Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank J. Williams says it’s time to start filling the growing number of state judicial vacancies.

In a one-page letter to Governor Carcieri on Feb. 15, Williams noted that District Judge Walter Gorman notified the governor a week earlier that he planned to retire March 31.

“Judge Gorman’s departure will bring to seven the number of judicial vacancies in the unified court system — more than 10 percent of our judges — a work-force reduction that affects every court and threatens our ability to fulfill our responsibilities to the citizens of Rhode Island, including their access to justice,” Williams wrote. “Because many of these appointments are overdue, I write respectfully to request, once again, that you now fill these vacancies.”

Williams noted that under a new law, which Carcieri pushed for, the governor is able to choose from candidate lists that are up to five years old, in addition to the new lists of finalists that the Judicial Nominating Commission produces each time there is a vacancy.

“Clearly, this measure allows you to select from a broader field of qualified individuals — especially women and members of the minority community,” Williams wrote. “Thank for your anticipated, immediate attention to this important responsibility.”

Legislators urge televised hearing on House rules

House Republicans — and a sympathetic Democrat — are pressing Speaker William Murphy to broadcast the first public hearing on proposed House rules changes on Capitol TV.

Dedicated Political Scene readers already know the Republicans are boycotting the taping by Capitol Television of five-minute interviews with legislators, in protest against the hiring of former radio talk-show personality Dave Barber, at $65,000, to conduct the election-year interviews.

Their argument: spending that much money to buy “face time” for themselves during a budget crisis is unwarranted, and if the legislature, in fact, has spare cash, it should buy more portable cameras to broadcast more legislative hearings. Currently, only a handful — such as the House Finance Committee’s — are regularly televised.

In a recent letter to Murphy, 11 Republican lawmakers and Democrat Al Gemma, of Warwick, went a step further.

They said they were “encouraged” that, in the face of opposition, House Democratic leaders had agreed to withdraw a proposal to cut short the amount of time that lawmakers — and the public — get to see the $7-billion state budget the House Finance Committee has produced before it goes to the full House for a vote.

In theory, the budget could have emerged for the first time in its final form late on a Friday night and be put to a vote during the next legislative session day. With opposition building to that particular proposal, House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox announced that the leadership would not press ahead with that proposal.

But, “due to the very serious questions raised by a number of the [other] changes proposed in H 7372, we hereby request that arrangements be made to ensure that Capitol TV records and broadcasts the House Rules Committee hearings on this subject,” the letter written by Rep. Laurence W. Ehrhardt, R-North Kingstown, and co-signed by the others, said.

Through a spokesman Fox said he had not yet decided when to hold the House Rules hearings, or whether to televise them. “After the recess, he said he will have discussions with others involved in the leadership teams of both parties regarding the rules,” House spokesman Larry Berman said late last week. “… If they should decide at that point to have a Rules Committee meeting, they would also discuss the possibility of televising it, but at this point the discussion has not advanced to that stage.”

But as critics see it, other remaining proposals could affect how much time they — and others not in sync with the Democratic leadership — have to debate and introduce proposed amendments to the big budget bill after it has left the committee.

For example, one of the new rules says: “No matter that has been the subject of a bill, resolution or amendment heard or disposed of in a House committee shall be offered as an amendment to the budget bill.”

An unrelated proposal disposes of the current rule limiting to 50 the number of bills the lawmakers can consider on a given day after the big budget bill has moved through the House.

Another, less-controversial proposal preserves a requirement that at the point public testimony is being taken, the prime sponsor of any bill or resolution “provide to the committee the name of any individual, group or organization responsible for the substantive basis or text.” In the past, lawmakers were required to identify the person on whose behalf they introduced legislation. In the face of resistance from some lawmakers, this was adopted in recent years as a compromise.

Clinton, Obama beef up campaign troops in R.I.

With eight days to go until Rhode Island’s presidential primary, the Clinton and Obama campaigns are scrambling for Rhode Island’s 32 Democratic delegates. And that means a host of staff have been added to the candidates’ Rhode Island teams in recent weeks.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign has added four paid staff, including some familiar faces and a couple of newcomers to Ocean State politics.

Christine Heenan is serving as Clinton’s communications director in Rhode Island, handling press inquiries and communications strategies, among other duties. That’s familiar territory for Heenan, 40, the head of the Clarendon Group, a Providence-based lobbying and communications firm that is active at the State House.

