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Bartholomewtown
Bartholomewtown is an independent news and interview podcast exploring Rhode Island through conversations with the people driving politics, culture, business, and public life. Hosted by journalist Bill Bartholomew, the show delivers insightful interviews, original reporting, and clear-eyed analysis from New England's smallest state—with stories that often resonate far beyond it.
Bartholomewtown
FORUM: RI Attorney General Democratic Primary Candidates
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Democratic Primary Forum: RI Attorney General
A candidate forum for the 2026 Democratic primary race for Rhode Island Attorney General, featuring:
- Keith Hoffman
- Jason Knight
- Kim Ahern
- Joe Solomon Jr.
Moderated by Bill Bartholomew.
In this episode:
Candidates fielded questions on [topics discussed — e.g., public safety, consumer protection, gun policy, housing enforcement, environmental law, government accountability]. Each candidate laid out their vision for the office and how they'd approach the priorities of the next AG.
Welcome into the Bartholomew Town WPRO forum series. I'm Bill Bartholomew today, a forum in the Democrat primary for Attorney General. We've drawn the order for today's debate prior to starting here. So we'll get to that opening statement based on that order in just a moment here. But our candidates today, Keith Hoffman, he's a Rhode Island native, Newport born, actually, Fordham law graduate, served as uh Nerona's chief of policy. Kim Ahern, former cannabis control commissioner. We have Jason Knight, state representative, and state representative Solomon, Joe Solomon. So we're going to start. The first thing people will hear will actually be your intro. So we begin with Keith.
Keith HoffmannWell, thank you so much, Bill, for having this forum today and for this opportunity to speak with your listeners. My name is Keith Hoffman, and I'm running for attorney general uh because I have the experience and the energy to face many of the critical challenges Rhode Islanders are experiencing today. Um I was, as you just said, born uh and raised in Rhode Island. I went off uh for uh college and graduate school and returned home with my wife, Rachel, to raise our family. And I have always represented the people. I um rose to become a senior leader in the attorney general's office alongside Attorney General Peter Morona. And I have fought corporate greed that harms consumers, scams that harm our seniors. I fought for um civil rights and equal rights and reproductive rights for all Rhode Islanders. I've fought uh gun violence in our communities and for uh access to affordable health care for Rhode Islanders. And when the Trump administration uh came in and they violated the law, I led our office's efforts to fight back against federal overreach alongside A.G. Nerona. I'm running for attorney general because I want to continue this critical work of keeping and making our communities safer, stronger, and fairer for everyone in our state. All right, thank you, Keith. Kim Ahern.
Kim AhernThank you, Bill. Thank you for having us today. My name is Kim Ahern, and I'm also running for attorney general. At its core, the attorney general's job is simple: to protect Rhode Islanders, to protect our families from violent crime, to defend our rights, and to stand up for working people when powerful interests threaten our health, our safety, or our economic security. That mission has guided my entire career. I've served for nearly two decades as a prosecutor under the past three AGs, as a legal and policy advisor to two governors, and as the head of a state agency. I have personally prosecuted over a thousand criminal cases, fought for survivors, advanced criminal justice reform, and helped tackle some of our state's greatest challenges, like the COVID pandemic. But the reason I'm running, it's personal. My wife, Jenna, and I are raising three daughters, and like any parent or caregiver, I think about the world they're growing up in every day. When fundamental rights are threatened, it is incumbent upon the attorney general to be the first line of defense to stand up and fight back. I've done that before and I'm ready to do that again. For me, this comes down to who has the experience and the proven record to lead on day one. Thank you so much.
Bill BartholomewThank you, Kim. Joe Solomon Jr.
Joe Soloman, Jr.Thank you so much for having us today. I'm Joe Solomon and I'm running for Attorney General to protect Rhode Island families. And I've seen the justice system from every angle. For the past decade, I've been a bail commissioner. When someone gets arrested, I'm the one who shows up. Two in the morning, whenever, and I make the call. Is this person a danger or not? If they are, they stay locked up. I prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases in the Wog solicitor's office. If for over 11 years I'd been a legislator writing the laws, the law that stops scammers from draining a senior savings account. The law that cut catalytic converter thefts in most cities and towns. I'm not running to learn this job on Irdan. I've been doing this my entire career. The Attorney General's office is a legal operation of over 250 public servants, and it needs a leader who's ready on day one. The people who do this work know me. The fraternal order of police, the state troopers, the IBPO, the correctional officers, and over 16 of my colleagues in the General Assembly. They've seen me make the hard calls and they trust me to keep making them. And that's what I'm asking to do.
Bill BartholomewAll right. Thank you, Representative. Representative Jason Knight.
