01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, February 8, 2005

THE MAN who holds the most powerful political position in Rhode Island, House Speaker William Murphy (D.-West Warwick), is trying to assert that power.

He is punishing members who defied him by denying them choice parking spaces and favored seats in the House chamber. John DeSimone (D-Providence), the unimpressive figure who challenged him for speaker, and lost, wailed about that. Mr. DeSimone complained that "even under more dictatorial speakers," members had been allowed to have some say in their seating assignments, and that Mr. Murphy was discarding tradition "through insecurity or whatever reasons."

In truth, Mr. Murphy is doing what legislative leaders often do everywhere. That's politics: The battle is over, and to the victor go the spoils. Almost any speaker, anywhere, would send that message: You will pay a price if you go against me.

Far more ominous, though, are recent moves to enhance his power at the expense of the public. House leaders have rolled out proposed rules changes that could make Rhode Island politics even more of an insider's game, with less opportunity for the public to play a meaningful role and check bad ideas or potential corruption.

As reported by Katherine Gregg ("Proposed House rules changes criticized," news, Feb. 4), the rules changes would:

Shorten the time that the public -- and lawmakers themselves -- would have to scrutinize bills, including the multibillion-dollar state budget, before final votes. Clearly, such a change would work against the public interest.

Already, there are problems with the General Assembly's attaching ill-considered changes to governance and ramming them home before the public may sufficiently react. Last year, the Assembly removed a check on the chief justice's power over money and patronage in the courts, and robbed the Board of Governors of Higher Education of much of its budget authority. These measures, which greatly affect the conduct of government, were attached to the budget and pushed through in the waning days of the session.

Excuse lawmakers from disclosing on whose behalf they had filed a bill, such as a special-retirement bill.

Free clerks of committees from recording vital facts, such as who voted and how, and who testified.

Change the requirement that committee chairmen post notice of their meetings "electronically and on the House bulletin board." "And," for an unexplained reason, would be replaced by "or" -- which would force the public to scramble to check in both places, leading to needless confusion. Is that the intention?

Ban citizens, other than a "recognized employee of a news organization," from videotaping or taking photographs of House sessions and committee meetings "without the express permission of the speaker."

Part of the last rules change could make some sense, in trying to restore decorum to the House floor. One can understand members' reluctance to have people running around with video recorders capturing all their conversations. On the other hand, citizens should be able to take pictures from the gallery and record committee hearings in an unobtrusive and respectful manner, since that helps the public keep up with what is happening.

Information is power. The longer information can be kept from the public, the more powerful government agents can be. (The Carcieri administration has repeatedly forced the public to fight for information that should be readily disclosed.)

Politicians understand that public knowledge of government is perhaps the greatest check on their power. That is why the Founders drafted the First Amendment, which barred the government from controlling the press.

Speaker Murphy, who seems like an intelligent man, the superior in that regard to many Rhode Island politicians, appears to be walking on a knife edge. He must consolidate his power while contending with a sizable rebellion in his ranks. That requires a deft political touch.

But, even in Rhode Island, there are limits to how much power politicians may take at the expense of the public. Citizens eventually rebel, and leaders who position themselves against the public lose the citizens' support, as Mr. Murphy's predecessor, John Harwood, discovered. Ultimately, Mr. Harwood's power became a brittle shell, easily cracked by a scandal.

Tomorrow, the House Rules Committee meets again to consider rules changes. In building solid power that will withstand the blows of his foes, Speaker Murphy would do well to position himself with the public on major matters, as he did in agreeing to fully implement the separation-of-powers reform.

Edward Achorn is The Journal's deputy editorial-pages editor. (eachorn [at] projo.com.)