Lt. Gov. McKee expects Raimondo’s cabinet to stay through his own inauguration, unclear how long after that – The Providence Journal

Katherine Gregg|The Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE Lt. Gov. DanMcKee expects every member of current Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo's cabinet to stay through his own imminent, mid-terminauguration as Raimondo's replacement.

How long they actually stay is another question.

For example, Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor "has told the incoming governor that he is exploring all his options,'' according to Pryor spokesman Matt Sheaff. (For what it's worth:Pryorwas a Yale Law School student in the mid-1990s withRaimondoand her husband, Andrew Moffit.)

Democrat Raimondo is poised to resign mid-term to take a new job, in Washington, as President Joe Biden's commerce secretary. Her confirmation hearing was Tuesday.An committee vote on her nomination is anticipated next Wednesday, February 3.

The exact timing of Raimondo's departure is unclear. ButSen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republicanwho chairs theU.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, told Raimondo on Tuesday: "I do not believe you will be serving as governor of the state of Rhode Island for very muchlonger."

Against that backdrop, McKee is preparing for his move up one flightto the governor'sState House suite as soon as next week. He has set 5 p.m. Tuesday as the deadline for those seeking appointment by him as R.I.'s next lieutenant governor to submit "a letter of interest'' online to his transition team at http://www.mckeetransition.com/.

McKee, who had no working relationship with fellow Democrat Raimondo and no role in her administration's pandemic response efforts, issued this statement:

Selecting the nextlieutenantgovernorprovides an opportunity to reimagine Rhode Islands governance model and demonstrate how thelieutenantgovernors office can be leveraged to support the states pandemic response and economic recovery.

Our team looks forward to engaging in the selection process and identifying a partner to work closely with our administration starting on day one.

Brown University has confirmed that onecontender -former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa - started worked on January 25, on a six-month job as senior advisor to the BrownPolicy Lab.

According to a statement from Diossa, conveyed by the Brown public relations staff: "The Policy Lab conducts applied research to improve public policy in Rhode Island and beyond, bringing together experts from government, universities, and community organizations to collaborate and develop evidence-based policy and programs that improve lives and strengthen communities.

"As Senior Advisor, I will work closely with The Policy Lab Director, David Yokum, and senior staff to provide strategic advice on The Policy Labs engagement with state and local government partners at a high level...in particular, assessing and revising a proposal for a statewide municipal student internship program to support Rhode Islands recovery from COVID-19 and undertaking exploratory conversations with an array of prospective partners to refine this proposal and identify sources of philanthropic support."

Asked if Diossa wastaking his name out of the running for lieutenant governor, his political spokesman Chris Hunter said:: "He's still open to the opportunity for public service."

McKee's transition team plans to post updates onwww.mckeetransition.com.

Raimondo, meanwhile, appears to have spent much of the last week or so talking, in advance of Tuesday's confirmation hearing,to the members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Both she and they referenced these detailed conversations where the senators laid out the issues on their minds from "salmon infrastructure" and fishing in the Pacific Northwest to China trade policy so she could address them at the hearing.

On Tuesday, her Rhode Island press office announced a spate of 11th-hour appointments to state boards and commissions.

Most but not all were reappointments, such as the reappointment of organized labor activistScott Duhamel and retired union chief Stan Israel to the State Labor Relations Board.

An online profile describes Duhamel asan assistant to the general president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and the secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council. Israel was the long-time executive vice president of SEIU District 1199.

Her new appointees include some familiar names, such as former Auditor General Ernest Almonte to the Narragansett Bay Commission.

Other new appointees include Bill Stone to the board of the R.I. Commerce Corporation. Stone isaco-founder and managing member of Outside CFO, Outside GC, which describes itself as "the nations largest provider of on-demand general counsel services," and Patent GC, "an on-demand provider of intellectual property legal services."

She also appointed Mark Amato, president and CEO of Innova Logic, to the governor's Workforce Board; former Providence City Councilman Peter Mancini to theR.I.Convention Center Authority andMarcy Reyes, founder and CEO of The Financial Literacy Youth (FLY) Initiative, to the R.I. Public Transit Authority.

Explaining the rush of appointments in what could be Raimondo's last week as the state's elected governor, spokeswoman Audrey Lucas said: "Making appointments to Rhode Island's boards and commissions is a responsibility that Governor Raimondo takes seriously, and one that has been significantly delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic."

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Lt. Gov. McKee expects Raimondo's cabinet to stay through his own inauguration, unclear how long after that - The Providence Journal