Chafee says marriage equality, rescinding E-Verify important to economic growth

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Full text of Lincoln D. Chafee's inaugural address (Jan. 4, 2011)

PROVIDENCE – Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee said he will rescind the E-Verify executive order on Wednesday and hopes Rhode Island will pass a bill to establish marriage equality, during his inaugural address as Rhode Island’s first independent governor.

“Tomorrow I will rescind the so-called E-Verify executive order. However well-intentioned it may have been, it has caused needless anxiety within our Latino community without demonstrating any progress on illegal immigration … an issue I strongly believe must be solved at the federal level,” said Chafee on the steps of the Statehouse Tuesday, reiterating a campaign promise.

Chafee also said he hopes that Rhode Island will “catch up to her New England neighbors” and pass a bill to establish marriage equality “because good business is about treating people right, just as good government is.”

“When marriage equality is law in Rhode Island, we honor our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in the pursuit of human equality,” he said.

These two actions, rescinding the E-Verify executive order and establishing a marriage equality law, will do “more for economic growth in our state than any economic-development loan,” he said.

“Our politics have not lived up to our ideals. That must change. The time of irresponsibility has ended,” Chafee added.

The governor listed six ideals for the Rhode Island “civil state,” including: protected personal freedoms, a fair safety net to provide for basic human needs, and proper stewardship of the state’s natural resources.

Chafee also talked briefly on the public education system, saying that while it needs improvement, “we must not dismiss what has worked as we strive for progress.” He also noted that Rhode Island citizens deserve an honest, reliable government and as users of services, taxpayers must give government the resources to “do its job well.”

Elizabeth H. Roberts, second-term lieutenant governor, A. Ralph Mollis, secretary of state, Peter F. Kilmartin, attorney general, and Gina M. Raimondo, general treasurer, were also sworn in on Tuesday.