Political News - Rhode Island - onPolitix

Top RI lawmakers unveil proposed $8.2B state budget

2013-06-19T01:17:35Z

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Island's top lawmakers unveiled a proposed state budget Tuesday evening that would boost funding for education significantly without increasing broad-based taxes or fees, though they rejected a proposal by Gov. Lincoln Chafee to lower the corporate tax.

The House Finance Committee will vote Tuesday night on the proposal. The full 75-member House is expected to debate and vote on the budget next week; if approved by the House, the budget would move on to the Senate and, if passed there, go to the governor.

Democratic lawmakers' proposal would boost state spending 1% to $8.2 billion in the 2013-14 fiscal year that starts July 1. Chafee put forward his tax-and-spending plan in mid-January, but state number-crunchers revealed in May there would be roughly $30 million less available to spend than Chafee expected.

House Finance Committee Chairman Helio Melo said the shortfall took budget negotiators by surprise and forced them to scrap some of the governor's ideas. "I think a lot of people anticipated good numbers because in the past few [revenue] conferences the numbers had been increasing," he said.

Chafee spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger expressed immediate concern about the budget's failure to include as much aid to cities and towns as the governor had requested, though she cautioned that he needed time to study it in detail. "The Rhode Island taxpayer and cities and towns are the loser, not the governor," she said.

Peter Schaefer, associate director of the R.I. League of Cities and Towns, slammed the lawmakers' priorities. "The lack of commitment to the distressed communities ... is a real problem for Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Central Falls, West Warwick - they're all struggling."

There is nothing in the budget to address a number of hot-button issues, including tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge and possible changes to the name and organization of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.

More than half the $8 billion state budget is spent on human services and education. The budget adds $32 million to fully fund the state's K-12 school funding formula and another $6 million to boost the state's three public colleges. It also adds $4.5 million for work-force development.

The budget includes a controversial $2.5 million payment to investors who bought the bonds sold to benefit Curt Schilling's 38 Studios, which will cost roughly $90 million to pay back with interest over the next decade. Some lawmakers have suggested the state shouldn't pay the money back.

But the budget also includes $50,000 to commission a comprehensive study of whether the state should repay the rest of the 38 Studios bonds, and would repeal the Job Creation Guaranty Program that was created in 2010 and then used to provide the loan to Schilling's firm.

"It's a very cautious document," House Minority Leader Brian Newberry, R-North Smithfield, told WPRI.com. "I think the main issue is going to be the 38 Studios funding. I think that, ultimately, is going to be the make-or-break vote."

The House budget includes $9 million in additional local aid, less than Chafee requested, by expanding the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program by $4 million and providing $5 million to cities and towns based on how they manage their pension plans.

Chafee's proposal to give cities and towns $10 million to do local infrastructure repairs wasn't included. Instead, lawmakers included $10 million to capitalize a revolving fund to make loans for those projects as suggested by House Speaker Gordon Fox and Treasurer Gina Raimondo.

The state budget will quietly boost the capital city by letting Providence skip a $2.1 million payment to the state to make good on money the city failed to pay out of revenue from red-light cameras.

The budget takes advantage of federal money available under President Obama's health care law to expand Medicaid to cover adults without children who make up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Parents who make more than 133% of that threshold will move from Medicaid to the health law's new insurance marketplace.

"We are going to look at subsidizing some of the Affordable Care Act plans to help cover any gap that the parents may see in their co-share premiums," Melo said. The budget freezes the rates paid to nursing homes, hospitals and other health providers.

Linda Katz, policy director at the left-leaning Economic Progress Institute, said roughly 6,500 Rhode Island parents would lose Medicaid coverage and be shifted to the exchange, where she argued they may be unable to afford coverage. "We're moving backwards instead of moving forward in terms of expanding access to coverage for very needy families," Katz told WPRI.com.

Chafee's plan to reduce the corporate tax rate from 9% to 7% was left on the cutting-room floor, as was his proposal to pay for it by scaling back tax credits that benefit Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark. "We were unable to do it this year because of the major shortfall," Melo said.

Lawmakers did add a provision that would allow businesses to depreciate their assets over one year instead of five. They would also bring back the state's historic-preservation tax credit program using $34 million in leftover credits, but no project - including the "Superman" building - would be allowed to get more than $5 million.