Jason KnightWell, thank you, Bill, and thank you, WPRO, for having me on today, along with all of us. My name is Jason Knight. I'm also running for attorney general, and we live in dangerous and uncertain times. And I think what Rhode Island needs is a progressive champion with a knack for getting things done to protect Rhode Islanders and hold uh the line against the crazy policies of the Trump administration. I am a Navy veteran. I was at eight years active duty of the submarine service. I have 20 years in Rhode Island courts as both a prosecutor with the Attorney General's office and as a defender. And for the last 10 years, I've been a state lawmaker representing Barrington and Warren at the State House. And when Donald Trump and the MAGA movement sought to strip away the reproductive freedoms of women across this country, my colleagues and I in the House of Representatives worked hard to put Roe versus Wade into our state law and stand up for the bodily autonomy of women in Rhode Island. We face an epidemic of gun violence in this nation. And in Rhode Island, we have made significant inroads into gun safety, including passing the assault weapons ban, which I was the sponsor of and uh just went into effect a few weeks ago. And of course, when ICE came to Warren to act on their racist agenda and uh put their Gestapo tactics into place, I spoke out. I took action. And along with my Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives, we put some garden rails around ICE. I'm looking forward to our talk today, and I'm looking forward to the forum. And I thank you for having me on.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you very much, Rep. And we'll begin right now with the purview of the attorney general. You're the state's top law enforcement officer. So with that in mind, prosecutorial discretion, priority, so on and so forth, we'll stick with you, Representative Knight. How would you define a Knight attorney generalship?
Jason KnightThat is a great question. I think that what you'll see under my administration is uh a real balance of you know the the needs of justice, right? There's a criminal division in the uh in the AG's office. Obviously, it's in charge of prosecuting all felony crimes here in the state of Rhode Island. There's the civil side, and the job of the AG is to really stand up for and protect Rhode Islanders. And when it comes to the criminal division side, you asked about discretion. I think what you're gonna see is we're going to be thoughtful about um what are, you know, we're gonna prosecute every crime. Uh when the police come to us with a case that has probable cause, we're absolutely going to charge it and we're gonna go after it. When it comes to the sentencing phase or what to do with the offender, we're gonna take an individualized approach and we're gonna be thoughtful about what do we need to do to A, protect the public, uh, B, deter this person from um committing crimes again. And, you know, for some people that might be jail and it may be long jail. Let's face it, there are some serious crimes out there. Um, but for others, first-time offenders, um, folks who we can, you know, deter away from the criminal justice system, we're gonna be thoughtful about what we're, you know, what kind of sentence we'll recommend in those cases. In other words, we're gonna be about justice under my administration. That may include some jail, but it's always gonna be justice first. And we're, you know, really gonna look out for our victims because they need our support as well.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you, rep. Rep Solliden, same question. How would you define your attorney generalship?
Joe Soloman, Jr.I think attorney general Peter has done a great job of running the office and expanding the duties of the office. First and foremost, though, we have to concentrate on the criminal law aspect of it and making sure that cases are going through the criminal justice system efficiently and victims are getting justice, and also defendants are getting their day in court. Additionally, we need to look at the other duties of the attorney general's office, which is health care. Any hospital merger and hospital sale goes through the attorney general's office. Recently, we saw Roger Williams Hospital and Fatima Hospital in bankruptcy court, all the way in federal court in Texas. Fortunately, Attorney General Peterona did a good job of ensuring that those two hospitals were bought by another group. But to do so, we had the pass of the General Assembly an $18 million backstop to ensure that happened. So the healthcare system is hanging on by a thread, and I believe the Attorney General's office is going to bring that stability that's necessary to that office. Additionally, there's been a ton of scams out there. Uh, seniors are getting calls and text messages. We're all getting calls and text messages from scammers. As a legislator, I passed the laws, the digital forgery law, to go after those individuals who were sending those tax messages. And I think we need to go more and prosecute those cases in the attorney general's office.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you very much. Same question for you, Ms. Ern.
Kim AhernOkay. Thank you. On my first day as a prosecutor under Attorney General Patrick Lynch, I was handed a document called the Rules of the Road. And those were the rules that should guide you as a prosecutor at the AG's office. I kept that on my desk every day for the entire time I served there. The very first rule is to do justice and to always be cognizant of the shortcomings of the criminal justice system. And I took that to heart. I've taken it to heart every step of my career. And so, as attorney general, my top priorities will be keeping Rhode Islanders safe from violent crime, to protect our fundamental rights and values, in particular, that are being attacked by this administration in Washington, D.C., and to support working people across our state that are struggling in so many ways right now, Bill. My background in the office is as a criminal prosecutor. Every day for just shy of a decade, I stood in courts throughout this state and brought justice for hundreds of survivors of intimate partner violence, child rape, human trafficking, sexual assault and child molestation cases and domestic violence cases is what I handled. And I was so proud to do justice for those survivors. But as the attorney general, we need to keep all of the different units, and some of them have been mentioned by Jason and Joe here today, as top priorities, right? It's incumbent on the attorney general to balance each of those units that exists in the office and make sure that we're keeping all Rhode Islanders at the forefront of keeping us safe for all of the issues that we brought up here today.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you. And and Mr. Hoffman, same question. What would an attorney general's office look like under your leadership?
