There seems to be an emerging consensus, across the ideological spectrum, that the new State Receivership Law might constitute a full frontal assault on the state constitution’s Article 13 restriction on the General Assembly. So far, the Rhode Island Chapter of the ACLU, liberal blogger Matt Jerzyk, and conservative bloggers Justin Katz and Andrew Morse have all expressed misgivings about the powers granted to the Central Falls Receiver, retired Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer.

The essence of the home rule provisions of the RI constitution is R.I. Const. Art. XIII, § 2, which provides “[e]very city and town shall have the power at any time to adopt a charter, amend its charter, enact and amend local laws relating to its property, affairs and government not inconsistent with this Constitution and laws enacted by the general assembly in conformity with the powers reserved to the general assembly.”

This section is parallelled by R.I. Const. Art. XIII, § 4 providing:

 “[t]he general assembly shall have the power to act in relation to the property, affairs and government of any city or town by general laws which shall apply alike to all cities and towns, but which shall not affect the form of government of any city or town. The general assembly shall also have the power to act in relation to the property, affairs and government of a particular city or town provided that such legislative action shall become effective only upon approval by a majority of the qualified electors of the said city or town voting at a general or special election, except that in the case of acts involving the imposition of a tax or the expenditure of money by a town the same shall provide for the submission thereof to those electors in said town qualified to vote upon a proposition to impose a tax or for the expenditure of money.”

If we accept that the new law is a law of general application that applies to alike to all municipalities then the question becomes whether the powers granted to the receiver affect the form of government? . . .