"If the owners of the Superman building want to apply for historic tax credits they are welcome to, just as anybody is, but it is capped at $5 million," Melo said.

The budget would also change the way Rhode Island taxes alcohol by suspending sales tax on wine and spirits - but not beer - starting Dec. 1. The excise tax would increase from $3 to $3.30 on spirits; from $3.75 to $5.40 on wine; and from 60 cents to $1.40 on beer.

Under the proposed budget, the state would stop providing health care coverage to the divorced spouses of state employees starting Jan. 1. It also skips a $12.9 million payment into the state pension fund that was supposed to be made out of higher-than-projected tax revenue, and does not include money for worker raises.

J. Michael Downey, president of Council 94, the largest union of state employees, slammed the decision to skip the $12.9-million retirement contribution. "Shortchanging employees' pensions, while taking care of Wall Street bondholders and restoring tax credits, is immoral," Downey said in a statement.

Legislative aides projected earlier this spring that Rhode Island would face a $171 million deficit in the 2014-15 budget if Chafee's proposals became law, continuing a long-term trend for state government. That gap would grow to $469 million in 2017-18.

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) covers politics and the economy for WPRI.com and writes the Nesi's Notes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @tednesi

Markey, Gomez prep for final debate

2013-06-18T20:32:25Z

BOSTON (WPRI) -- With just a week left before Massachusetts' special election to determine who will fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by now-Secretary of State John Kerry, two of the candidates are expected to face off for their final debate Tuesday night.

Democratic candidate, Rep. Ed Markey, and Republican candidate, Gabriel Gomez, are set to face off for the hour-long debate sponsored by a Boston media consortium in the studios of WGBH-TV.

In-Depth: Massachusetts Special Election

Gomez, a political newcomer, is the son of Colombian immigrants and a former Navy Seal.

Struggling to close the gap with Markey, who held a two-digit lead in a recent Boston Globe poll, Gomez hasn't pulled any punches when it comes to his opponent.

"He's trying to scare people. Trying to tell them I'm something I'm not," Gomez said. "I've lived the American dream. I've had a lot of opportunities and I've earned everyone."

While Gomez has called Markey - who's severed more than three decades in the House of Representatives - an entrenched Washington insider, Markey has accused Gomez of pushing the national Republican agenda.

"He's promoting the stalest, old Republican ideas," Markey said.

In addition to the polls, Markey is also ahead in the fundraising department, with $2.3 million in his war chest, compared to just under $1 million for Gomez.

The Massachusetts special election will take place Tuesday, June 25.

Moody's downgrades 38 Studios bonds as lawmakers waver on $90M repayment

2013-06-17T20:34:36Z

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Wall Street gave Rhode Island a sharp rebuke Monday as Moody's Investors Service downgraded its rating on the bonds sold to benefit Curt Schilling's defunct 38 Studios, citing a growing resistance among lawmakers toward paying back the bondholders.

Moody's also placed Rhode Island's overall state bond rating on review for a downgrade, backing up months of warnings from Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who has argued that refusing to pay back the game-company bonds would jeopardize the state's ability to borrow money affordably for road repairs and other purposes.

In a statement, Moody's attributed the downgrade and broader review of Rhode Island's credit-worthiness to "the considerable uncertainty surrounding the state legislature's willingness to appropriate funds requested in Governor Chafee's budget ... for the 38 Studios bonds."

Nesi: Lawmakers pushed to pay 38 Studios bonds Related: GOP chairman urges 38 Studios default Target 12: 38 Studios bondholders revealed

The debate among legislators about whether to pony up the money "signals potential unwillingness to honor [Rhode Island's] obligations to bondholders," Moody's said. "Selectivity regarding which obligations to honor leads us to question our confidence in the full faith and credit of the state and its willingness to honor its other debt obligations compared to otherwise similarly-rated states."

In response to the Moody's announcement, Chafee reiterated that he is "confident that we will continue to honor our obligations."

"We want to send a clear message to the investment community that Rhode Island is a place that will make the difficult but necessary decisions for the long-term health of our state," the governor said. "I believe that the General Assembly will do the right thing to protect the reputation and borrowing ability of Rhode Island.”

Treasurer Gina Raimondo, Chafee's fellow Democrat and a likely candidate for governor in 2014, expressed a similar view.

