Mattiello a victory for biz?

Mattiello
Mattiello

On the surface, the Rhode Island business community looks like a big winner in new House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello’s ascension to what many regard as the most powerful political office in the state.
Mattiello, a Cranston Democrat and former majority leader, emerged from a line of House leadership going back to former Speaker William J. Murphy that’s battled to make the state more attractive to corporate America.
Former Speaker Gordon D. Fox, who made Mattiello his top deputy, was seen by business leaders as a reliable ally to many Rhode Island industries and is more conservative fiscally than his reputation on social issues would indicate.
If his first speech as speaker on March 25 is any indication, Mattiello, who called “jobs and the economy” his top priority and represents a mostly conservative district, could be even more attentive to business interests than Fox. The latter quickly resigned from the leadership post last week after being targeted by federal investigators in an ongoing probe that included visits to his home and Statehouse office.
In accepting the speaker’s chair, Mattiello said he would review the state’s tax structure, including unemployment insurance, to find ways to reduce the burden on employers.
“At our [February] legislative luncheon I noticed he was particularly vocal, more so than in the past, and I would say he threw down the gauntlet with a more aggressive pro-business stance,” said Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce President Laurie White about Mattiello.
For most, Mattiello represents a continuation of the status quo in House leadership, steering the state slowly toward a more competitive business climate, while at the same time keeping good relations with unions.
That the establishment candidate for speaker was able to triumph despite the state’s continued economic struggles and the air of scandal surrounding Fox surprised many hoping for a change.
The push for a new direction in House leadership came from a self-described “reform” coalition headed by Rep. Michael Marcello, D-Scituate.
Marcello, if made speaker, promised to hold votes on bills that never made it to the floor under Fox. Even if the previous House leadership agreed with big business more often, reformers argued that, due to the sluggish state of the economy and repeated political scandals, the status quo hasn’t benefited local companies or residents over the long term.
But while Marcello’s coalition included lawmakers with a range of ideologies and pledged bipartisanship, progressive Democrats made up its core, scaring off members elsewhere on the political spectrum.
“One team wanted to shake things up, but was ideologically fractured and had a lot of progressive support,” said House Minority Leader Brian Newberry, R-Smithfield. “Both groups are union friendly, but I think [Mattiello] personally is pretty conservative economically and more likely to support things [Republicans] support.”
Aware of frustration with the status quo among both lawmakers and many constituents, Newberry said Mattiello has also vowed to “shake things up.”
Despite Mattiello’s comfortable vote total in the race for speaker, the Democratic caucus appears as divided as it has been in recent years. Tough votes coming up on issues that include repayment of the 38 Studios bonds, the pension settlement and East Bay bridge tolls could make passing any agenda difficult.
Not only is this year’s legislative session already well underway, but Mattiello and lawmakers face elections in the fall and then another vote for speaker next January.
Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller said tax cuts, like those supported by the Providence Chamber to the corporate tax rate and estate tax, are the kind of thing that might have a better chance passing under a Mattiello speakership.
“Mattiello might be more open than Marcello to things like a corporate tax cut and possibly more changes in the sales tax to help the business climate,” Schiller said in an email. “However, at the moment he is more closely tied to unions, so how far he can go in that direction remains to be seen.”
Another consequence of Fox’s departure could be a more prominent role for Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, who was often overshadowed by the speaker in the five years she has led the Senate. More socially conservative than Fox, Paiva Weed, like Mattiello, has been supportive of labor and recently aggressive in trying to improve the state’s business climate.
How far to take a post-38 Studios overhaul of the state’s economic-development bureaucracy was an area where Fox and Paiva Weed disagreed, with the House going further than the Senate to push the former Economic Development Corporation under the control of the governor.
Creation of a new Executive Office of Commerce to oversee the old EDC is still underway and, with Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee unenthusiastic about it and Fox no longer acting as its primary backer, it is unclear if the change will be completed.
“Some of the [economic-development reforms] will not be revisited, but creating an executive office of commerce has not been done yet, so that could possibly be reconsidered depending on leadership,” said Gary S. Sasse, director of Bryant University’s Institute for Public Leadership and a former director of the state department of administration.
At least this year, Sasse said the big issues that will dominate the legislative session were around last year, and he hasn’t seen anything from Mattiello to indicate a major change in course from Fox.
“Everybody knows what the issues are – 38 Studios, tolls, the budget, the Superman Building, pensions – and where they stand on them,” Sasse said.
Looking back at Fox’s economic legacy, White said the income tax cut package he supported, and which cut the top marginal rate from 9.99 percent to 5.99 percent, was his most-lasting contribution.
“The pro-economic-development efforts started under Speaker Murphy and continued under Fox and his team [recognized] that the competitive forces on economic development are real and Rhode Island is an outlier in many respects,” White said. “In many respects [Fox] was a champion for business issues despite being regarded as a progressive liberal. The business community appreciated his willingness to listen to our issues.” •

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