Raimondo: Time for House vote on PawSox bill
EAST PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo on Friday said it was time for the House to take a vote on the legislation that would support the financing of a new Pawtucket Red Sox ballpark.
“I think that it’s time for them to take a vote,” Raimondo said. “This has been going on for months now. The Senate had excellent hearings, they passed the legislation. It’s time for the House to do the same thing.”
The governor’s comments came a day after a closed-door caucus with House Democrats, which was called by House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello. After the hour-long caucus, four state representatives from Pawtucket pledged to work with their colleagues in the House to further revise the legislation.
The four representatives – District 58 State Rep. Carlos E. Tobon, District 59 State Rep. Jean Philippe Barros, District 61 State Rep. Raymond H. Johnston Jr., and District 62 State Rep. Mary Duffy Messier – on Thursday made a pledge to work with fellow representatives to “further revise legislation that would provide public support for a new baseball stadium in downtown Pawtucket in order to reduce the risk to taxpayers,” state officials said.
The caucus on Thursday afternoon was called by the House Speaker as he wanted to learn more about how his fellow state representatives felt about the stadium proposal. The Senate voted 26 to 9 on Tuesday to approve a pair of bills regarding the $83 million ballpark proposal.
The first bill was a joint resolution that authorizes the state to enter into finance and lease payment agreements in connection with the construction of a ballpark on Apex land in downtown Pawtucket. The second, meanwhile,
is an act relating to towns and cities, permits redevelopment agencies to finance the construction of projects for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, institutional, public, or other purposes contemplated by a redevelopment plan.
While the Senate and its nine-member Finance Committee gave the bills their blessing, the legislation now awaits a hearing with the House Finance Committee. Larry Berman, the director of communications for Mattiello, said on Friday that a timetable has not yet been set for the bills in the House.
“The House Finance Committee will hold a public hearing, but a time table has not yet been established,” Berman said. “It will not take place for at least a few weeks because the Finance Committee and the fiscal staff is tied up analyzing the Governor’s budget proposal that was just submitted yesterday.”
With no timetable yet to be established, Raimondo said it’s “probably true” that the longer the process draws out with the House, the likelier it is that other cities or states become suitors for the PawSox.
“We don’t want to lose the PawSox, they belong in Pawtucket,” Raimondo said. “The proposal’s been out there for months, it’s time for them to do their job and take action.”