"While the 38 Studios situation is disappointing and frustrating, Treasurer Raimondo continues to believe that it is in the best long-term interest of Rhode Island and its citizens to repay the 38 Studios bonds," Raimondo spokeswoman Joy Fox told WPRI.com. "Today’s announcement from Moody’s is a clear indication that the General Assembly’s deliberations are being monitored."

Fox emphasized that Raimondo, like Chafee, opposed the 38 Studios deal in 2010, "stating then that it was a risky investment because it placed too many taxpayer dollars at stake in one deal. At the time, the company did not have a product or revenue stream."

A spokesman for Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed said the issue will be discussed Tuesday afternoon at a budget briefing where senators will hear from Richard Licht, Chafee's director of administration, and Mark Dingley, a top aide to Raimondo.

Moody's deemed the 38 Studios transaction relatively low-risk for investors back in September 2010, giving the $75 million in taxable bonds an A2 rating; on Monday the firm lowered that rating two notches to Baa1.

Rhode Island's state government has $2.1 billion in outstanding debt, according to Moody's.

Lawmakers will be asked in the coming weeks to include $2.5 million in the 2013-14 state budget to cover taxpayers' first payment on the 38 Studios bonds, which the R.I. Economic Development Corporation sold in 2010 and which were supposed to be paid back by Schilling's company until it went bankrupt last year. More payments due through 2020 would bring taxpayers' total tab to around $90 million once interest is added.

Without the $2.5 million deposit, the reserve account set aside to pay the 38 Studios bondholders won't have enough money to send them the full payment due May 1, 2014, according to Moody's. The 38 Studios bond payments are made twice a year, on May 1 and Nov. 1.

The General Assembly voted nearly unanimously in 2010 to create the new loan program that was quickly used to guarantee the $75 million loan to 38 Studios. Moody's argued that the language of the statute made clear to lawmakers they might be called upon to repay the loan program's debts if things went wrong.

"The two-notch downgrade on the 38 Studios bonds reflects the erosion of the legislature's willingness to honor the moral obligation, which was expressed so strongly at the time the program was approved," Moody's said.

The firm's analysts also noted that Rhode Island uses other types of debt that require annual legislative appropriations, such as bonds backed by gasoline taxes. "An environment in which any debt service payments are considered optional in turn undermines our confidence in the full faith and credit of the state," they said.

The House Finance Committee is expected to unveil legislative leaders' revised budget proposal at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Rank-and-file lawmakers have suggested that the controversy over repaying the 38 Studios bonds is one of the reasons the budget hasn't been released yet.

A growing chorus of individuals - including former Gov. Don Carcieri, who championed the 38 Studios deal; former Treasurer Frank Caprio; the Senate GOP caucus; R.I. Republican Party Chairman Mark Smiley; and Moderate Party founder Ken Block - have urged lawmakers to refuse to approve the $2.5 million bond payment.

They've noted that the type of debt sold to fund 38 Studios - a moral-obligation bond - did not carry an iron guarantee that taxpayers would pay it back if the company couldn't, which is why the bonds carry higher interest rates - between 6% and 7.75% - than most municipal bonds.

“The bond clearly states that Rhode Island is not responsible for this debt,” Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere, R-Westerly, said June 4. “This was a high-risk transaction, of which the investors clearly had knowledge.”

Matt Fabian, managing director at Municipal Market Advisors, told the House Finance Committee earlier this month that Rhode Island would be the first state to refuse to pay its bonds despite having the money to do so since shortly after the Civil War ended in 1865.

No state has ever defaulted on a moral-obligation bond, though some municipal governments have and were punished by the rating agencies for doing so, including Vadnais Heights, Minn., and Moberly, Mo., according to state officials and Fabian.

As 38 Studios was collapsing last May, Moody's disclosed that Chafee, Raimondo, House Speaker Gordon Fox and Paiva Weed had all "expressed to us directly their support for the moral-obligation commitment based on the state’s credit" despite the firm's failure.

A Target 12 investigation in April revealed that two large financial firms, USAA and Transamerica Corp., own two-thirds of the 38 Studios bonds. They are expected to get their money back no matter what thanks to an insurance policy bought from Assured Guaranty, which then might go after the state to recoup its losses.

