Tagged: raimondo

Rhode Island to Raise Minimum Wage in 2016

In three years, Rhode Island has seen the minimum wage climb from $7.25 to $8 per hour. It just recently went up to $9 at the start of 2015. Now, state legislators will raise the minimum wage again, to $10.10 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2016.

Rep. David Bennett introduced the bill that would raise the current hourly minimum by $1.10, because he believes it is difficult to live off $9 an hour. He also argues that by boosting the minimum wage, they are hoping that will translate to more local money spent, which will help stimulate the economy.

“Now is a good time to give them another boost in their wages. As we come out of the recession, they’ll fare as well as everyone else,” said Bennett.

Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, also supports an increase of minimum wage, but proposes that it be relative to the Consumer Price Index, and caps increases at 50 cents per year.

Though Gina Raimondo is in favor of raising the minimum wage, that decision was not unanimous. At the hearing on the bill, smaller businesses and organizations opposed the bill, saying it would be very difficult to afford

Rhode Island is taking the lead for raising minimum wage in New England with this action, however Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts are also planning future raises. 

Could this change help reduce the unemployment rate in Rhode Island, which is one of the worst in the country? It could add incentive for the many college students in the state to stay in the state after graduation. The job creation that could come from this may finally fuel the state’s brain drain that it has struggled with for years.

Picture obtained via domenic.izzi on flickr

Picture obtained via domenic.izzi on Flickr

Note: The content of this article has changed to support that this bill has passed

Recent Poll Shows R.I. Gubernatorial Race is a Close One

BRISTOL, R.I._Three weeks left until the midterm elections decide who will become the governor of Rhode Island. The recent WPRI/Providence Journal poll shows that Democrat Gina Raimondo has a 6 percent lead over her rival, Republican Allan Fung.

Raimondo is the choice of 41.8 percent of the voters surveyed, while Fung is close behind with 35.6 percent. Moderate Robert Healy is taking away some votes with a slim 8 percent. The 12.1 percentage of voters that are unsure will be a major deciding factor in this election.

The results of this poll, which are based on a sampling of 505 likely voters, does not just show who the people will be voting for on election day, but also shows candidate favorability.

This gubernatorial race just may come down to a battle of the sexes. The poll shows that 46.8 percent of the females prefer Raimondo and 30 percent prefer Fung.  However, 41.7 percent of males surveyed preferred Fung to the 36.4 percent who favor Raimondo.

This Tuesday, the candidates will square off in a debate at the Providence Performing Arts Center, followed by another debate a week later at Roger Williams University.

This is an extremely pivotal election for Rhode Island, because Raimondo could become the first female governor, or Fung could be the first Asian-American governor.

President Barack Obama has endorsed Raimondo, while former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney has visited the Ocean State to endorse Fung.

But will these endorsements be enough to sway the 12 percent of undecided voters? This race will remain a close one all the way until election night on Nov. 4.

In a short three week period, the candidates have to get their message out there and prove that they are the best candidate to lead Rhode Island. The undecided voters have the power to make or break it for either of these candidates.

Hawk the Vote Debate: College Democrats vs College Republicans

BRISTOL, R.I.__The Roger Williams University chapter of Society of Professional Journalists and the Hawk the Vote campaign media lab cosponsored a political debate between the College Democrats and College Republicans.

This debate was regarding local Rhode Island politics and the gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Gina Raimondo and Republican Allan Fung. Each political party backed their respective candidates and discussed their take on the most important issues.

The first question was about the job market in Rhode Island and the lack of college students staying in the state after they graduate.

Dylan Kelly, of the college Republicans made an interesting remark about this issue, commonly referred to as the brain drain.

“Rhode Island’s biggest export is college students,” said Kelly.

Though the first few questions did not spark much controversy, the ethical question about Raimondo’s high school, La Salle Academy, which removed Raimondo’s photo from the wall of notable alumni, got things heated up.

The Democrats stated that they are pro-choice and think that it was completely wrong of the school, when they should be proud to have a prominent woman like Raimondo as an alumni.

The Republican’s stance was less clear as they first stated that as a private Catholic institution, La Salle Academy has the right to remove any photos that go against the school’s beliefs, which are very strongly pro-life.

However, then Republicans said if they were the principle of La Salle Academy, they would handle the situation differently and not remove the picture.

Overall, the debate was riveting and after each side made closing statements, the RWU journalism reporters asked the parties more specific questions geared toward their beats.

“I think Jorge Elorza is a great person to succeed Angel Taveras, they have a lot of the great same policies,” said Democrat Dylan VanDrimlen. “Angel was very successful in moving the city forward, and I believe Jorge has some new and fresh ideas that can not only improve upon that, but can push the city to a better, more economic standpoint.”