RI's part-time legislators do not go hungry. Here's where they eat – and who pays the tab

PROVIDENCE – The power of food has long been intertwined with the politics of power in Rhode Island.

That's true inside the State House, where legislative leaders spent $235,739.55 in taxpayer dollars this past session making sure Rhode Island's part-time legislators didn't go hungry.

It is also true outside the marble dome, with the same high-ranked legislative leaders tapping their campaign accounts to pay not insignificant food tabs at some of the highest-end restaurants in the state. Al Forno. Capital Grille. Camille's.

And where do those dollars come from? They come, for the most part, from the legion of special-interest lobbyists who ply their trade at the State House – and those who employ them.

And that's what you can see on public spending or campaign finance reports. What can't you see?

One well-known lobbyist tells a story about the night he invited a state representative to dinner at the Capital Grille to get her out of the State House during a tense budget debate when every vote counted. At some point, he returned to the State House.

When his credit card bill arrived, he saw that the lawmaker had charged $425 worth of lobster dinners for "four or five people" to his card.

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But no House speaker has gone to the lengths that former Speaker John Harwood did in his era to keep Rhode Island's rank-and-file legislators well-fed at the expense of taxpayers, while he and his loyalists dined out night after night on his campaign account.

Those with long memories may recall this Journal account of the "Holiday Get-Together" that House Democratic leaders hosted for the state's newly elected legislators at the State House in December 2000.

"First they were offered tray after tray of hors d'oeuvres – Hawaiian chicken, scallops wrapped in bacon, shrimp cocktail. ... [Then] penne or tortellini pasta [with] their main course: chicken marsala or beef tenderloin. Dessert was a choice of strawberry shortcake, four-layered chocolate cake, cannolis, eclairs, brownies and for the calorie-conscious, carrot cake."

They were each sent home with a poinsettia.

The bill for this one catered dinner for 40 in the House lounge came to $5,443.53.

Nothing quite that lavish has taken place since, at least not at taxpayer expense. But that does not mean Rhode Island's part-time legislators are going hungry.

What's for dinner for RI's politicians?

During the six-month legislative session that ended on June 13, legislative leaders billed the state's taxpayers more than $235,000 for the pizzas, deli sandwiches and full dinners provided to legislators and staff on the nights House and Senate leaders anticipated long committee meetings or floor sessions.

On the night of the June 7 House budget debate, for example, that included garden salad, beef tips with peppers and mushrooms, chicken piccata, roasted seasonal vegetables, Tuscan chips, macaroni and cheese, herb-roasted potatoes and assorted mini pastries from Millonzi Fine Catering in West Warwick.

In the final days of the session, the offerings looked like this:

Monday, June 10, from The District, Providence: Salad, meatballs, chicken marsala, chicken wings, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, bread, mashed potatoes, coconut cake and cheesecake.

Tuesday, June 11, from Sonia’s Market and Deli, Cranston: Chicken kebabs, rice pilaf, Greek salad, grape leaves, marinated eggplant, hummus and chips, pita bread, baklava and cookies.

Wednesday, June 12, from Top of the Bay, Warwick: Garden salad, assorted rolls, stuffed quahogs, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, pasta primavera, seafood paella, steak tips with mushrooms and onions, green beans, roasted potatoes, tiramisu and strawberry shortcake.

Thursday, June 13, from Lemongrass, Warwick: Egg rolls, spring rolls, crab rangoons, beef dumplings, beef teriyaki, General Tso chicken, fried rice and white rice, beef lo mein, chicken wings, several types of sushi – California rolls, tuna, avocado cucumber and shrimp tempura.

Dinner: On the House...

The Senate ordered its own favorites, including: mini corn muffins, salad, quinoa burrito salad, marinated chicken breast, BBQ ribs and pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and sweet potato casserole from Pranzi Catering on the penultimate night of the session.

Asked to explain why the food deliveries are not limited to the long, hectic final days, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio provided this joint statement:

"Most General Assembly members have full-time jobs and arrive after work for the 4 p.m. sessions. Committee hearings often run well into the night, so it has been the long custom to provide sandwiches and salads for those members participating in the hearings."