Chafee administration officials have said they hope Rhode Island's lawsuit against the architects of the 38 Studios deal, as well as the eventual sale of the company's intellectual property, will yield money that could be used to help defray the cost of repaying the bonds.

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) covers politics and the economy for WPRI.com and writes the Nesi's Notes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @tednesi

Bloomberg will host New York fundraiser for Raimondo

2013-06-17T19:34:41Z

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is swinging his support behind Treasurer Gina Raimondo as she prepares to run for governor, three years after the big-city billionaire backed incumbent Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

Bloomberg will host a fundraiser for Raimondo this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at his townhouse in Manhattan, aides to both politicians confirmed Monday in response to inquiries from WPRI.com. The treasurer will travel to New York on Wednesday and return Thursday night.

"Gina is one of the most impressive public officials in America today in the mayor's opinion," Howard Wolfson, a senior counsel to Bloomberg and deputy mayor, told WPRI.com. "She has done a phenomenal job and she will do an even better job as governor."

Related: Raimondo leads 2014 money race Analysis: Chafee switch scrambles gov campaign Nesi's Notes: Full Campaign 2014 coverage

"We have followed her performance from New York, especially around the issue of pension reform," he said. "She is a serious, committed, policy-driven public official. You only have to meet her once to know how impressive she is. He really thinks she's a superstar."

In a statement to WPRI.com, Raimondo said: "As I've said many times, I am seriously considering running for governor and will make that decision this year. I am humbled by the support of Mayor Bloomberg and by everyone here in Rhode Island that has been encouraging me to run."

Raimondo had $1.7 million in her campaign war chest as of March 31, far more than any other Rhode Island politician. "We need the resources to run a great campaign and this fundraiser hosted by Mayor Bloomberg is a great help in the process," she said.

The decision by Bloomberg, a three-term independent now in his final year as mayor, to harvest campaign cash for Raimondo is a blow to Governor Chafee, who was Bloomberg's fellow independent until last month, when Chafee joined the Democratic Party with President Obama's blessing.

Wolfson, who was a top strategist on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, acknowledged Governor Chafee and the mayor haven't always seen eye to eye.

"Look, I think there's some things that the governor has done that we haven't been pleased with, especially around the issue of education," he said. "But in many respects this is really an affirmation of Gina Raimondo. We get opportunities to meet with public officials from all 50 states, and she really, really is in a class by herself."

Bloomberg actively supported Chafee's bid for governor, traveling to Rhode Island twice in the final months of the 2010 campaign to burnish the former U.S. senator's credentials as a post-partisan and pragmatic candidate. "Like me, Linc has a strong commitment to being independent," the mayor said at the time.

Chafee repaid the compliment, calling Bloomberg "a great man and a great leader," and used his endorsement in a campaign TV ad. As governor he later traveled to New York to meet with "my fellow independent" Bloomberg and discuss the economy.

Now, however, Chafee is a Democrat - and he's facing a potentially tough primary against Raimondo and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras next year to win the party's nomination. Despite that, Chafee spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger brushed off Bloomberg's decision.

"Obviously the treasurer believes that she has sufficient time to travel out of state and raise money," Hunsinger told WPRI.com. "The governor, however, is focused on things that matter to Rhode Islanders and doing the business of being governor." She noted that the revised state budget is set to be unveiled Tuesday.

Asked whether Chafee is disappointed that Bloomberg is helping his rival, Hunsinger replied: "He's not playing politics right now. He's focused on doing the work of the people."

Taveras, too, can claim a Bloomberg connection.

In March, Providence beat out 304 other cities to win a $5 million grand-prize awarded by Bloomberg's foundation for the most innovative municipal policy ideas, with a plan to record low-income children's conversations and use the data to boost their vocabularies. Taveras traveled to New York to receive the award and appeared on "CBS This Morning" with Bloomberg to discuss Providence's big win.

Taveras has "come up with something that ... addresses one of the fundamental problems: too many of our kids are coming from families where they don't have exposure to broad vocabularies, to literature, and that's going to hurt them all their lives unless you do something about it," Bloomberg said on CBS.

"And rather than ring his hands and say, 'Yes, this is a big problem,' he and his staff have come up with an innovative idea which we think will work, which is also transferrable to other places," Bloomberg said. "That was one of the requirements to win the challenge - he had to have a great idea but it also had to be applicable elsewhere."

