All Pawtucket All The Time

STATE HOUSE – Saying a clear, unified response from municipalities is what will make the difference, Sen. Marc A. Cote is asking the League of Cities and Towns to involve its members in an effort to develop and lobby for legislation aimed at controlling unfunded state mandates.

In a letter sent Dec. 3 to Daniel Beardsley, the league’s executive director, Senator Cote said he agrees with comments Beardsley made at a recent Senate hearing about the frustrations of the state’s cities, towns and school districts, which face a greater burden of mandates each year and an increasingly limited capacity to raise more revenue.

Senator Cote, a Democrat who represents District 24 in Woonsocket and North Smithfield, said he’s listened sympathetically to similar complaints from local officials for years, and he believes the only thing that’s going to result in real change would be an organized, united effort by municipalities to create legislation that would address the most grievous mandates.

“In my view, the primary reason why there has been no progress in achieving relief from state mandates over the years is that there needs to be coordination and consensus-building among communities to prioritize those key mandates of common concern, and to propose specific legislative remedies that most, if not all, cities and towns could rally behind,” wrote the Senator in the letter. “Whether they are mandates that affect school department or municipal budgets, significant policy changes will not likely occur if their adoption is attempted independently by individual communities on a piecemeal basis through their respective members of the General Assembly.”

Senator Cote said he believes the League of Cities and Towns would be the most appropriate organization to facilitate such an effort, and offered his support.

He also expressed confidence that, with broad-based sponsorship, such legislation would win passage by the General Assembly.

“Everyone in the General Assembly represents communities that are forced to do more each year with less, due to increasing mandates and revenues that aren’t keeping pace with them. I’m sure we all hear from our local officials about it, and I expect that we would support and adopt thoughtful solutions that balance the need to provide high-quality municipal services and public education with the communities’ ability to pay for them,” said Senator Cote after submitting the letter. “I hope that the League of Cities and Towns will consider this suggestion and I look forward to working with them to pass legislation to address the problems.”