Mattiello on the Defense in Debate with Frias

by | Oct 20, 2013

Watch the 2018 debate between Speaker Mattiello and Steven Frias here.

WPRI District 15 Debate Highlights

Nicholas Mattiello

  • On defense about Frank Montanaro for 5.5 minutes
  • Boasts about being a leader on ethics reform, cites “third-party validators” who call him “reform-oriented”
  • Ducks on the Reproductive Health Care Act, but acknowledges “there’s a big segment of the population that has interest in that”
  • Acknowledges sexual harassment as a societal problem, makes a weird pivot to the low RI unemployment rate and the impact of harassment legislation on business
  • Opposes terms limits, claiming “they don’t work in any state that has them”
  • Defends legislative grants, though would consider getting rid of them “if everyone wants to cut it”

Steven Frias

  • Harps on lack of action for Montanaro college tuition scandal
  • Minimizes ethics reforms as ways to downplay cronyism and corruption scandals
  • Picks apart Mattiello’s explanation of PawSox deal, describes Mattiello as someone “tripping over themselves, landing in a bed of roses and calling it intentional”
  • Opposes the Reproductive Health Care Act, adding that “it does more” than codify abortion rights
  • Supports term limits, with a maximum of 8 years
  • Opposes legislative grants