Sheehan: More Oversight Needed of 'Quasi-Public' Agencies

To the editor,

The sad tale of 38 Studios has been all over the news.  While we await the results of the investigations that will sort out the full story, there's an important issue lurking behind the smoke. A lot of Rhode Island's business is conducted through "quasi-public" agencies like the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC), with minimal oversight, and without rules that the rest of the government must follow.

While quasi-public corporations operate independently, they are publicly-owned and must be accountable to the people of Rhode Island. They must have more transparency, oversight and better internal governance.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Government Oversight, I have for several years pushed for legislation to do exactly that. Three bills were considered this past session would have required quasi-public agencies to abide by the open records act, open meetings law, and state purchasing regulations, that all other state departments follow. Another bill I introduced personally would require regular performance audits and budget and financial reports to increase the information available to legislative overseers.

Unfortunately, the first bills were not passed out of committee.  However, my idea to increase oversight of departments and agencies did successfully pass into law as part of the state budget.  Now, this new capacity needs to be extended to cover quasi-public agencies. 

Agencies like EDC, the Airport Corporation, Narragansett Bay Commission, Resource Recovery Corporation, and many more provide indispensable services to the people of Rhode Island. They fulfill important responsibilities, but can make important mistakes, too. The 38 Studios collapse leaves the state on the hook for over $75 million in bonds we have to repay. It's hard to see a silver lining here, but if the loss helps us win approval of the aforementioned legislation to provide greater transparency, accountability and oversight to quasi-public agencies, we can hopefully prevent such disasters in the future.

Sincerely,
James Sheehan
Rhode Island State Senator, District 36
senatorsheehan@aol.com