As to who gets the business, they said: "The food is provided from a rotating list of local vendors, mainly from sandwich and pizza shops. When the workload on the House and Senate floors increases in the final few weeks of our sessions in June, we provide dinner for the members."

Among their favorites on speed dial:

• Sonia's in Cranston, $20,178

• Ruffino’s Pizzeria in Scituate, $23,892

• M&M Food Service/Millonzi Fine Catering in West Warwick, $20,082

• American Bodega on Smith Street, Providence, $10,693

• Cafe at South Street/The District, $19,961

Quirky food traditions

Each chamber also has its own quirky end-of-session traditions.

In the Senate, it's the "Super Chipper" ice cream sandwiches from the Newport Creamery on Smith Street that the late Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin provided her Senate colleagues on the penultimate night of the session.

(In the wake of her passing in April 2023, Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson "picked up the tab to continue this tradition," according to Senate spokesman Greg Pare.)

On the last night of the session, Sen. Frank Ciccone brings in N.Y. System hot wieners. "No state funds are used for this purpose," says Pare. "It is a tradition started by and maintained by Sen. Ciccone."

But wait, there's more

Some of the really big spending begins when the gavels drop each night.

Ruggerio was absent from the State House for weeks at a time this year while battling both cancer and a nasty case of shingles.

In 2024, before his health battles slowed him down, Ruggerio spent $11,278 out of his campaign account on "food, beverages and meals."

In 2023, however, he spent $38,177 of the $320,000 in campaign contributions he collected that year from the State House donor class at a long list of restaurants from Il Fornello in his home city of North Providence, to Hemenway's in the Capitol City, to Camille's on Federal Hill, to the Diamond Club in Saratoga Springs, to the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida, to The Lodge in La Jolla, California, to Margaritas in Denver, Colorado.

And that tally does not include some of the bigger checks he wrote out of the "friends of Dominick Ruggerio" campaign account under the heading "Fundraising" – including the $35,000 he paid the Crowne Plaza Hotel both this year and last.

Among his favorite local haunts: Ladder 133 Sports Bar & Grill on Douglas Avenue, the Capital Grille, and Zorba's Pizza & Pub.

By way of comparison, Shekarchi – the leader of a chamber with twice as many legislators – spent $8,552 in 2023 and $10,236 of the $147,065 in campaign contributions he's raised so far this year on "food, beverages and meals."

We asked: Who was Shekarchi meeting and for what purpose when he went to the Aurora Club, Al Forno, etc.? Legislators? Lobbyists? Corporate/union executives and the like to hear a pitch? Negotiate/shake hands on a deal?

The response from Shekarchi's campaign: "Regarding the spending at nice restaurants, those meals in many cases are when he invites groups of House colleagues to join him as they discuss issues in a more informal setting. At times, he will split the cost of the meals with Majority Leader [Christopher] Blazejewski."

Asked the same question, Ruggerio responded: "Generally speaking, these were lunch/dinner meetings with colleagues and/or advocates."

Of his restaurant outings out of state, a Ruggerio campaign spokesman said he was in Fort Lauderdale in January 2024: and Colorado in the summer of 2023 for meetings of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States; in Saratoga Springs, New York, in August 2023 for a Racing and Gaming Conference and in Toronto in July 2023 for a Council of State Governments East Conference.

Asked why Ruggerio spent so much more – and Shekarchi so much less – on restaurant tabs (and fundraising at restaurants), they both declined to answer.

As to the $4,594 Shekarchi paid Jonathan Savage, one of the lawyers Gov. Dan McKee hired to sue consultants and contractors who worked on the failed Washington Bridge, for a food-related expense, a spokesman said: "He reimbursed Jonathan Savage for the cost of the food at a fund-raiser that Savage hosted at the University Club.  Savage is a member there (Speaker is not)."

Both Shekarchi and, a week later, Ruggerio had big fundraisers at the Crowne Plaza early in this year's session: Ruggerio paid $35,000, Shekarchi $20,000.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Food and politics in RI: Who keeps legislators well fed (and who pays)