uncomfortable doing, agency staff have said. Staff from the offices of Gov. Kelly Armstrong and Attorney General Drew Wrigley, both Republicans, testified against the bill because they said it would have given the commission too much power. Faced with strong opposition from state leaders and their own reluctance to give the agency more authority, the House voted overwhelmingly to reject the legislation. Most of the House sponsors voted against it. Rep. Austen Schauer, a West Fargo Republican who chaired the committee that worked on the legislation, acknowledged tension between the Ethics Commission and the Legislature and oppositional testimony from the executive branch. 'The bill was basically DOA, and we just had to move on,' Schauer said. Lawmakers instead settled on tweaks to the existing process; one requires the commission to develop time management standards and another allows it to informally settle ethics complaints with the accused. Those settlements would only be made public if all parties to the agreement consent. 'There's people that for years have been sitting with this complaint over their head, which is absolutely unfair,' said Rep. Mike Nathe, a Bismarck Republican who has criticized the commission and proposed some of the changes. He also said he thinks the commission's caseload includes fake complaints submitted by North Dakotans who want to 'weaponize' the system against their political opponents. (Because state law requires that the commission keep complaints confidential, this claim cannot be verified.) Rebecca Binstock, the Ethics Commission's executive director, said the agency will look for ways to work around the hurdles that continue to slow down the investigation process. 'The Commission must now consider how to fix the process absent legislation,' Binstock wrote in an email. The Legislature also approved a measure that protects its members from prosecution for voting on something that would provide them with a financial benefit as long as they disclose their conflicts. Lawmakers, some of whom said they want to keep the commission small out of consideration to taxpayers, also turned down the agency's request for $250,000 over the next two years for a fourth staff member who would conduct training and education for the public. That would have allowed current employees to spend more time investigating complaints, agency staff said. 'I don't recall a discussion with the public being, 'We're gonna have a multimillion-dollar branch of government,'' Rep. Scott Louser, a Minot Republican, said during a legislative hearing in April. State leaders also argued the Legislature is the only entity that can create penalties for ethics violations and delegate enforcement of those penalties to state agencies. The commission can only punish officials for wrongdoing if the Legislature gives it that authority, they said. Chris Joseph, the governor's general counsel, testified this year that if the commission were given the power to both create and enforce penalties, it would be 'defining, executing and interpreting its own rules' without oversight from other parts of state government. The commission, however, says its enforcement authority is implicit in the constitutional amendment. That interpretation could soon be tested. Binstock indicated in an email that commission staff members have wrapped up investigating several cases and are waiting on commissioners to take action, which could include imposing penalties. Ellen Chaffee, part of a group called the Badass Grandmas that organized the ballot initiative and drafted the amendment, said voters intended for the Ethics Commission to impose punishments for wrongdoing. 'The people who worked on the amendment had understood that the only way to have unbiased follow-up on any violations of ethics rules was for the Ethics Commission to have that responsibility,' she said. Mike Nowatzki, the governor's spokesperson, said if the amendment does not reflect what the advocates wanted, 'they can always seek to clarify it with another constitutional amendment.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
MBTA Orange Line floods during nor'easter; shuts down service
A long stretch of the MBTA's Orange Line was shut down for roughly four hours Thursday, after a nor'easter that brought heavy rain to Massachusetts caused flooding along the subway line. The MBTA first reported the flood conditions at the Ruggles station in Roxbury at 6:50 p.m., telling commuters that shuttle buses would replace service from Ruggles to Forest Hills, the end of the line. But by around 8:30 p.m., the T had shut down Orange Line service between North Station and Forest Hills. Shuttle buses replaced service between Back Bay and Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, and riders were encouraged to use the Green Line to replace service downtown. The T also ran shuttles between Back Bay and Copley. Regular service between North Station and Back Bay resumed around 10:20 p.m., and the transit agency reported the delay had cleared by 11 p.m. The delays prompted some to voice their frustration on X. "Why are you so bad at everything?" wrote one user. 'Do better,' added another. Foxboro MBTA commuter rail station work rushing to be ready by FIFA games Mass. man struck and killed by Commuter Rail train remembered as 'dear and humble' Berated, spat on, and even stabbed: Can a new bill stop assaults on bus and train drivers? Your MBTA Commuter Rail train may now run on vegetable oil Ethics Commission accuses retired MBTA manager of violating conflict of interest law Read the original article on MassLive.
