By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — A Senate resolution to move the proposed site of the Blackstone Valley Courthouse from Lincoln to Smithfield and prepare for construction in the budget year beginning July, 2009 won unanimous passage in the Senate Wednesday, but initial indications are it might face rougher sledding in the House of Representatives.

The “biggest stumbling block,” according to  Pawtucket
Rep. Peter Kilmartin is the state's current fiscal picture, which could become even more bleak today when the semi-annual Revenue and Caseload Estimating Conference continues at the Statehouse.
“Whether or not it is going to go next year,”  Kilmartin said , is going to depend on the results of that conference, where the fiscal staffs of the House and Senate meet with administration officials to determine how much revenue state budgeters should plan on next year, and how much caseloads for departments such as DCYF and  DHS are expected to  grow in the coming months.
When the resolution comes over from the Senate, said Kilmartin, the House “will take a closer look at what the location is, make sure the town is on board, see if the objections raised by  Lincoln are applicable in this situation. “We have to do our own due diligence in regards to what happens with it.”
Rep. Thomas Winfield, in whose district the new site -- 13 acres of state-owned land in Smithfield on a section of George Washington Highway between Douglas Pike and Farnum Pike, not far from Bryant University – is located, said it would be “prudent to wait until after we get the budget done,” because lack of funds might delay the project “for a long time.”
There is another site at the corner of Washington Highway and Douglas Pike where a state facility to store and load sand and salt for winter highway use is being dismantled that might also be considered for the courthouse.If the resolution does pass the House, it probably will not do so without a fight from the GOP.
“I just think it's irresponsible to make promises about when we are going to build new courthouses when we've got a half-billion deficit,” House Republican Whip Nicholas Gorham said Thursday. “Let's deal with the budget deficit first. That's what we need to focus on now. I haven't had constituents call me and tell me it is time to build a new courthouse.
The courthouse was originally slated to be built in Lincoln on state land near the Community College of Rhode Island, but concerns about traffic and vociferous opposition from town officials and residents led to the reconsideration of that decision.
“I am pleased the concerns of my constituents in Lincoln have been met through the passage of this legislation,” said Senate President Joseph Montalbano, who sponsored the Senate resolution. “The new site, in Smithfield, is more centrally located and has better highway access and traffic control systems than the Lincoln location, which will make for an all around better experience for the court, those who use it, and those who live near it. We are now on track to bring this much-needed facility to a suitable location where it will be ready to serve the people of northern Rhode Island for generations to come.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams has advocated in favor of a courthouse in northern Rhode Island for years, saying it is necessary to ease overcrowding at Providence's Garrahy Judicial Complex and to handle the increasing number of court matters generating in the northern part of the state.