Rep Susan Donovan: Looking Out for Number One
Progressive legislator elected to House District 69 (Bristol) in November 2016. Retired public school teacher. Endorsed by Working Families RI in 2016, a radical-left, socialist outfit funded by out of state special interest groups. Endorsed by NEARI-PACE (teachers union) in 2018. Rep Donovan rated a dismal -31 (negative thirty one) on the Gaspee Project's 2018 Whipple Freedom Index.
In her first term, Rep Donovan worked vigorously against taxpayers and the best interest of her constituents by allying herself with a progressive caucus that is pushing a radical, anti-Rhode Island agenda that would cost the state over $6 Billion, a new 10% Payroll tax and that seeks to impose more anti-jobs mandates on RI employers. She voted in favor of subsidies for baseball millionaires and billionaires. And perhaps worst of all, she worked to advance her own financial betterment - check out the first item!
Looking Out for Number One: Sponsored Bill to Increase Her Own Pension
In a legislative move that oozed conflict of interest, Rep Donovan sponsored a bill (H8056) to give herself and many thousands of public retirees a taxpayer-funded stipend of up to $450/year - on top of their pension. This pension stipend would have gone to public retirees not receiving a pension COLA, and was presumably intended as a substitute for the COLA that was the subject of the "landmark" pension reform.
Very few private sector retirees receive a pension (some receive a 401K while many others do not receive any retirement benefit, much less a pension). Rep Donovan benefits from the luxury afforded to an elite few: a pension. But that was apparently not enough for her. She used her legislative power to try to increase her own pension, and the pensions of thousands of other public retirees, with a stipend! Contrast her sponsorship of this blatantly self-serving bill with her tweet from just last year: "No elected official should ever violate public trust in search of personal gain!"
Worked to Raise Rhode Islanders' Already High Taxes & Cost of Living
While Rep Donovan was working to pump up her own pension income, she was simultaneously working to raise the taxes and cost of living expenses of her fellow Rhode Islanders:
> Voted for massive new regulations which would have effectively killed the construction of all new power plants (H8120) in Rhode Island and raised electric rates.
> Voted for special interest bills (H5593, perpetual contracts & H5601, expanded disability pensions) in 2017 certain to put upward pressure on Rhode Islander's property taxes, already the fifth highest in the country.
> Sponsored bills in 2018 (H7974, H7283) that would also have put upward pressure on property taxes
Pro-Business? Again, Judge Her By Actions, Not Words
Rep Donovan claims to support a good business climate for the state. But she has done just the opposite at the General Assembly, sponsoring (H7427, H8277, H7115, H7780 in 2018) and voting for bills to further burden businesses and suppress the creation of good paying jobs. As with the pension stipend bill, look at her actions, not her hollow words.
Sided with Millionaires & Billionaires Against Taxpayers
Remarkably, Rep Donovan voted "Yea" on the Pawsox bill (H7290A), despite claiming to represent progressive values, thereby voting to funnel to the millionaire and billionaire owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox tax revenue and local taxpayer-backed bonds towards construction of a new baseball stadium. With this vote, Rep Donovan stood firmly with millionaires and billionaires at the expense of her hard-working constituents and all Rhode Islanders.
Whose Interest Does Rep Donovan Truly Represent?
Rep Donovan has a whole lot to answer for in her legislative record.
Progressive legislator elected to House District 69 (Bristol) in November 2016. Retired public school teacher. Endorsed by Working Families RI in 2016, a radical-left, socialist outfit funded by out of state special interest groups. Endorsed by NEARI-PACE (teachers union) in 2018. Rep Donovan rated a dismal -31 (negative thirty one) on the Gaspee Project's 2018 Whipple Freedom Index.
In her first term, Rep Donovan worked vigorously against taxpayers and the best interest of her constituents by allying herself with a progressive caucus that is pushing a radical, anti-Rhode Island agenda that would cost the state over $6 Billion, a new 10% Payroll tax and that seeks to impose more anti-jobs mandates on RI employers. She voted in favor of subsidies for baseball millionaires and billionaires. And perhaps worst of all, she worked to advance her own financial betterment - check out the first item!
Looking Out for Number One: Sponsored Bill to Increase Her Own Pension
In a legislative move that oozed conflict of interest, Rep Donovan sponsored a bill (H8056) to give herself and many thousands of public retirees a taxpayer-funded stipend of up to $450/year - on top of their pension. This pension stipend would have gone to public retirees not receiving a pension COLA, and was presumably intended as a substitute for the COLA that was the subject of the "landmark" pension reform.
Very few private sector retirees receive a pension (some receive a 401K while many others do not receive any retirement benefit, much less a pension). Rep Donovan benefits from the luxury afforded to an elite few: a pension. But that was apparently not enough for her. She used her legislative power to try to increase her own pension, and the pensions of thousands of other public retirees, with a stipend! Contrast her sponsorship of this blatantly self-serving bill with her tweet from just last year: "No elected official should ever violate public trust in search of personal gain!"
Worked to Raise Rhode Islanders' Already High Taxes & Cost of Living
While Rep Donovan was working to pump up her own pension income, she was simultaneously working to raise the taxes and cost of living expenses of her fellow Rhode Islanders:
> Voted for massive new regulations which would have effectively killed the construction of all new power plants (H8120) in Rhode Island and raised electric rates.
> Voted for special interest bills (H5593, perpetual contracts & H5601, expanded disability pensions) in 2017 certain to put upward pressure on Rhode Islander's property taxes, already the fifth highest in the country.
> Sponsored bills in 2018 (H7974, H7283) that would also have put upward pressure on property taxes
Pro-Business? Again, Judge Her By Actions, Not Words
Rep Donovan claims to support a good business climate for the state. But she has done just the opposite at the General Assembly, sponsoring (H7427, H8277, H7115, H7780 in 2018) and voting for bills to further burden businesses and suppress the creation of good paying jobs. As with the pension stipend bill, look at her actions, not her hollow words.
Sided with Millionaires & Billionaires Against Taxpayers
Remarkably, Rep Donovan voted "Yea" on the Pawsox bill (H7290A), despite claiming to represent progressive values, thereby voting to funnel to the millionaire and billionaire owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox tax revenue and local taxpayer-backed bonds towards construction of a new baseball stadium. With this vote, Rep Donovan stood firmly with millionaires and billionaires at the expense of her hard-working constituents and all Rhode Islanders.
Whose Interest Does Rep Donovan Truly Represent?
Rep Donovan has a whole lot to answer for in her legislative record.
The costly wish-list of
a progressive caucus,
the costly whim of millionaire and billionaire owners of a baseball team and
the costly desire to boost .. ahem, well, her own pension: there is no end to what she tried to get taxpayers to pay for during her first term in office. She "represented" everyone except the only people who matter: the hard-working residents and taxpayers of her district and of Rhode Island.
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