Keith HoffmannThe Attorney General's office has very important functions in our state, both in uh criminal enforcement, civil enforcement, defense of the state, criminal investigation, hospital regulation, and all of those functions of the office have to be running very well in order for Islanders to be served and the public interest to be served. And so we'll start with the criminal division, which is a critically important part of the attorney general's office prosecuting between four and six thousand felony cases a year, along with state police misdemeanors, bail violations. You know, 25% of the felonies that are uh prosecuted by the office now go into diversion for first-time youthful offenders. That is a good thing. We can expand on diversion programs. Um, for example, I think we could create a uh felony veterans uh uh court, um, diversion court. Um and on the civil side, on in enforcement defense, you know, this is where we find our work in health care and environmental protection and civil rights and consumer protection. Now, there's crossover into the criminal division in in some of those cases, but often people are thinking about enforcement on the uh uh civil enforcement for those cases. And that is critically important work. It has always been critically important work, and that's what I've been uh working to uh build in what we call our public protection bureau um during uh the Neurona administration. But it is work that is uh especially important during the Trump administration because what we see happening is that the Trump administration is doing less work in environmental protection, really no work in environmental protection, really no work in holding big, giant corporations accountable for consumer abuses, really no work in civil rights. In many areas, by the way, they're actually harming people's civil rights. They are harming our ability to hold corporations accountable for when they are engaged in uh in misconduct. We and this crosses to the criminal division as well. The the FBI and the ATF and the DEA are doing more civil immigration enforcement rather than holding firearm traffickers accountable, rather than holding uh human traffickers accountable. We need to look closely at what we can do to continue to keep Rhode Islander safe and make progress in our state in an environment in which the federal government is really part of the problem in keeping our community safe. And that is a critical role for the next attorney general to step in and be prepared to uh to to you know keep our hospitals open, to uh protect our environment, to fight for survivors when our federal partners have really become often a part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
Bill BartholomewThank you, Mr. Hoffman. So you've received Attorney General Nerona's endorsement. What's one thing you would change about the way that the Attorney General's office is run under the Narone administration if you were elected?
Keith HoffmannSure.
Bill BartholomewUh in this just 30 seconds here.
Keith Hoffmann30 seconds. So because I was just talking about how the uh Trump administration has really altered the landscape um for the states and for the state of Rhode Island. I think that there are a couple of areas that we need to um really look at doing more work in. One is in worker protection. You know, the OSHA, which protects people's occupational safety, uh workplace safety, um, prevailing wage, wage theft. You know, there used to be a Department of Labor, an OSHA and an NLRB that protected workers' rights. We, I believe, at the state level can uh look closely at what more we can do there, as in other states like Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York that have been doing this work for some time.
Bill BartholomewSo so fair to say workers' rights and protections is something you would increase that's not happening right now under the Narone administration.
Keith HoffmannAnd and I I think that that sort of that is one area where we're uh we're doing some work now in wage theft, but expanding on that, even as we continue to look at areas in healthcare and uh consumer protection, where the federal government really has fallen down in civil rights and making sure that we're we're standing up for violenters and all that.
Bill BartholomewThank you, Mr. M. Mr. Solomon. What's one thing you would change under a under your administration that's happening now under the neuron?
Joe Soloman, Jr.I think you've done a good job, but there's always ways that we can improve. And that improvement would be upon uh how quickly we can move the cases through the system. And to do so, I think we need to sit down with the judiciary, I think we need to sit down with defense counsel and our prosecutors and the attorney general's office to see how we can all improve on moving those cases through the system. Because every day that goes by that a case hasn't been litigated uh or resolved is a day that a victim does not get justice and a defendant does not get their day in court.
Bill BartholomewSo expedition of the system is something that you would summarize as a change from the neurona.
Joe Soloman, Jr.As an improvement upon something that's already going well.
Bill BartholomewRepresentative Knight, what's one distinction between your office and the uh if it if you were sworn in and the neurona administration?
Jason KnightI think that we need uh to refocus the energy of the office on the criminal division, uh, because the criminal division has been falling down on the job lately. They've lost cases in the superior court, major felony cases, and they've had a few cases flipped up at the Supreme Court just uh in the recent past. You know, we can never take our eye off the ball of the core mission of the AG's office, which is to keep um the public safe. And there's a lot of things that the AG has to do. It's a really big job. I'm grateful for the work that Peter Nerona does has done to sort of uh shore up and improve and make more visible the sort of public advocacy side of the office on some of these uh civil issues, particularly health care and energy use and environmental protection. And that's all great. But we can we always we need to walk and chew bubblegum at the same time and making sure that um whatever tasks that the AG's office is engaged in, it's doing so uh with energy and competence. So it's producing real results in a timely manner for Rhode Islanders.
Bill BartholomewSo refocus on the criminal division is is something you would improve over the Nerona office. Okay, uh Mr. Hearn, one major change, change at all that you'd make from if you were sworn in from the Nerona administration.
