PROVIDENCE, R.I. — House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello acknowledged: "The grants right now are a political mess."

But, in a highly unusual move, Mattiello on Tuesday also joined a chorus of lawmakers slamming The Providence Journal for what they described as “unfair’’ coverage of the House Finance Committee's hearings on a controversial $11.6-million grant program that, year after year, has entangled the General Assembly in controversy.

“The Providence Journal is a long-standing institution with a lot of history in the state of Rhode Island. I am embarrassed for them. I am embarrassed for our citizens,’’ Mattiello said from the rostrum during the televised House session.

“And I would hope that, as we proceed, The Journal will go back to putting forth a product that the citizens can be proud of — because that is not what we saw this week,” he said, prompting applause.

When Mattiello finished speaking Tuesday, he received a standing ovation from his House colleagues.

The lawmakers’ ire was targeted at a May 20 news story — and a subsequent Page One editorial in the Sunday Journal headlined “A fraud, a farce, a dog-and-pony show” that criticized the lawmakers who missed the midday hearing last Thursday.

Mattiello called it unfair to criticize part-time lawmakers, in a General Assembly that generally meets after 4 p.m. each day, for not being able to make an early afternoon hearing, during "the time when all of us are working somewhere else supporting our families."

The hearing was one of four arranged as part of a House Finance Committee inquiry into community service grants awarded by the legislature. It was an inquiry Mattiello called for in the wake of a Journal article about grant money that ended up with a lobbying firm. Only one of the five subcommittee members was present for Thursday's entire session.

“I would hope that, as we proceed, The Journal will go back to putting forth a product that the citizens can be proud of — because that is not what we saw this week.” — Nicholas Mattiello, House Speaker

Along the way, Mattiello acknowledged the grants, which go to more than 200 organizations, are entangled in politics, but said, "there’s compelling needs in there. ... And as easy as it would be — and we might just say get rid of them all — there’s going to be a lot of pain spread through the community."

"Or we could reform the system, cut out a lot of the ones that shouldn’t be there anymore," said Mattiello, stating he does not yet know what the end-result would be. But, he said, "it’s a public process. It's an open process. It's a thoughtful and deliberative process ... and we’re not shutting the public out despite what the [Journal] editorial board wants."

Journal Executive Editor David J. Butler said, "I was glad to see the speaker admit that, and I quote, 'the grants are a political mess.' What confuses me is how he's going to determine what to do, because at the hearings virtually no questions were asked and several committee members didn't show up. What kind of hearing or audit is that?"

Butler went on to say, "I might remind the Assembly that the recent episode began when the House Finance Committee chairman resigned his seat following reports of a widening investigation. This was not something the media made up. Nor is the fact that some 30 lawmakers have had to resubmit their ethics forms because of mistakes they made."

One of the absent lawmakers at the May 19 subcommittee meeting was Rep. Carlos Tobon, a petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve who had given the House advance notice that he would be out on mandatory reserve duty on the day in question.

In an interview, Tobon, D-Pawtucket, said The Journal's coverage "made me look like a negligent individual who doesn't care."

Rep. Marvin Abney reminded colleagues that he has not been on the subcommittee that held last Thursday’s hearing since his promotion to House Finance Committee chairman following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Raymond Gallison. But his name was still on a State House list of subcommittee members at the time of the hearing.

Abney, D-Newport, said he was in the State House for about 10 hours that day, working on the new state budget.

Only one lawmaker was present for most of the hours-long hearing that began at 1 p.m. Thursday: Rep. Eileen Naughton, D-Warwick. She termed The Journal editorial “venomous,’’ particularly in its description of her as a “shameless apologist for leadership.”

“I will make no apology for showing courtesy to the many people who came before House Finance Committee room that day. ... I listened to them intently, to what they had to say and did what any legislator would do ... I treated them with courtesy, dignity and respect,’’ she said.

After the May 19 hearing, Naughton, deputy chair of the House Finance Committee, was asked where the other subcommittee members were.

“You would have to ask them,” she said. “I would like [them here] but I am not in the military. I cannot order them to be here.”

On Tuesday, Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, D-Jamestown, chided The Journal for not mentioning that she and others were at the hearing for a time.

In an earlier interview, Rep. Robert Jacquard, a lawyer, said he was at a meeting at the federal building on Westminster Street that day with three of his clients, who have declared bankruptcy, and their creditors.

"I apologize to my constituents for missing the meeting,'' Jacquard, D-Cranston, said Tuesday, of last week's subcommittee hearing on the grants. "I realize that all of these meetings are very important. That is why ... in [the] last 24 years, I have only missed eight session days."

Another absentee — state Rep. Antonio Giarrusso, R-East Greenwich, the president of AG & G Inc., a jewelry manufacturing company, said he had a pre-arranged meeting with a customer, and could not get away.

Rep. Scott Slater, a budget analyst for the City of Providence, said he was at work.

— kgregg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7078

On Twitter: @kathyprojo

Updated 9:33 p.m.

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