PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In the wake of another report on Rhode Island's persistently high unemployment rate, state Republican Chairman Mark Smiley is blaming the General Assembly's Democratic leadership "for its lack of effort to create jobs and fix the economy in Rhode Island.''
Said Smiley, "The Rhode Island economy is still on life support as evidenced by the unemployment rate which actually rose in July to 8.9%, all the while [House Speaker] Gordon Fox and [Senate President] Teresa Paiva-Weed were bragging about their so-called accomplishments in this area."
He alluded to a jointly written commentary in which Paiva-Weed and Fox said: "We have been proud to work together to create a vibrant economic environment in Rhode Island and to encourage job creation by business." It further stated, "With the economy still stagnant and too many Rhode Islanders unemployed, we came into the 2013 session with a renewed sense of urgency to build upon these recent reforms and improve economic development in Rhode Island."
Building a case for the election of more Republicans, Smiley said: "The 2013 session was supposed to be all about jobs and the economy and aside from a few minor tweaks they focused on social issues and calamari. So much for their renewed sense of urgency!
"If they spent as much time working to create jobs and fix our economy as they did on back door deals to pay 38 Studios bondholders, our state would be much better off. Now our citizens have to once again pay the price for the partisanship of the Democrats.''
This was the response from House spokesman Larry Berman: "The steps taken by the General Assembly on a bipartisan basis this session involve significant restructuring of the way the state approaches economic development.
"The economy does not magically turn around in a short period of time as the Republican chairman might suggest. But with the proper planning, vision and strategies in place, a foundation is being built for sustainable long-term growth."