Here is a basic New Year’s resolution for state political leaders: “Spend taxpayer money as if it were you own.”

Instead, far too many politicians make giddy spending decisions to reward their donors. How else can you explain that good money is thrown after bad?

As we ended 2024 the taxpayers were reminded anew of just how incompetent decisions have been made as a matter of course. After the fiasco with Deloitte during the Gov. Gina Raimondo administration, where the original cost for boosting enrollment and tracking membership under the state’s Obama health care under Deloitte went from $135 million to $364 million and didn’t work, Rhode Island then begged for federal taxpayer money of an additional $124 million. The governor eventually tried to withhold multI-millions of dollars for the woeful system. Later she gave a keynote address at a Deloitte conference.

Lawsuits abounded over food stamp delays. Then, incorrect tax forms were sent out to 3,000 Healthsource RI members and $11 million was paid to almost 11,000 dead people. An oversight report found ad seriatim flaws, yet Deloitte continued to receive about $100 million under the McKee administration, and he recently signed a three-year extension with Deloitte into the future.

Now it is a giant “OOOPS,” where close to half of the Rhode Island population’s personal info has been stolen by a cyber-criminal organization which is a new kid on the block . These criminals’ last hack was of Indonesia, which ought to tell you something about how easy they thought Rhode Island was going to be.

Lest you think that this was just one bad choice, you should remember that the state picked a firm under indictment to tear down the bridge. The company, Aetna Bridge, has won three RIDOT contracts for $210 million while being the highest bidder on all three. It is also being sued for causing the problems for the Washington Bridge failure.

Then, one of the last two selected finalists to submit a construction proposal is Walsh Construction Corporation, who paid more than $11 million to settle a “fraud scheme” and “faulty design” litigation in neighboring Massachusetts. The company has also been cited more than 25 times for workers’ health and safety violations (Go Local Prov, Dec. 11).

Ho-Hum! Business as usual.

Then there is the mystery of how and why Deborah Goddard, a solo practitioner, was awarded $173,000-plus as a housing consultant, with the money passing through subcontractors before becoming the state’s new housing czar.

Then, fresh from a bonus, Commissioner of Education Angelica Infante Green is appearing on a panel with one of the owners of ILO, a company friendly with the governor who got a no-bid award of $5 million for “education.”

If these shenanigans were proposed as a script for a Hollywood movie, a producer mogul would turn it down as too farfetched. Yet, the beat goes on.

All is, no doubt, forgotten over the Christmas holiday. Rhode Island taxpayers got coal again in their Christmas stockings while campaign contributors and their candidates laughed all the way to the bank.

Nothing will change in 2025 unless you get lathered up a bit. Now that I think of it, perhaps the New Year’s resolution above should be that of the working stiff, YOU!

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.