Kim AhernYeah, so first I think Attorney General Narona's done a wonderful job of advocating for Rhode Islanders, in particular as we see increasing threats and attacks from this administration that we've been talking about here today. Um, two things that I would focus on right away, day one, looking inward to the office, making sure that the employees there feel valued, feel that they can do their job because nobody goes there to get rich. They go there because they feel a deep sense of duty and justice and purpose. And in particular, around the criminal division where I spent a lot of my time at the office, I think that we need to make sure our resources are effectively utilized there. And so, for example, one out of every four women have been subject to domestic violence in our state. One out of every three say that they had some sort of unwanted sexual conduct potentially under the realm of sexual assault. Those are horrific statistics, something that we all talked about last week at a separate forum. When I left that unit doing those types of cases, my average caseload was around 150, which is too many, by the way. Now that amount has gone up between 200 and 220 or so. Um, and so we need to make sure that unit is effectively staffed because we need to make sure we're keeping the top priority of keeping Rhode Islanders safe at the forefront. And the other thing I would add, Bill, is that on day one, I would work to create a unit dedicated to fighting for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy because women across this country objectively have less rights than me and my wife Jenna had growing up. And we need to do everything we can to protect and fight back against this administration.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you. So, in some expanding specific units and making sure it's properly funded, that's something that we've seen play out in dispute between the current Attorney General Nerona and the current governor McKee. In just in quick response here, if we could just go around the table starting with you, Mr. Hoffman, would you advocate the General Assembly and the governor with regularity for funding to get the staffing or other equipment uh that that you need? Is that something you would invest time and energy into as a sort of a yes or no thing? Is that a priority for you? Yes. Yeah, Ms. Ern?
Kim AhernAbsolutely, Mr.
Bill BartholomewSolomon. Absolutely, yes. Mr. Knight. Of course. Okay, so let's let's move from there. Just one point of differentiation here that I do think ties into to criminal justice is Mr. Solomon. Uh you you and Mr. Knight have different voting records on guns. And I think that's important, it's an important distinction for people who are making a decision in a Democrat primary. Mr. Solomon, you voted against some of the most recent, as a member of the the General Assembly, you voted against recent gun legislation, saying it went too far. Mr. Knight, you introduced some of that legislation. What's the key differential here, Mr. Solomon, for you? Where do you stand on guns? And and when you say that that legislation two years ago went too far, what did you mean by that?
Joe Soloman, Jr.So if you're speaking about the assault weapons bill, I I voted against that bill because I felt like it went too far, that it went beyond what other states have done, in addition to the fact that it was more restrictive than the federal government ban back in 1994. However, I have voted for the red flag bill, which takes guns out of the hands of those who are having a mental health crisis. And in addition, I voted for the bill that would take guns out of the hands of domestic abusers because I believe that we need to go after the guns in the people that are committing these awful offenses first.
Bill BartholomewMr. Knight, your position uh has been pretty well documented as uh we'll just say anti-gun. I think that is a fair way to say, but to a certain extent, anyway, that has been a flag that you have at least been identified as. Uh, is that a fair assessment?
Jason KnightNo, not at all. Listen, uh, my, you know, I come from a family that's steeped in public service. My grandfather was a combat veteran in World War II and Korea. My father was a Navy veteran and a police officer. I learned to use firearms at a really young age. I think I was probably five or six years old when I first went out onto the range with my dad. And of course, I was in the service and I qualified uh with firearms, and I recognize that the Second Amendment exists and it provides the right to bear arms in this country. But we don't have to be um, we don't have to be cavalier about it. We don't have to be dumb. We have an epidemic of gun violence in this country. We know that the data shows states that have strong gun safety um legal frameworks have a lower rate of gun violence in their community. And while I've been at the General Assembly, in addition to the law banning domestic abusers from having firearms in my first year, which I'm proud to have supported, we've done the red flag law. We've banned ghost guns, we've banned bump stocks, we uh banned high capacity magazines and, of course, assault weapons. We improved background checks. I introduced and passed a bill at the request of A.G. Nerona to ban straw purchases of firearms. We can um we need to make sure that the general assembly, every public official, when they have the ability to um take some action in this world, they need to take that action. I'm proud of my record up at the General Assembly as being a gun safety advocate. And I will work hard as your attorney general to make sure that the public is protected from gun violence.
Bill BartholomewMs. Hearn and Mr. Hoffman, I want to ask you each to respond to that through a pair of lenses, one personal political per persuasion if gun safety. Secondly, through constitutionality and constitutional viability in terms of laws. Mr. Hearn, does do Rhode Island's gun laws go far enough right now?
