Ocean State Policy Research Institute

*=Required Fields

	Name*

	Email*

	Street Address*

	City*

	State*		Zip*

	Phone*

Weekly Update For the week of June 26, 2009

"No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." ~ Thomas Jefferson

ATF Party Update: Believe it or not, there are towns out there that require permits to have events on PRIVATE property! Needless to say, this has thrown a wrench into our plans. The Ocean State Policy Research Institute's 2nd Annual ATF Party will go on, just not on the scheduled July 11th date. I will keep you posted as soon as more details are worked out but it is likely we will wait until September/October as not to hit vacation season.

It was an especially busy week with all the budget activity. OSPRI President William Felkner was a guest, along side Pat Crowley of the NEA-RI, this past Sunday on Newsmakers. This was followed with an interview on the John DePetro Show on Monday. Links to both items are provided below.

Thursday, we issued a press release describing the Good, the (not so) Bad, and the Ugly in the RI Budget.

Earlier today we released a policy brief on the constitutionality of "never-ending" contracts.

And speaking of contracts, Mr. Felkner will discuss truth in advertising as it pertains to the media and teachers' contracts in the President's Message.

This week, 14 new documents were added to the RI Data website, which can be found by going to the Transparency Train. The RI Votes database is now fully updated for the current legislative session: keep an eye on your favorite (or most despised) bills through our Bill Alert software. With the General Assembly nearing the end of the session, many bills are being voted on each day. It is important that we, the watchful citizens, follow what is going on at the State House and voice our disgust with any misguided or frivolous legislation.

As always, OSPRI President Bill Felkner continues to traverse the state in order to spread the word about our organization and the Transparency Project. He has spoken before neighborhood organizations, taxpayer groups, college students, and local public officials. If you are interested in having Mr. Felkner address your group, please contact me via phone (401-228-6691) or email (info@oceanstatepolicy.org).

Finally, if you have any questions about OSPRI or are interested in getting involved, don't hesitate to contact me!

Best regards,

Parker Lacoste

Assistant to the President

President's Message

Dear Friends,

I remember a segment on 60 Minutes years ago where Andy Rooney railed on and on about how coffee comes in 10.5 oz. packages, not the traditional 1 pound (16 oz.) cans. That's bad enough, but imagine if the label on the coffee can said, "packaged in a 16 oz. container" but it still only contained 10.5 ounces? That's exactly how the media has been packaging their news when it comes to teacher contracts. They usually leave out the important information.

This morning's Providence Journal reported on the Providence teachers' contract saying that it "contains modest wage increases and requires teachers to pay more for their health care. ... The contract, which runs through Aug. 31, 2010, calls for raises totaling 3 percent for every teacher: 1.5 percent for each of the first two years."

What has been omitted from that report are the "step" and "longevity" increases which would bring those percentages up to approximately 7%. Would you call a 7% raise "modest"?

Every once in a while a few grains of truth come out. Such as this in the June 14th report on the Johnston contract:

The agreement, ratified by the committee on Tuesday night, gives all teachers a 2-percent raise for the 2010-2011 school year, said the schools superintendent, Margaret A. Iacovelli.

The most experienced teachers (at the 10th step) will receive a 1.75 percent raise during the upcoming 2009-2010 school year while teachers at all lower steps will see no increase in their wages.

The contract, which also covers the current school year, does not grant teachers any retroactive raise for 2008-2009, although teachers have received $452,000 in step increases, Iacovelli said.

Would the average citizen, unfamiliar with contract language or how many teachers will divvy up that $452,000, recognize that with the "raise" and "step increases," those teachers are receiving amount to compensation increases in the range of 7%?

Let's look at this through the eyes of the ProJo reporter. The teachers are only getting a 1.75 to 2 percent raise. If they are happy with that, then why spend an extra $452,000? That's nearly a half million dollars being taken from the taxpayers, thus reducing the number of jobs the economy could produce.

Although, in the big picture, a half million isn't what it used to be. But look at Cranston:

Finally, the new savings figure does not include the cost of state-mandated step increases, because the district would face that cost - $2.9 million - with or without the new contract, Balducci said.

They can hide the problem only so long. Sooner or later, the truth always comes out. And, sooner or later, public sector employees are going to have to start living in the same economy that those working in the private sector live in.

Onward and upward,