The legislator who had voted for two absent representatives on a lead-paint bill last session has said it was "improper."

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, October 20, 2005

BY SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- Rep. Peter G. Palumbo, D-Cranston, has said he's sorry -- sort of.

Three months after he cast his own vote on a lead-paint bill and then voted for two absent representatives, Palumbo has said it was improper and something he wish he hadn't done.

But for House Speaker William J. Murphy the statement was not enough.

"I find it disappointing that Representative Palumbo would not step up to the plate and apologize to his colleagues, the citizens of District 16, and the people of Rhode Island for his inappropriate conduct," Murphy, D-West Warwick, said in a brief statement through his spokesman. "Rather than accept responsibility for his actions, he has chosen to justify his misconduct."

Earlier this month, Murphy called on Palumbo to offer a public apology.

Palumbo countered with a two-page news release announcing that he would sponsor legislation to sanction lawmakers who vote for absent colleagues.

Three paragraphs into that release, there is an apology.

"I knew these legislators supported the proposal and I felt they would have wanted me to vote for them. It was wrong and I wish I hadn't done it, but my intent was not to circumvent the House rules," Palumbo said. "My intent was to make sure my colleagues were on record for their support of this pro-consumer measure."

One of the two representatives who Palumbo voted for, Rep. Peter N. Wasylyk, D-Providence, said after the incident: "He may have known how I felt on the issue but I never indicated to him to vote for me."

Murphy has said that Palumbo's actions were "clearly wrong" but that while House rules "strictly prohibit this practice . . . here are no sanctions in place to punish violators." The speaker said he will ask the House Rules Committee to look into the matter for future situations.

Palumbo however said that House leadership -- which he no longer aligns himself with -- has ignored "chaotic circumstances" in the past and only pointed out his transgression because it fit their political needs. Palumbo said Murphy's team is just trying to "besmirch his career."

Rep. James F. Davey, R-Cranston, has called on Murphy to conduct an audit of all of votes of the previous session.

"Without an audit, the public can reasonably question whether other representatives have engaged in similar improprieties," Davey wrote in an Oct. 5 letter to the speaker.

Murphy has not yet commented on that request.

Palumbo went further, saying that "there are some" who are trying to "tarnish my public service career by dwelling on this one incident."

Palumbo did not provide details of the legislation that he says he will file once the General Assembly returns in January. However, he said it will "provide for sanctions to punish any legislator who votes for an absent colleague."

Palumbo added that "as good as [my] intentions may have been in casting votes for [my] colleagues, the practice is something that could be abused to the detriment of the people or Rhode Island."