Kim AhernWell, first of all, sitting with two legislators, and I am not a legislator, of course, we've gone over that, but I commend the General Assembly for taking action after years of debate. And I was there for some of that as a legal counsel to the last two governors and saw the obviously in the building and the work that went into passing that bill and the strong forces that exist on the other side. And so as the attorney general, my top focus will be on a few things. And I've actually prosecuted gun cases for the state of Rhode Island. I've actually trained in firearms as well as prosecuting those cases, which is one thing that Attorney General Peter Camartin wanted all prosecutors to do. And so my top priority is keeping guns out of the hands of violent criminals, making sure that individuals that are committing crimes have no access point to weapons of war that should have no place on the streets of Providence or anywhere else. And making sure that on our first day in office, we're looking at the red flag law and making sure that we're finding ways and looking a meeting with local law enforcement to make sure that's as effective as we need it to be for those with documented mental health issues.
Bill BartholomewQuickly, if I could ask you just to define weapon of war.
Kim AhernWell, when we're talking about assault weapons, yeah. Um Mr.
Bill BartholomewHoffman, do Rhode Island's gun laws go far enough right now?
Keith HoffmannSo it it really depends on the the uh law that you're talking about. I mean, I think that the gun safety laws that the uh General Assembly has passed, many of which were stamped by the attorney general and that I uh helped to some of which I helped to draft and pass, uh, are good laws. I think that they're constitutional. I think that we need to defend them. I think that we need to prosecute those who violate them. I think that there are absolutely additional gun safety laws that the state could pass, um, I and and implementation measures that we could take to make the existing laws more effective. I think that the red flag law both could be amended to add the attorney general as a petitioner, allow us essentially to have a seat at the table and flagging an individual who's a uh a threat to themselves or others. You know, you asked about personal persuasion. My personal story is that my my dad was a veteran, he was an NRA uh member. I grew up uh uh shooting 22s mostly. And I also in the AG's office when I was defending the large capacity magazine ban from a constitutional attack, um, went went to the range and and uh shot some of these um weapons of war, these assault weapons, just to see what it was, uh what this was about. Because I, as a kid, I'd fired 22s and some handguns, but never anything like this. And I have to tell you, it's terrifying that up until recently these firearms could be purchased in this state. The lethality of this of these weapons, um, there's a reason why they are the preferred weapons of school shooters and individuals who want to inflict maximum damage. And the ease of shooting those firearms is so much different for for those who just aren't aware, you know, a 22, um, it's not so easy to hit the target. Uh, you have to you have to, you know, train and and understand it with these modern weapons of war that uh until recently were allowed on our streets. Um you with a laser sight, laser scope, very little uh kick, um can inflict an enormous amount of damage, and I believe have no place in our communities, um, and that the constitution does not protect individuals' um ability to uh possess those firearms.
Bill BartholomewThank you very much, Mr. Hoffman. Uh, I just want to go around one more time. There was legislation introduced this year in Rhode Island that would have essentially created uh it would have outlawed the possession of those assault weapons, assault style weapons that were banned here in Rhode Island last year. This is just from a constitutional purview standpoint, Representative Knight, do you think that that piece of legislation where folks would have to turn in weapons that uh are now grandfathered into legality, is that an approach that is both constitutional or appropriate for this state to take? And if you were attorney general, would you support that kind of legislation?
Jason KnightYou know, that bill that was put in this year. Um I understand the impetus of the sponsors. I was not one of them because it's a blanket uh ban on possession, which no other state has enacted, has enacted because the uh lawyers and staff in those other states, and of course our lawyers and our staff and myself, when we were doing the original assault weapons ban, thought would run into constitutional problems. That's why the original bill that introduced in the House of Representatives back in 2025 included a grandfather um clause that said if you own one today prior to the date of the ban, then you can keep it and it stays legal. And that we had some up and down ups and downs with that bill, and eventually the Senate um and the house compromised on uh a ban on sales and transfer. So uh I like my original bill, which had the grandfather clause, but you know, but what came down the road this year, uh it just I don't think it was supported by the law, so I didn't support it.
Bill BartholomewRepresentative Solomon, when you see legislation like that uh and and you consider it from the standpoint of possibility being attorney general, could you support legislation that would take grandfathered legal weapons out of people's homes or force a turn-in?
Joe Soloman, Jr.No, because it's unconstitutional. Now, one thing I also want to point out is that the U.S. Supreme Court is actually going to take up this issue. I believe they're hearing arguments in October on a couple from a couple of states, one of them being our neighbor in Connecticut.
Bill BartholomewMr. Hearn.
Kim AhernAnd that's what I was gonna say, too, that the U.S. Supreme Court just, I think last Friday um decided to take cert on this case, and the next attorney general will need to take a very close watch at that and see exactly what Jojo said, um, what's being litigated up there, how that compares to what you're talking about, and look closely at the legislation in the next session.
Bill BartholomewAll right, Mr. Hoffman. The question is whether the assault weapon bill this year that was that would have required people to either turn in or possibly for the state to enter into a home to repossess, if you will, weapons that previously been grandfathered and is legal.
