Priest sees wins, losses after Rhode Island legislative session

Published: 2004-07-29

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) -- During the waning days of the 2004 session of the Rhode Island General Assembly, legislators passed a bill to allow a referendum on a casino to be placed on the November ballot and agreed to provide tax credits for a new downtown hotel. Sadly lacking, said the diocesan government liaison, were measures to help children and families. "Unfortunately, poor children and families didn't seem to be a priority for them," said Father Bernard A. Healey, associate government liaison for the Diocese of Providence. He added that, in general, legislators appeared sympathetic to meeting the needs of the poor, but they apparently lost their political resolve when state revenue projections predicted a significant shortfall next year. "They had to manage a state budget in difficult times," he told The Providence Visitor, the diocesan newspaper. "Given the fiscal constraints, I think it was more the result of a lack of money, not a lack of will."

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