Bloomberg donated $1,000 last fall to two candidates for General Assembly: Sen. Donna Nesselbush, D-Pawtucket, and former Rep. Mary Ann Shallcross-Smith, who lost her comeback bid, according to R.I. Board of Elections filings. His daughter, Emma Bloomberg, donated $1,000 to Raimondo last August. Bloomberg also gave $160,500 to an outside education-reform group that spent on legislative races.

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) covers politics and the economy for WPRI.com and writes the Nesi's Notes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @tednesi

R.I. lawmakers endorse popular vote compact

2013-06-14T17:14:05Z

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- State lawmakers have voted once again to add Rhode Island to a list of states that agree to award their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the overall national popular vote.

Currently, a candidate could lose the popular vote but still win if they rack up enough Electoral College votes. It happened in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore even though Gore won more votes nationally.

The General Assembly endorsed the compact Thursday. Eight states and Washington D.C. have already joined. The compact won't take effect until enough states possessing a majority of the nation's 538 electoral votes join the compact.

Lawmakers endorsed the compact in 2008 but former Republican Gov. Don Carcieri vetoed the bill.

Democratic Gov. Lincoln Chafee has said he supports the compact.

Gov. Chafee to aid Markey in Mass. Senate bid

2013-06-12T13:32:02Z

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Rhode Island's governor is headed to Massachusetts to join President Barack Obama and help out a fellow Democrat just weeks after he joined the party himself.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee is scheduled to attend a campaign rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Edward Markey Wednesday in Roxbury, Mass.

Obama is also planning to participate at the rally, to be held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

Formerly an independent, Chafee joined the Democratic Party two weeks ago. He had been a Republican when he served in the U.S. Senate but said he now feels more at home with the Democrats.

Markey faces Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez in the race.

Centracchio talks national security

2013-06-10T22:57:40Z

(WPRI) -- Eyewitness News anchor Mike Montecalvo spoke with Lt. General Reginald Centracchio about the latest concerns about national security, including the National Security Agency scandal and the government's seizure of cell phone records and its relation to potential terrorism.

Study: Obamacare to subsidize insurance for 83,000 in Rhode Island

2013-06-10T18:52:02Z

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Nearly 83,000 Rhode Islanders will be eligible starting next year to get federal tax credits to buy health coverage in the new insurance marketplace being created under President Obama's health care law, a recent study shows.

Families USA, an advocacy group that supports the Affordable Care Act, used data from the Lewin Group consulting firm to estimate that 82,810 of Rhode Island's 1 million residents will be eligible for the new federal insurance subsidies, a central pillar of the law.

The vast majority of those eligible for subsidies are working families and Rhode Islanders ages 34 and under, the study found. Based on federal income guidelines for 2013, the law will subsidize individuals who make up to about $46,000 and families of four who make up to around $94,000.

"The tax-credit subsidies are a game-changer: They will make health coverage affordable for huge numbers of uninsured families who would have been priced out of the health coverage and care they need," Ron Pollack, Families USA's executive director, said in a statement.

PDF: Read the Families USA study Watch: Newsmakers with Christine Ferguson Nesi: 36 hours behind RI's Obamacare exchange

The cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act is its new state-level health insurance exchanges, which are supposed to be Expedia-like online marketplaces where Americans can compare plans, purchase insurance and - if they earn less than 400% of the federal poverty level - receive billions in subsidies on a sliding scale.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee signed an executive order in 2011 creating the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange and named Christine Ferguson, a former aide to Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. John Chafee, to lead it. The state has received $64.8 million to get the exchange up and running, and enrollment is scheduled to kick off Oct. 1 for coverage in 2014.

The exchange will be open to uninsured Rhode Islanders, as well as those who'd have to spend more than 9.5% of their wages to buy health insurance at work or wouldn't receive adequate coverage through their employer.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 14% of Rhode Islanders under the age of 65 were uninsured in 2010-11, while 60% were covered by their employers, 21% were on Medicaid or another public plan, and 5% purchased individual coverage.

One huge unanswered question is how much Rhode Island's insurers will charge for the 28 plans they expect to sell on the new insurance exchange, which are heavily regulated to enforce minimum benefits.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island will sell plans to individuals on the exchange, with UnitedHealthcare joining them in selling to small employers. Tufts Health Plan expects to begin selling plans on Rhode Island's exchange in 2015, as well.

