Rhode Island House Speaker Joe Shekarchi has a lot on his plate: state budget deficits, working to keep businesses in Rhode Island, and considering whether or not he wants to run for governor next year. Shekarchi sat down with Ocean State Media political reporter Ian Donnis to discuss these topics and more.
Interview highlights
On the possibility of running for governor
Joe Shekarchi: I’ve done a great job as speaker [of the House of Representatives]. I’ve got a great leadership team. I’m very happy with that. But every speaker has a shelf life and I’m certainly at the back half of mine. It’s not to say that I’m leaving or I plan on leaving, but I’m considering the opportunity [to run for governor].
A lot of people, a lot of Rhode Islanders have asked me to run. A lot of interest groups in the Democratic Party – traditional stakeholders – have expressed to me that they want me to run, so I’m considering it. I’m going through a process. I don’t see any great hurry to announce.
On how to improve the business climate in Rhode Island
Shekarchi: We need to engage with the business community more and directly, and I’ve tried to do that. I will tell you that the business community needs to engage more with the leadership in the General Assembly and in government, in general.
FM Global came to us last year. They needed a change in the law [to remove a 10% investment cap on alternative assets like hedge funds and private equity]. They wanted to stay in Rhode Island. They’re actually expanding. Not many people know that, but FM Global is expanding its campus in Glocester. They committed to Rhode Island. We need to foster a better relationship with them, and we need to work with them.
Last year we had an ask from Citizens Bank to look at changing the tax structure that they originally were in. There was a real strong effort to move Citizens to Massachusetts. We reacted in the General Assembly fast and quickly, and we delivered. Citizens is staying in Rhode Island, and they’re growing in Rhode Island. So we need to engage more.
I’ll point out that we’ve also made investments… We’ve eliminated for 75% of small businesses the need – burdensome need and the cost of filing tangible tax returns and paying tangible taxes. That was a significant step forward to help small businesses in Rhode Island.
We have eliminated a lot of red tape in government. I can tell you from the real estate industry and the home building industry, we’ve streamlined the entire process, as well. If you talk to the Rhode Island Builders Association, they think the General Assembly has done an outstanding job in the last four years.
On the need for more information about the Washington Bridge failure
Shekarchi: I think you can have a vigorous oversight hearing, ask the questions, get the answers, and then continue with the [state’s] lawsuit. That’s the position of the attorney general, the top law enforcement (officer in the state) and the top civil attorney who’s representing the state of Rhode Island in that [lawsuit].
Now I’m sure you can find other people who will differ from that... This is a document that has been posted and is posted online right now, and we need to have answers. That document actually raised questions. I think those questions need to be answered. And quite frankly, the other side, if you will – the contractors that are being sued by the state – have that document already. So it’s not like we are, in fact, producing something that’s going to hurt the state.
The disclosure has been out there. We’re asking questions around that. Those are the same questions that a judge would ask, the defense would ask, the prosecution would ask. Those are the questions that a jury would want to know the answer to. And in this case, the people of Rhode Island are the jury.
