Rhode Island Senate president Valarie Lawson allegedly used her office to advance her teachers union’s political agenda.
Lawson is salaried as National Education Association of Rhode Island’s (NEARI) president in addition to presiding over the state Senate, Defending Education stated in an ethics complaint Monday. The complaint alleges that she used her overlapping roles to advance NEARI’s legislative priorities.
NEARI and Lawson’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Lawson voted for Senate Bill S2787A on June 4, which freezes charter schools and cuts the amount allowed in the state. She also voted for S2924 on May 28, which mandates employer neutrality in the public sector.
NEARI listed both bills as part of its legislative program.
“Elected officials are expected to act in the best interest of their constituents – not themselves,” Defending Education president Nicki Neily told the DCNF. “Unfortunately, Sen. Lawson appears to be betraying the public’s trust by failing to recuse herself from votes on education which directly benefit the union that employs her, in direct contravention of an opinion by the state’s Ethics Commission.”
NEARI’s government relations director testified in favor of S2924 before Rhode Island’s Senate Committee on Labor & Gaming on May 13. Despite receiving an ethics opinion stating that she may not vote on matters in which a “business associate” presents evidence or arguments on before the legislature, Lawson subsequently voted for the bill, according to the complaint.
A 2019 ethics complaint against Lawson over her voting in favor of collective bargaining for public school teachers despite her dual role was dismissed because the Ethics Commission didn’t find any evidence that the legislation would have any significant financial impact on NEARI itself, according to the complaint.
“We look forward to the Commission’s deliberation on this important matter – because Rhode Island residents deserve a state legislature that represents the views of all, and not just a privileged few,” Neily added in her comments to the DCNF.
Unlike the vote subject to the previous complaint, S2787A is in NEARI’s financial interest, the complaint alleges.
Lawson’s total compensation as NEARI president is $167,742, according to InfluenceWatch.
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