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In 2012, Rhode Island lawmakers issued $1.9 million in legislative grants to nonprofit organizations. These grants were awarded on a nonpartisan basis by House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed and were chosen based on the merits of the organizations' applications and requests by individual lawmakers. Though the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the legislature has the authority to create grants as part of the budget, some critics called these grants wasteful government spending and said the money could be used to influence votes. Lawmakers in support of the grants claimed that they went to community organizations that were struggling to fill fundraising gaps or make up for a lack of resources that may no longer be available at the municipal level. According to an August 2013 report in Go Local Prov News, O'Neill was among the top 25 lawmakers who sponsored the most in grant funding, obtaining $26,500 for community organizations.
