"Current Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee has always been considered an unusual politician. The relic of the now-defunct moderate republican, the former Rhode Islander chose to leave his former party and run as an independent in his home state. With his election in 2011, he inherited a twelve percent unemployment rate, a nearly half a billion dollar budget shortfall, and a small city in bankruptcy.
Rhode Island needed a new approach.
Three years later, Chafee has decided to look at new ways to revive Rhode Island. With its traditional manufacturing economy still lagging, it is struggling to feel more of the so-called recovery, in spite of a lower unemployment rate. This week he announced a new initiative that he says is the key to Rhode Island’s economic future and a safe bet: funding the arts."
