He publicly opposed the controversial $75 million loan and subsequent taxpayer bailout of 38 Studios, the taxpayer-funded redevelopment the Superman Building, and introduction of the Sakonnet River Bridge toll.
Block has also called for the elimination of the "master lever" from election ballots which he argues creates voter disenfranchisement and unfairly benefits larger political parties.
[1] In 2001, Block founded Simpatico Software Systems, a data mining service used by government agencies and private businesses to track waste and fraud.
In Texas, Block's company developed a statewide debit card system for food stamp and welfare recipients that saved the state more than $1 billion.
In later interviews, Block said that he entered politics out of frustration with the state government's inability to solve Rhode Island's declining economy and education system.
[7] He was particularly concerned that his children were not getting a quality education in public schools and, like many young Rhode Islanders, would eventually have to leave the state due to high unemployment.
[10][11] Disillusioned with both the Democratic and Republican parties, who he felt were more concerned battling over social issues, Block believed that starting a centrist-based third-party would be the best option.
He reasoned that if his party could attract enough moderate voters, they would be able to put pressure on then Republican Governor Donald L. Carcieri and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly to address vital issues he felt were being neglected by the state.
An official website was launched in early-2008 and several candidates were endorsed in the general election - Jean Ann Guliano (D), John Pagliarini (R), Matt McHugh (I), and Christopher Little (I).
[1] While running for Governor, Block criticized the state's $75 million loan to 38 Studios, in exchange for the video game company moving its headquarters from Maynard, Massachusetts to Providence, Rhode Island, suggesting that the money would be better spent investing in local businesses.
[9] Block called this most recent legislation by the assembly an "awful decision" and condemned the Rhode Island Democratic Party as "[proving] itself completely incapable of governing the state.
[3] After several months negotiating with the Chafee administration, Block announced on WPRO's The John DePetro Show that his company was close to reaching an agreement to start working with state agencies to investigate waste and abuse in Rhode Island's welfare system.
The unit's two investigators, Jack Costa and Daniel Murphy, had previously been dependent on more than a dozen other agencies throughout the state and records were often unavailable in the current system.
[34] Another issue caused by the master lever, critics argue, is "under voting" at the local level, where many offices are officially non-partisan, with candidates being skipped on the ballot because they do not belong to a political party.
The website allowed supporters to send an automated letter to state officials including House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, and Governor Lincoln Chafee.
[10] Although the majority of the General Assembly remained silent on the issue, Block's initiative eventually gained support from key political figures including Democratic Secretary of State Ralph Mollis[12][35] and Governor Chafee.
Block made a second appearance on the April 5th edition of A Lively Experiment where he talked about his views on the master lever, payday loans, and state tax credits.
[38][39] The decision was discussed a week later on A Lively Experiment; one of the guest panelists, columnist Donna Perry, was the executive director of RI Taxpayers.
[41] At another meeting, Block called for more citizen involvement in local government and warned that voter apathy, especially among people under 40, would continue to result in poor legislation and a lack of accountability by political leadership.
[46] On October 28, 2013, Block officially announced at a Barrington town hall meeting that he would be joining the Republican Party with the intention of running as its candidate for the 2014 gubernatorial election.
He had also been courted by Republican Joe Trillo to join the party partially to prevent another four-way race which allowed then independent candidate Lincoln Chafee to win the 2010 election.
[50] The news was also discussed on A Lively Experiment with guest panelists Dave Layman, WPRO/WPRI legal analyst Louis Pulner, Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller, and Arlene Violet.
[51] Block declared his intention to run as the party's nominee in a letter to 20,000 Republican voters and based his campaign on an ambitious plan to save the state $1 billion in government waste over a four-year period.
[1][5] He further explained that this amount could easily be achieved by focusing on "off budget" spending such as public sector retiree healthcare, temporary disability, and unemployment insurance.
[9] In November 2013, he was invited to write a column for The Providence Journal to make his case for saving the state $1 billion by eliminating government waste.
[52] Block was also interviewed by Tim White and Ted Nesi on the November 15th edition of WPRI's Eyewitness News and further explained his plan to save the state $1 billion.
Block's policy director, Matthew Schweich, defended the statement pointing out that Rhode Island was ranked near the bottom in almost every category and argued that the cumulative effect supports their claim.
[53] Block responded to the website in a letter to the editor of The Providence Journal acknowledging the error "but choosing the wrong words and intentionally misleading voters are different types of mistakes".