CTC Co-Chair Jerry Elmer testifies before the House Finance Committee on May 9, 2012.

A steady stream of more than 30 organizations, from organized labor to business, health and environmental groups came forward to speak on behalf of the Act, known familiarly as the "O'Grady Bill," in a tip of the hat to its prime sponsor, Rep. Jeremiah O'Grady. No one spoke in opposition.

More than one person, including a key legislator, remarked that it is a rarity when you see the AFL-CIO and the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce standing together in support of a piece of legislation.

In addition to leadoff testimony by Rep. O'Grady outlining the substance of his bill, he was followed on a panel by RIPTA CEO Charles Odimgbe, and CTC co-chair Jerry Elmer.  Odimgbe described all the fat-trimming that RIPTA has done, and how the perennial funding problems are a result of systemic issues, not mismanagement. CTC's Elmer pointed out the broad public support for the bill -- the city council resolutions and support from both labor and management - and the diverse groups calling for its passage, including CTC's 49 member organizations.

In later testimony, Deanna Casey of AARP talked about their 160,000 members in Rhode Island and their strong support for the bill; Dan Baudoin of the Providence Foundation spoke about business support; and George Nee of the AFL-CIO called the Act a jobs bill, since thousands of Rhode Islanders use RIPTA to get to work every day.  The RIPTA board of directors also threw their unanimous support behind the bill, boding well for wholehearted acceptance of the new direction for the Authority.  

Abel Collins of the Sierra Club delivered cartons with thousands of petition signatures in support of the O'Grady bill, demonstrating the grassroots backing that has been exhibited for RIPTA since last fall's public forums warned of massive service cuts. The RIPTA Riders Group helped collect the signatures while making the case that the cuts would impact people trying to get to work, school and doctors' appointments.

In addition to RIPTA Riders, other organizations speaking out for the O'Grady Bill included the Audubon Society, Save The Bay, the Environment Council of Rhode Island, Environmental Justice, League, Rhode Island Clean Water Action, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Rhode Island College and Brown University students, The Student Climate Coalition, and The Rhode Island Lung Association.

But perhaps most impressive were the many individuals who came and spoke out in favor of legislation that would provide them with a properly financed, efficiently run public transit system that gets them where they want and need to go when they need to get there to maintain their everyday lives. The House Finance Committees should now be well aware that everyone that testified at the hearing believes that the Public Transit Investment Act is the one that could get Rhode Island where it needs to go.