Just weeks after the NBC 10 I-Team reported on questions over the legality of Attorney General Peter Neronha’s distribution of state settlement funds, Republican lawmakers have prepared a budget amendment to claw back the cash.
Neronha directed $10 million in a legal settlement with Barletta Heavy Division over contaminated soil on the Route 6/10 Connector construction project to the Rhode Island Foundation for children’s dental services in Providence.
A state law that passed in 2023 as part of the budget reads “settlement proceeds from non-multi-state initiatives, except those deposited in this restricted receipt account pursuant to this section, shall be deposited into the general fund.”
In an interview with the I-Team, Neronha argued that although the statute is directed at his office, it doesn’t apply.
“When the Rhode Island Constitution was passed, it held very clearly, and the courts have interpreted it this way, that the attorney general has all the powers of common law that they had when the Rhode Island constitution was passed. What that means, the Supreme Court said, when it comes to litigation, the attorney general has the right and the power to do what he believes, or she believes, is best for the people of Rhode Island,” he said.
Republican state Reps. Brian Newberry and George Nardone disagree and are now seeking to claw back that $10 million from the Rhode Island Foundation, along with $1 million given to the Department of Environmental Management.
In a press release, they called the direction of the funds a “direct violation of statutory law.”
“The law is crystal clear,” Newberry said. “In fact, I don’t think the Attorney General even argues that point. Instead, his public defense of his conduct is that the Assembly cannot usurp his power and thus he is free to ignore the statute entirely, a statute that was passed incidentally at his request to help him resolve a dispute with the Governor over staffing a few years ago. He seems to be confusing the power he has to decide whether to pursue and/or settle civil legal cases as the chief law enforcement officer representing the state in court with the power to decide how to actually use any money recovered. Those are two very different things.”
The amendment would take money out of Neronha’s operating budget and redirect it to the following organizations:
- Economic Progress Institute: $1 million
- Rhode Island Kids Count: $1 million
- The Arthur E. Coia Scholarship & Education Fund at the Laborers’ International Union of North America: $1 million
- Women’s Fund of Rhode Island: $1 million
- Progreso Latino: $1 million
- United Way of Rhode Island: $1 million
- The Rhode Island Dental Association, to support pediatric dental care in the city of Providence: $1 million
- The Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: $1 million
- Save the Bay: $1 million
- Crossroads Rhode Island: $1 million
- Sojourner House: $1 million
In a statement sent to the I-Team, Neronha called the amendment a “stunt” and defended his decision to direct settlement funds to the Rhode Island Foundation for kids’ dentistry in Providence.
“One year ago, we identified a significant challenge to children’s oral health after reading an alarming report in the Providence Journal. Since then, we have worked with others, including those in the health care community, to come up with solutions to that challenge. Meanwhile others, like Rep. Newberry and Rep. Nardone remained silent and have done nothing.
I like to think that my record speaks for itself. I have spent my career in federal and state public service fighting for Rhode Islanders and standing up for them against powerful interests. And if a small portion of that work results in $10 million that can help end suffering in a largely forgotten and vulnerable part of our community, I stand by that decision.
Bottom line: directing funds from the resolution of a criminal case brought by this office and authorized by a court to solve severe and unmet oral health challenges for Providence children is well within the authority of my Office. We are prepared to defend attempts to argue otherwise.”
The amendment is set to be introduced on Tuesday.
