TALKING POLITICS A reminder on another State of the State BY IAN DONNIS

Although Governor Donald L. Carcieri used his State of the State address this week to paint an upbeat portrait of the state’s economic present and future promise, members of One Rhode Island, a coalition of more than 135 advocacy organizations, seized the occasion to offer a not-so-cheery reminder. As Nancy Gewirtz, founder of the Poverty Institute at Rhode Island College, put it prior to the governor’s speech, "The State of the State is not good for low- and moderate-income Rhode Islanders. We’re very concerned that he’s going to present a picture of one Rhode Island which really doesn’t exist. The majority of this state’s population is struggling to get by to meet their very basic needs."

Although Carcieri indicated that a looming budget deficit will require belt-tightening, he conveyed a mood of broad optimism in a speech with several Reaganesque flourishes, saying, "Our job growth for the year was actually positive, 800 jobs, while the nation as a whole and the New England region actually lost jobs." The governor suggested that by following his recommendations — streamlining state government, making non-union state employees contribute to their health-care, creating a longer runway at T.F. Green Airport, and increasing investment in higher education, among others — Rhode Island will prosper.

For now, though, about 57 percent of the state’s households earn less than $50,000 — the estimated amount that a family of four with two young children needs to purchase health-care and child care without government help, Gewirtz says. Rhode Island also has the highest and fastest growing rate of childhood poverty in New England, she says, in large part because of shrinking wages. Although the typical service economy job offers an hourly wage of $8.64, the Rhode Island standard of need, calculated each year by the Poverty Institute, estimates that breadwinners in a family of three would require a $21 wage to get by without government help.

One Rhode Island, which formed last year (more information can be found at www.povertyinstitute.org), succeeded in convincing state officials to fund half of its $20 million platform. The coalition is making a similar slate of proposals — ranging from providing a one-time $150 clothing allowance for parents starting a training program or work, to continuing a $5 million state investment for affordable housing — this year. Gewirtz says people sometimes ask her how the state can afford $20 million in additional spending on social programs. She responds by citing the amount as less than one percent of the annual $3 billion general revenue budget. Referring to the chance to help struggling Rhode Islanders, Gewirtz adds, "We think that should be the state’s first priority. It doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s a big bang for the buck."

A group of One Rhode Island activists rallied in front of the House chamber prior to Carcieri’s State of the State address on Tuesday, February 3.

For now, attention seems likely to shift to the more contentious elements of the governor’s initiatives, such as his plan for non-union state employees to pay seven percent of their health-care premiums as of July 1, a figure that he wants to increase to 15 percent over three years. Any number of other issues — Carcieri’s quest for a commission to probe the state’s ethical culture, the ongoing debate over establishing a casino in Rhode Island — will also dominate the limelight.

With the national economy still shaky, Gewirtz doesn’t have any illusions about the prospects for fully funding One Rhode Island’s platform. When it comes to the lives of the state’s more vulnerable citizens, "I don’t think people realize how difficult it has become," she says. By banding together, though, social advocates have enhanced their influence, "legislators have to take it more seriously," and the coalition intends to make a forceful case.