Letter From Rep. Anthony Giarrusso

This is my first communication with District 30 residents since the election. I hope to keep you informed of activities at the General Assembly, but I want to avoid sending you meaningless emails that clog up the system. Look for periodic emails from me, but I promise to keep them to a minimum.

In the meantime, we'll work to keep our Facebook page up to date, and you can always tune in to Capitol TV (Channel 15 on Cox, Channel 34 on Verizon) or the House of Representative's Facebook page if you want to keep a closer eye on things.

After a break over the Christmas holidays, the General Assembly got down to work January 1. All 75 State Representatives and 38 State Senators were sworn in, and the House and Senate elected leadership for the coming session. East Greenwich Patch's editor, Elizabeth McNamara, was there, and her story on Patch is here. ABC6's Mark Curtis (another resident of East Greenwich) covered the opening as well. His ABC6 report is here.

It's been a busy first few days, and there is lots happening. I continue to press my concerns over job and economic development, and plan to stay on top of this through various General Assembly committee assignments. Local news is full of coverage and speculation on all manner of legislation, but I hope we can stay focused on the issues central to the well-being of the state and not be distracted by less-important or peripheral matters.

I would like to encourage you to browse to masterlever.org  This is an initiative undertaken by Ken Block, Chairman of the Moderate Party, in an effort to repeal authorization for "master lever" or "straight ticket" voting.

Master lever voting is an anachronism, hailing back to the days of ward politics, and all but 16 states – RI among them – have rejected it. It has no place in modern politics, making it unnecessary for voters to learn about their candidates and the issues, and allowing both issues and candidates to 'slide by' without inspection.

Please go to masterlever.org, learn more about the issue, and add your name to the petition there. More than 5,000 Rhode Islanders (and nearly a majortiy in the House, together with the Secretary of State and the Governor) have signed on in the last week, and I encourage you to do likewise. Tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. It's important.

And finally, this: My first interview with Capitol TV. Purely introductory in nature, but I thought you might want to be aware of it. Capitol TV airs the daily sessions of the House of Representatives on Cox Cable Channel 15, and on Verizon's Channel 34.

It's important for me to know and understand what you think is important, and I encourage you to contact me with your ideas and concerns. E-mail is best - anthony@giarrusso30.com. Don't let me do this alone!