Barrington resident and incumbent District 67 Representative Jason Knight (D) faced off against Republican challenger and longtime Barrington resident and former educator, Scott Fuller, at a candidate forum hosted at the Barrington Public Library on Oct. 26.

The debate was organized by the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island and East Bay Media Group, and moderated by the latter’s general manager, Scott Pickering.

Opening statements
Knight, a criminal defense attorney and veteran of the United States Navy, was first elected to the legislature in 2016. He said in his opening statement and in response to the first question (why they are the better candidate) that his goal since being elected has been to boost transparency and fight against the “I know a guy” perception at the State House and to “speak truth to power.”

“I have done that,” he said, adding that he has been proud of passing and co-sponsoring legislation supported by his constituents, such as stronger gun laws, criminal justice reform, improving background checks for teachers and volunteers at parochial schools, and protecting the reproductive rights of women.

Fuller, in his opening responses, said that he was hopeful to convince voters that he has a “very different philosophy, and set of priorities in the role of government” between him and Knight.

“I think a different voice is needed up there,” Fuller said. “A voice that will value individual people, small businesses, seniors that are struggling to make ends meet. There may have been some effort up there to make it, but right now we're in crisis mode in Rhode Island, and I don't see the emphasis on what's needed up there relative to the cost of living, people's wallets, energy prices, and small businesses.”

Abortion rights
Fuller responded to a question regarding the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act (EACA) proposed last session, which would provide abortion access to state employees and those on Medicaid, that he was pro-life, and not in favor of the act.

He said that the codification of Roe v. Wade that passed in 2019 was “a little extreme” and went beyond the scope of that landmark federal case. He said he was against taxpayer money going towards funding of abortion access, and that he had never heard of a case where someone in Rhode Island was unable to access abortion care.

“I've never heard of a circumstance anywhere, anyplace, anytime where a woman has been unable to access an abortion in the state for the 50 years I’ve been here,” Fuller said. “It may have occurred, but it certainly has not been publicized. And I think most women who have need have been able to acquire an abortion on demand for almost any reason, any time.”

Knight said the codification of Roe in Rhode Island was “one of my most proudest moments in service to this community,” and that he would support the EACA. He said that with the recent repealing of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, the situation in the country when it comes to abortion access has become “stark”, and disagreed with Fuller’s assessment that the codification of Roe into Rhode Island law in 2019 went beyond the scope of the original decision.

“Except in very limited circumstances for the health or for the life of the mother, you cannot do an abortion past fetal viability in the state of Rhode Island,” Knight said. “That is what Casey and Roe said the law was prior to being turned over by Dobbs. That's what we have in Rhode Island. My opponent is mistaken as to the facts.”

Knight also disagreed with the notion presented by fuller that no women have been barred access to abortion care in Rhode Island. “The fact of the matter is if you don't have the funds to pay for the procedure, you can't get the procedure,” he said. “That's how it is. And there's plenty of women in Rhode Island who have suffered that over the years.”

Gun laws
Knight said he was in favor of passing more gun laws in addition to bills that he has con-sponsored and helped pass, such as a ban on high-capacity magazines which was recently signed into law. He said he would like to see a ban on assault style weapons and a safe storage bill to ensure that guns cannot be accessed by those who could be harmed by them or do harm with them.

Fuller, in stark disagreement with Knight, said that while he was in favor of protecting kids in school — which is what he believes to be the “genesis” of most gun legislation — the types of gun laws being passed in Rhode Island do not actually help towards that goal. That, in his mind, would be better achieved by hiring more resource officers.

“Look, there's violence in all walks of society. We want to protect kids, we want to protect children. We need to protect them where they are six, eight, ten hours a day. Gun laws aren't going to do it,” he said. “But you know what? An armed, trained professional at every school has the best opportunity to protect kids. That's my goal, is actually protecting children and not coming up with some nebulous, feel-good laws that may or may not protect anyone, because there's no data that says they will.”

On climate change
Both Knight and Fuller agreed that the state should be concerned with climate change, but disagreed on the efficacy of the state’s Act on Climate, which seeks to eliminate all fossil fuel emissions by 2050.

Knight said that Rhode Island being a pioneer on this issue will be essential in larger efforts by the federal government, as it will provide crucial data on how the state went about the process and how effective its implementation was.

Fuller, however, believes that testing comes at too high a price for Rhode Islanders, and went so far as to say that the Act on Climate was contributing in part to the 47 percent hike in electrical rates faced by Rhode Islanders this coming winter.

“Going to zero emissions here is going to do zero for anybody here, but it will do one thing,” Fuller said. “It will impoverish Rhode Islanders because of the increase in costs.”

Knight batted back at that notion.

“The Act on Climate law itself hasn't really even gotten off the ground. It's there to reduce emissions by 2050. They’re still writing regulations,” he said. “Anyone who tells you that this winter’s energy increase is going to be a result of the Act on Climate doesn't have their facts right.”

ARPA funding
Another claim made by Fuller that Knight rebuked was regarding the state’s spending of ARPA money received from the federal government during the pandemic. Fuller said that the state ought to look into paying down its long-term budget deficit, which Knight correctly pointed out was one of the prohibited uses of ARPA funds.

Fuller said in addition that he was disappointed more ARPA funding has not gone to support small businesses, which were hit hard during Covid.

“The governor claims to be a small business governor, and I don't think much has been done during during the pandemic for small businesses,” he said. “Many were closed, many are still crushed, many restaurants, small businesses. I think that goes back to the previous governor as well. So I would like to see more we're given to small businesses. I would like to see it given out probably more rapidly.”

Knight said that a lot of good has been done with ARPA funding, including $250 million to address affordable housing and addressing Rhode Island’s social safety net.

“We want to invest in projects that are going to produce an immediate good and not create an ongoing expense as a result of that expense, and I agree with that approach in general,” he said.

Areas of agreement
Both candidates did agree on some issues, including the notion that the state constitution should be amended to allow the courts to consider changes to the public school funding formula. Knight pointed out he was a co-sponsor of the bill that seeks to do so.

The two also agreed that affordable housing was a problem that needed addressed, and Knight agreed with Fuller’s notion that something is obviously not working with the state’s approach when only two communities in Rhode Island have reached the 10% threshold of total affordable housing stock in their communities, a goal that was set some 30 years ago.

“This is a one-size-fits-all bill that doesn’t seem to be working,” Fuller said, adding that he found it odd that Rhode Island has 25 housing authorities when a similar-sized county in Maryland has just one. “How about we collapse them into one single one and start over?”

Knight said that he was proud of investments the state has made in affordable housing, like the aforementioned $250 million in ARPA funding, but agreed that they should also be looking into inventive approaches to continue addressing the issue.

“I do agree with Mr. Fuller that, if there's no one size fits all, we have to be innovative and we have to keep this top of mind and keep working at it,” he said. “So we chip away and improve our stock, which is the basic answer to the question. We need to build more houses.”

One last disagreement on facts
Prior to their closing statements, Fuller tried to pin Knight as a supporter of the Superman Building tax stabilization agreement in Providence, and of the Pawtucket soccer stadium agreement. Knight countered that the general assembly had no vote on either of those issues, and that he opposed the funding that was eventually allocated by the general assembly.