Keith HoffmannAll right. So I'd have to see the text of the bill and really analyze it to understand if it's constitutional or not. Um, I think that the version of the bill that was introduced that the attorney general stamped um, the assault weapon ban in 2025 contained a provision that said that, you know, if you possess one of these firearms, it could be uh it could remain in your possession with some sort of evidence that you had indeed uh purchased it before the date of the ban. And that's really important because while, you know, for example, the federal uh assault weapon ban back in the 90s didn't uh require people to be dispossessed of a firearm, it it there were checks in place to make sure that somebody didn't buy one of these firearms from out of state or in at the federal level, out of the country, and bring it in. Uh, that's very important in gun safety. I think that whenever you're prohibiting a firearm, even if you include a grandfather, you know, ideally you will include a mechanism to make sure that people don't skirt the law. In this case, you know, buying a firearm in in New Hampshire, bringing it across the border, which is would be a violation of federal law, but there is much less federal enforcement in this area, as we've been talking about, than there was before. And, you know, on the constitutionality uh side of things, the United States Supreme Court is in a whole lot of different areas uh changing the rules. And I profoundly disagree with many of these United States Supreme Court decisions. We are bound by them, of course. But until they act, I believe that in any area, state legislators should feel that they can do what they need to do to keep Rhode Islanders safe. Um, and we shouldn't be necessarily waiting for an opinion that may or may not uh do what people think it will do. You know, there was a decision after Bruin. I'll I'll wrap up in just a second, but there was a decision after Bruin, um uh which That's not the wrap-up alarm, by the way.
Bill BartholomewThat's not secret.
Keith HoffmannBut I'll I'll I'll try for you to wrap it up anyway. Yeah, there's a US Supreme Court decision called Bruin, which changed the rules on what is constitutional or not under the Second Amendment. And there was a case after that called Rahimi, which uh people thought would change the rules again, that the Supreme Court would go farther and restrict our ability to regulate firearms more fully. In fact, they didn't do that at all. They they increased the ability of states to regulate firearms. And so reading the tea leaves in this Supreme Court is often not a great exercise. I think that you know, what I will do as attorney general when the legislature comes to me with a bill is honestly ask my attorneys who specialize in this, ask them to honestly analyze the law. And unless there is a Supreme Court precedent that says that the legislature cannot act, allow them to do what they think is right to regulate uh public safety.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you, Mr. Hoffman. Let's turn to uh something that has become um a staple of many attorneys general across the country, which is serving as a bulwark against the Trump administration. Peter Narona included has been in league, our own attorney general Narona has been in league with many attorneys general across the country on a variety of issues. Again, focus is this is a time management and a priorities issue, if you will. Representative Solomon, will you continue Peter Narona's stance and frequency in standing with other attorneys general in taking uh literally the fight against Trump, if you will, to the courtroom on a regular basis?
Joe Soloman, Jr.So we need to maintain the lawsuits that Peter Nerona has already filed against the administration. And I believe we need to file more where it's necessary, where we need to protect Rhode Islanders against federal government overreach. So, yes, I would continue it. And regardless of who's in the White House, we need to protect Rhode Island interests first.
Bill BartholomewRepresentative Knight, you you called the president essentially lawless. Would you does that mean you would increase the pressure? The floor is yours. But does that mean is it fair to say that that leads you possibly to more engagement in coalitions uh in with other attorneys general or on your own initiating other suits against the administration? Is that something you you would champion? It would be a hallmark of your office, so to speak.
Jason KnightYou know, the thing to remember about the attorney general's office is that the first word of the title is attorney, subject to the rules of all the ethical rules, which means we have clients. The attorney general of the state of Rhode Island has a client, it's the state of Rhode Island, the people of Rhode Island. So you got to make sure that when you're acting, you're acting for their benefit, for their protection, right? So you can't just willy-nilly say, I'm you know going to raise the flag and and and take the charge uh, you know, against every red herring that comes down the road from the federal government. But when President Trump's terrible policies affect Rhode Islanders in some significant way, we are absolutely going to be there to push back and fight back against them. Right. This is this is really serious, and oftentimes this conversation, I think, gets um, you know, it gets uh transformed into like uh, you know, somehow it's like this army of attorney generals just pushing back a willy-nilly against President Trump. And that's that's not what what's happening. What we're trying to do, what we're doing, what the attorney generals are doing, and I'll do as uh Rhode Island's attorney general, is be thoughtful about taking up the cases so that we are constantly pushing back on the truly unlawful, the truly unconstitutional, the truly terrible policies of the Trump administration in it in a really thoughtful manner. This there's nothing um there's nothing from the hip about this. And I don't think it's been true with Peter Nerona's office and it won't be true under my office.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you very much. Mr. Haran, your stance as attorney general in terms of standing up to policies of the Trump administration, the pragmatic aspect of it, your personal view is that the responsibility of the attorney general to get involved the way that Attorney General Narona has.