The Rumford native, who also teaches at Brown University, previously served as a senior policy analyst on the White House Domestic Policy Council during the first Clinton administration, and as a speechwriter for both Clintons and for Al and Tipper Gore and Sen. Chris Dodd.

Heenan is married to Michael Mello, who is working for GTECH after a stint as chief of staff to Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline.

Another local business owner, Jennifer Bramley, 37, has been added as Clinton’s deputy communications director. Bramley co-founded Vision Strategies, the Cranston public relations, marketing and lobbying firm with her husband, Bill Fischer. (Incidentally, the firm is getting $1,000 a month for legislative lobbying efforts for Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., according to the secretary of state’s office.)

Bramley’s political history includes a stint as press secretary, communications director, and speechwriter for former Rhode Island Rep. Robert Weygand and Gen. Treas. Paul Tavares

Besides those with strong Rhode Island ties, the Clinton campaign has hired Roger Lau as its state director, a role he held in Massachusetts before the camp’s Super Tuesday victory there. Lau, 30, of Lowell, managed Massachusetts Rep. Niki Tsongas’ special-election bid for the House of Representatives. He previously served as Sen. John Kerry’s Massachusetts’ press secretary.

Clinton’s Rhode Island political director is Gina Ormand, 26, who most recently held roles on local primary campaigns in Tennessee, Arkansas and Massachusetts prior to Super Tuesday. The Atlanta native previously worked for Montana Sen. Jon Tester.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s Rhode Island team has hired several out-of-state staffers with experience on the successful 2006 Rhode Island coordinated campaign, an effort much-lauded for helping Sheldon Whitehouse beat incumbent Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee.

Obama’s state director is Mike Dorsey, a 34-year-old Minnesota native and University of Kansas graduate. Dorsey most recently directed state efforts in Missouri, served as Obama’s Midwest political director, and was the director of Rhode Island’s 2006 coordinated campaign.

Tim Fraser worked with Dorsey as the regional field director for the coordinated campaign, and now serves as Obama’s local field director. Dorsey comes to the Ocean State after directing the campaign’s efforts in Arkansas, a challenging assignment to say the least, given the Clinton connection.

Obama’s deputy field director is Julia Fox, a former field director for him in Massachusetts. And the campaign has hired Chris Torres as its lead organizer and Latino outreach coordinator. Torres also worked on the 2006 coordinated campaign in Rhode Island, but most recently served as Obama’s New Mexico field director.

Lawless forms PAC to help women candidates

Brown University professor and former congressional candidate Jennifer Lawless has announced that she is starting a political action committee to encourage political participation and get woman involved in politics.

The PAC — dubbed “Real Equality and Progress for Rhode Island” (REP/PAC) — will raise money for Democratic candidates at all levels and “promote a progressive agenda,” she said.

“We have a great team of community activists from around the state who are ready to help raise and allocate resources that will make a difference in our state’s political process, beginning with the 2008 elections,” Lawless said in a statement.

The organization, she said, “envisions a state in which government prioritizes and legislators advocate for democratic values, where women are as likely and able as men to seek and gain elected office and in which all Rhode Islanders actively engage in the political process. With REP/PAC’s concerted efforts, well-directed funds and systematic candidates support, the organization will work to transform Rhode Island politics, promote a progressive agenda, and ensure that the state’s elected officials are as diverse as the state’s population.”

The group has a fundraising goal of $25,000 for its first year. No word on how much it has raised so far.

Primary is deciding race for Sen. Badeau’s seat

And on the local election beat: a month after the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Roger Badeau, the campaign to fill his District 20 (Cumberland and Woonsocket) seat has moved into action.

Rep. Roger A. Picard, of 764 Mendon Rd., Woonsocket, will face off against Rosina L. Hunt, of 68 Hamlet Ave., Woonsocket, and Thomas Scully, of 66 Beamis Ave., Cumberland, in a March 18 Democratic primary. With no other candidates in the race, the winner of the primary will take the seat.

As stipulated by state law, the endorsed candidate, Picard, will be listed first on the ballot. A lottery held late Friday determined that Scully would appear next, followed by Hunt.

Picard has been in the House since 1993. Scully has served on the Cumberland School Committee and the Cumberland Town Council.

Badeau was first elected to the state Senate in 1985. He was chairman of the Committee on Labor since 1992, and a member of the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee.

efitzpat@projo.com