PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Rhode Island lawmakers say they are being denied office space in the State House as part of a dispute between them and the House speaker.
The Providence Journal reports the allegations come after some Democrats abstained from a Jan. 1 vote to re-elect conservative Democrat Nicholas Mattiello as speaker.
State Rep. Kathleen Fogarty says she believes she has to be “on the good list” to get a desk.
Mattiello says the State House is limited in office space, and offices are given according to responsibility on the leadership team. He denies retribution, saying “some folks want to be martyrs.”
Out of the 21 members who do not have offices, 19 were dissidents in the Jan. 1 vote. House Rules Committee Chairman Arthur Corvese told leadership he didn’t need an office.