Kim AhernAbsolutely. And for me, Bill, let me just say it's personal. My wife, Jen and I, our marriage in real time is under attack by this administration. They went after marriage equality last fall, trying to take a case all the way to the Supreme Court that we were just talking about. It wasn't successful, but they'll be back. My three daughters are growing up with less rights and freedoms to their own bodily autonomy than I had as a young woman in this country. So when I say it's personal and I've I'll fight back, I mean it. And I commend Attorney General Nerona for the work he's doing in this area to protect all of Rhode Island when this administration attacks not just our fundamental rights and values, but our nonprofits, right? Our budget or just our bottom line. There's several instances where he stood up and fought back and brought money, real money back to the state. Um, but I want to be clear about something. This is a decades-old tradition of the attorney general's office dating back to the Reagan administration, which is when Democratic AGs started to get together and sue collectively in lawsuits against Republican administrations. I saw that firsthand working for Attorney General Patrick Lynch, who sued the Bush administration, saw that under Attorney General Peter Camartin, who, by the way, sued the Trump administration for a few years. And I also saw it firsthand when I was legal counsel to Governor Gina Raimundo. Uh, and I was responsible and helping to lead the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when this same president in Washington, D.C. was in Washington, D.C., Trump won, and causing chaos and havoc across the state. And we showed that a state that we can and will stand up to these antics. And so, yes, I will 100% continue that work. And by the way, we have to remember too that this next attorney general, hopefully, right, Donald Trump will be gone in two years. And then the work continues. And the work continues, and the next attorney general still needs to go after anyone that is trying to harm the residents of Rhode Island. And that's what I intend to do.
Bill BartholomewMr. Hoffman, on that same question in terms of the existing attorney general's approach, Peter Noreau's approach, would you continue that? Would you increase or decrease the engagement that Rhode Island has had on these in-league lawsuits, so to speak?
Keith HoffmannWell, I would certainly continue the approach that we've taken and that I led under attorney general. Now, what is the attorney general's office fundamentally? You know, one way of thinking about it is that we're an accountability office. When a bad guy breaks the rules, whether it's a slumlord or a criminal or the president of the United States, we will hold them accountable. And what is different about this particular fight against the unlawful uh conduct of the second Trump administration is the scale of it. Um, I was uh a part of the fight against federal overreach during the first Trump administration, during the 2020 election. It is an unprecedented level of overreach by the second Trump administration. Uh Peter Naron and I first talked about this in 2024 when uh we saw Project 2025 and some tweets that future administration officials were putting out. And I was put in charge of what we called the project for federal accountability to ensure that Rhode Island would be prepared to defend the fundamental rights of Rhode Islanders and also our budget and other uh entities within our state if there was a second Trump administration. After the election, uh Peter and I went to Philadelphia and I presented along with an attorney from New York about work that we um senior staff around the country and AG's offices had done to prepare, um, drafting uh ultimately about 51 lawsuits uh that we needed to be ready to file if the administration did what they claimed that they were going to do. And ultimately the level of misconduct from this administration has been even greater than that predicted by Project 2025. And the budget impact for our state is well over a billion dollars. The uh fundamental rights of people across our state are at risk if we don't effectively lead this work. And the critical uh 10 seconds, Mr. The critical thing is to understand that it really can't be an either-or. We absolutely have to prosecute criminals, we absolutely have to, you know, go after toxic polluters and and others who break the law and to include the president of the United States and his administration.
Bill BartholomewThank you, Mr. Offman. Sometimes these issues trickle down as well to the local level. We've seen this play out in issues like battles at school committees over inclusion in sports or special um uh situations where students are who are transgender are bullied or not accommodated appropriately, we'll say. Uh, we've seen this trickle down where even some organizations are going from school committee to school committee to try to strip rights away from LGBTQ AI plus folks. Uh, would you, as attorney general, stand up to any organization uh or any individual that tries to inhibit full inclusion and equity of any student in this state, including a person uh who's transgender, whether it's bathroom or sports participation, starting with Representative Knight?
Jason KnightI I gotta tell you, uh, I think one of the most despicable things that the Trump administration is doing in this second term is trying to essentially disappear from public life and society an entire group of people simply for um simply for being who they are and uh as God made them, and that is trans folks. I mean, it is uh it is it is terrible. I just can't think of enough bad words around it. So uh my administration, when I'm the attorney general, will do absolutely everything we can to protect the rights of all Rhode Islanders from whatever attack vector it comes. If it happens to be because someone's trans or LGBTQIA or anything else, we'll be right there to stand up for.
Bill BartholomewWould you stand up for a student who wants to participate in sports based on their gender identity? If a school committee or any other outside organization tried to thwart that.
Jason KnightYes.
Bill BartholomewRepresentative Solomon, same question on would you insert the attorney general's office into matters protecting individual students based on their uh sexual orientation or identity?
Joe Soloman, Jr.Yes, uh, yeah. And I think we we all kind of lose sight. I don't lose sight of it, but I think others lose sight of it. We're dealing with kids here, young kids, and you know, it's unfortunate that on the federal level, they're using these kids as political pawns. And we need to make sure that they're protected, that they feel safe and they're not being used and they're not being put out onto the national stage. So I think that's something that we all have to look at and be more protective of these individuals.
