PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island’s beleaguered Economic Development Corp. would be eliminated and replaced with a new corporation led by a secretary of commerce under legislation overwhelmingly endorsed Tuesday by the state’s House of Representatives.
All six economic development bills passed the House with sizeable majorities that could easily override a promised veto by Gov. Lincoln Chafee, a Democrat.
The most significant bill would replace the EDC with a new agency called the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. Lawmakers said a new agency could better coordinate economic development efforts and help boost the state’s business climate. The bill passed 70-4.
The EDC has come under fire following the collapse of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s video game company 38 Studios, which received a $75 million loan guarantee approved by the EDC board. Chafee has since replaced most of the EDC’s board members and said he thinks the agency is headed in the right direction.
The other bills would re-christen an existing small business loan program, create a council of economic advisers and an economic planning council to craft and regularly update a new state economic strategy. The proposals represent some of the most significant efforts to address what legislative leaders say is their priority for the year: boosting the business climate and helping nudge downward the state’s 8.8 percent unemployment rate.
“We’re looking at a culture change,” said House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello, D-Cranston. “So that job development and economic development takes priority.”
Chafee, however, promised to veto the legislation should it also pass the Senate. He said creating a new agency with a new name will do little to actually help businesses and improve the state’s economy. A new EDC executive director, Marcel Valois, was confirmed by the state Senate last month.
“It’s a diversion of our energies,” the governor said of the move to replace the EDC.
The bills now move to the Senate, which is already considering similar legislation.
The few House members who voted against the bills said they amounted to bureaucratic reorganization and not a comprehensive response to the state’s economic problems or the 38 Studios’ debacle.
“Why is this going to be any different and how is this going to be any better?” said Rep. Joseph Trillo, R-Warwick.
