PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In the end, Governor Chafee opted to let a bill creating a new Executive Office of Commerce -- that was the centerpiece of the legislature's effort to make Rhode Island a more attractive place to do business -- become law without his signature at midnight Monday.
Chafee had stopped short of threatening to veto the bill. But as his spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger said again Monday night, Chafee still believes the problems at the state's infamous Economic Development Corporation stemmed from "the people'' who worked there, not the structure of the agency.
"He's got his people in place, a new executive director and new board members and believes that believes that throughout the next year those people will that they have the ability to move EDC forward.''
She said he decided to let the new law, and a number of companion bills, become law despite his misgivings because they "don't take effect until 2015 ... [and] there's time to demonstrate success and, should the need arise, revisit these bills at that time.''
The bill was among more than three dozen pieces of legislation that were queued up to become law, at midnight, unless Chafee chose to veto them. He has not wielded his veto yet this year.
On Monday he did sign bills to:
* Require any state college or University of Rhode Island employee getting free tuition as an employment benefit for themselves, their spouses and children to consent to disclosure of their names and waiver amounts. The legislation does not open the records of those who benefited in the past.
* Allow many more Rhode Island employers to pay their workers every other week, instead of weekly, which was a top legislative priority for some of Rhode Island's businesses. The opportunity had previously been limited to very large employers, with more than 2,500 employees.
* Prohibit public and private employers in Rhode Island from asking a job applicant if he or she has a criminal record until the "first interview.''