"The insurance companies’ willingness to participate in this new endeavor will provide the exchange with the leverage it needs to meet its goals of increasing the number of insured Rhode Islanders, improving the health of Rhode Islanders, and driving health care system reform," Ferguson, the exchange's director, told WPRI.com in a statement.

The insurers have filed proposed rates with R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher Koller, with Blue Cross floating a $5,900 deductible for one plan. Koller told WPRI.com his office expects to decide on rates by the end of June. Ferguson said the exchange also needs to review the proposed insurance plans "to ensure that they meet our criteria." That work is expected to be done by July 15.

Blue Cross, Rhode Island's dominant insurer, is asking Koller to increase insurance rates next year by 18% for individuals and 15% for small groups, citing continued growth in medical costs as well as new fees and taxes required under the Affordable Care Act, which mandates that almost all Americans get insurance.

Blue Cross expects enrollment in its individual health plans to jump from 17,000 this year to 35,000 in 2014 and 50,000 in 2016, driven largely by the new health law - and the insurer projects dramatically different experiences for different customers once it's implemented.

According to Blue Cross, a 28-year-old male Rhode Islander who makes $34,000 annually and currently pays a monthly premium of $116 for an individual plan may see his premium more than double to $244 next year. But a 59-year-old woman who makes $30,000 and currently pays $534 a month for the same insurance plan may see her premium drop by half to $256.

The Families USA study estimates 57% of the 82,810 Rhode Islanders eligible for insurance subsidies make between 200% and 399% of the federal poverty level and 87% of them are in working families, roughly in line with national averages. The lowest-income Rhode Islanders are eligible for Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor.

About 15% of eligible Rhode Islanders are 18 or younger; 40% are ages 18 to 34; 33% are ages 35 to 54; and 12% are ages 55 and up. Rhode Islanders over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, the federal health program for senior citizens. By race, 67% of eligible Rhode Islanders are non-Hispanic whites, 21% are Hispanic and 6% are black.

Another major challenge for Ferguson and the exchange's staff is getting the word out about the new insurance system.

Just 21% of Rhode Island adults had heard of the new health exchange as of early April, although two-thirds said they were interested in using it once they heard a description, according to a Lake Research Partners survey commissioned by the exchange.

Unlike other states, the Rhode Island exchange doesn't have a brand name yet. The Lake Research poll tested four possibilities - RI Health Source, Health Source RI, Ocean State Health Source and Forward Health Rhode Island - and found the first two options got the best response.

They also tested two possible slogans: "Your health. Your way" and "We've got you covered."

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) covers politics and the economy for WPRI.com and writes the Nesi's Notes blog. Follow him on Twitter: @tednesi

MA Senate campaigns enter final weeks

2013-06-08T12:37:35Z

BOSTON, Mass. (AP) -- The race to fill the U.S. Senate left vacant by current Secretary of State John Kerry is entering its final weeks.

Current polls show Democratic congressman Ed Markey with a substantial lead over GOP candidate Gabriel Gomez. However, the Democrats aren't taking any chances. They don't want another special election upset like the one they were handed in 2010, when Scott Brown won the seat held by Sen. Ted Kennedy for nearly 50 years.

The Markey campaign will be holding a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. Among those expected to attend will be Vice President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Al Gore.

The fundraiser comes shortly after First Lady Michelle Obama helped the Markey camp rake in a reported $600,000 a couple weeks ago. Her husband, President Barack Obama, will stump for Markey on Thursday.

On the Republican side, Gomez claims to be unfazed by Democratic plans to flood Boston airwaves with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of television ads in the weeks ahead. He says it shows the left is in a "full-fledged panic".

Massachusetts voters head to the polls on June 25.

Newsmakers 6/7: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

2013-06-07T17:17:52Z

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - This week on Newsmakers: U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island). Reports are shedding more light on how the government has been handling its approach to intelligence gathering, including mining data from phones and the internet. As a former member of the intelligence committee, Whitehouse says he has to be careful about what he talks about, but defended President Obama's use of surveillance.

Whitehouse also weighs in on the scandal-plagued Internal Revenue Service, talks about a phone call he received from Governor Lincoln Chafee about becoming a Democrat, immigration reform and his push to put climate change on the front burner of policy issues in Washington.