TALKING POLITICS A sudden departure for Irons BY IAN DONNIS

As the General Assembly kicked off its session in January 2003, Senate President William V. Irons (D-East Providence) was an increasingly energetic champion of reform, leading, for example, a quest to balance the authority of House and Senate leaders on the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS), the powerful hiring-and-spending arm of the legislature. Irons cited the arrival of reform-minded leaders like Governor Donald L. Carcieri and Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline as "an amazing moment." After reaching the pinnacle of the Senate by toppling former Senate majority leader Paul Kelly in 2000, Irons seemed fully committed to continuing his State House tenure, enthusiastically telling me early last year, "It’s exhilarating on a regular basis to be here."

What a difference a year can make.

Even three weeks ago, it was unclear whether the ethics controversy involving Senator John Celona (D-North Providence) — who, while chairing a Senate committee that considered health-care legislation, had financial ties to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and CVS — would affect Irons or his leadership post. But on December 31, Irons, who was unwilling to answer questions about clients in his insurance business, abruptly resigned the Senate presidency, surprising legislative colleagues and political observers alike.

The Celona controversy has heightened the focus — including a state police investigation — on possible conflicts of interest among legislators, and renewed questions about whether Rhode Island might be better off with a full-time legislature. In an interview before Irons’s resignation, H. Philip West Jr., executive director of Common Cause of Rhode Island, noted that a commission considering the structure of state government looked at the latter issue in the early ’90s, and backed the concept of maintaining a part-time General Assembly. The thinking, in part, was that the part-time role helps legislators to stay in touch with constituents. It’s worth noting, too, that neighboring Massachusetts, which has a full-time legislature, has hardly had a shortage of autocratic legislative leaders and self-interested lawmakers.

Joseph A. Montalbano (D-North Providence), who was closely allied with Irons as his Senate majority leader, has ascended to the chamber’s top post, seemingly striking the right note in asking Celona to officially resign the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Housing, and Municipal Government. Meanwhile, the House, where Speaker William Murphy last year faced the challenging task of succeeding John B. Harwood, seems relatively placid these days by comparison. And in a sign of the plentiful amount of grist for the reform mill, Secretary of State Matthew Brown is backing an effort to increase the amount of disclosure for legislators with potential business conflicts.

The matter of bringing more accountability to the Joint Committee on Legislative Services has faded into the background for now. But considering the formidable impact of the JCLS over the General Assembly — whose budget increased from $11.4 million in 1990 to almost $27 million in early 2003 — it’s probably only a matter of time before the subject rears its head.

Irons couched his departure from the legislature as a principled stand, and he wins plaudits from observers for his understanding of business issues and an early commitment to separation of powers. It’s hard not to see the former Senate president’s decision to walk, though — after he last year called for greater transparency and accountability in the legislature — as being somewhat ironic.