Raiding the 911 dedicated funds is not the only scoop the General Assembly has taken to balance the state budget. They have been scooping special funds for several years at least.
Here is a list of scoops with links to the budget sections (when identifiable) and/or articles in various reliable publications and websites describing the scoops or apparent scoops.
I pay RI state taxes and pay bills to National Grid, Narragnsett Bay Commission, phone service providers, and Providence taxes. The General Assembly should balance its budget without scoops of funds that are supposed to go to energy efficiency, wastewater processing, 911 system needs, and other necessary services that citizens would think they were paying for through special fees.
I am not an expert in reading state budgets, but the budget should be understandable to reasonably literate people. People who are experienced in budget negotiations identified Aricle 1 Section 16 as the budget language for the $12,500,000 taken in June 2017 from energy efficiency funds collected by National Grid. I have gone through Article 1 of the budgets of the last several years looking for the same language: "Notwithstanding any provisions of..." and copied them below. Maybe there are some reasonable explanations for some of these transfers, but I can't imagine how taking energy efficiency and 911 funds for the General Fund can be defended.
I will be happy to correct any incorrect listing, add explanations justifying any of these scoops from members of the General Assembly or its staff, and/or add any other scoops known to anyone. Please email me (Sue Korté) with details including supporting references.
FY2019 Budget:
So far,
FY2018 Budget (the current budget, July 2017-June 2018):
SECTION 15. Notwithstanding any provisions of Chapter 12.2 in Title 46 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank shall transfer to the State Controller the sum of three million five hundred thousand dollars ($3,500,000) by June 30, 2018.
SECTION 15 [sic]. Notwithstanding any provisions of Chapter 38 in Title 45 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation shall transfer to the State Controller the sum of six million dollars ($6,000,000) by June 30, 2018.
SECTION 16. Notwithstanding any provisions of Chapter 2 in Title 39 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Electric and Gas Distribution Company [National Grid] shall transfer to the State Controller the sum of twelve million and five hundred thousand dollars ($12,500,000) by June 30, 2018 from the Public Utilities Commission approved 2018 System Reliability and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Procurement Programmatic Budget Plan.
SECTION 17. Quonset Development Corporation. Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 64.1 in Title 42 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Quonset Development Corporation shall transfer to the State Controller the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) by June 30, 2018.
SECTION 18. Rhode Island Housing. Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 55 in Title 42 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Rhode Island Housing shall transfer to the State Controller the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) by June 30, 2018.
SECTION 19. Narraganset Bay Commission. Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 25 in Title 1246 of the Rhode Island General Laws, the Narragansett Bay Commission shall transfer to the State Controller the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) by June 30, 2018.
News Reports Regarding the FY2018 Budget:
An Honese Budget, Please - Providence Journal Editorial, July 15, 2017
Proposal would ‘scoop’ money from RI Housing to balance… - Providence Journal, February 15, 2018
Editorial: Scooping money from 911 service - Providence Journal, February 20, 2018
Editorial: Breathing room, but not relief - Providence Journal, May 23, 2018
Budget ‘scoops’ under fire in R.I. governor’s spending plan, Providence Journal - January 19, 2019