Bill BartholomewWould you use the office of the attorney general to protect student athletes who wanted to participate in a sport that was aligned with their gender identity but not their sexual orientation of birth? They have a right to participate in sports, including the gender identification that they choose. Ms. Ernst, same question on protections for students and uh really anyone, but in this context, the fight that seems to be playing out at school committees, uh specifically with transgender students.
Kim AhernYeah. When I think about this question, I think about so many people and um individuals that, in particular, in our trans community that just feel completely under attack at every step of the way by this administration. Um they're really going after our most vulnerable communities, and it is awful. And I can't imagine actually what some folks in my community, in my LGBTQ plus community, are going through. And when I think about this, my mind goes to as a parent, as a parent that has kids that proudly participate in youth sports. And when I think about them, and when I think about the things that I worry about as a parent, it's like, you know, what's how's their coach gonna handle the game that day, or are they gonna get hurt, or um, or if they get better and more successful, like, you know, like some of these awful cases involving um child sex abuse of coaches, right? I don't ever, ever think about a kid that is a trans kid just wanting to participate and learn the values of sportsmanship and learn the values of that I learned as a young athlete in this country. Um and so, yes, I would 100% stand up um for my community um when they feel under attack.
Bill BartholomewIncluding transgender participation in sports that that athlete identifies understood. Mr. Hoffman, same question on that space in some. I won't reset it.
Keith HoffmannYeah, so the answer is absolutely. And when a when a student is discriminated against or an athlete is discriminated against on the basis of their uh status as a person who identifies as transgender or uh due to race or uh religion or ethnicity or uh immigration status or any any um what we call protective characteristics, absolutely it's critical. And what this administration has done is tried to bully children. And the impact, what like what's the real impact of that? Well, there's the impact on the the child and the the when the policies harm them, but the broader impact is that a whole group of people, in this case trans individuals that you asked about, you know, are increasingly subject to violent attack in this country. And we absolutely, as Democrats and as public officials and as an attorney general, need to show our state and the people of our state what it means to defend people's right. To be themselves. And uh I'm very proud of the work that I've done in this space. I was the civil rights chief in the office. I led the first civil rights investigation of a school district for um alleged uh racist bullying. We we successfully enforced civil rights laws there. Um I helped to draft and then uh advocated for the past successful patches passage of the Healthcare Provider Shield Act, um, and many other instances uh and against Trump's overreach. I mean, look, this community, the LGBTQ community and reproductive rights are absolutely at the center of the Trump administration's plans to divide and bully and take away the rights of Americans. I've fought back against it. I'll continue to fight back against it as Attorney General.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you very much, Mr. Hoffman. In preparation for this debate, I spoke with Dr. Amy Nunn and Dr. Philip Chan at the Rhode Island Public Health Institute. That's a nonprofit. And look, obviously, we've discussed it in some uh public health and the healthcare system. With the amount of time we have left, we don't have time to go too deep on this. But if I could ask each of you to identify one healthcare system priority on day one to strengthen Rhode Island's healthcare system from the perspective of the Attorney General's office, beginning with Ms. Ahern.
Kim AhernOur healthcare system is in crisis, right? I'm sure when you talk to Dr. Nunn and Dr. Chan, that they echoed that. And um first and foremost, as a proud Democrat, I both believe that universal health care is a fundamental right. Affordable quality healthcare should be a fundamental right. And this administration is doing everything it can to roll those back, in particular by uh passing tax breaks that have increased premiums across Rhode Islanders, right? Health insurance is going up, people are losing coverage. Um, we don't have access to primary care doctors. I personally don't have a primary care doctor right now. Um, and so there's so many things that we could respond to to this question. But as the attorney general, we need to have a holistic look at the entire system. And the attorney general's office needs to stand up for the rights of Rhode Islanders across the board because healthcare is so much more than just one individual patient with a doctor, right? It's access to housing, it's making sure you can stay safe in your housing and not get kicked out by a landlord or by increasing utility bills. It's reproductive justice and bodily freedom. And that's why I said at the outset that that's the type of unit I want to create at the attorney general's office. So, for this question, it is entirely uh difficult to help focus on just one thing when the healthcare system is in crisis as a whole, and so many aspects of that are part of our healthcare crisis. Um, and so for me, as the attorney general, I'm gonna stand up for patients and residents and nurses and doctors that are having a tremendously difficult time going in and out of these facilities in our hospitals and our practices. Um, and we already talked about it earlier, but the attorney general has a really important regulatory hat in this space, right? To either approve or not hospital mergers. And in those instances, I'm gonna stand up and fight for Rhode Islanders to have access to quality, affordable healthcare.
Bill BartholomewAll right, Mr. Hoffman, day one, one action you would take to strengthen the healthcare system. I know this is a crazy question for everyone.
Keith HoffmannSo day one is sitting down with your healthcare team and understanding the scope of um, you know, the privileged information that the office has pertaining to healthcare, including in any uh proposed mergers or or any other conversations that might be uh happening right now that we might not know about. But I can tell you that the funding of our healthcare system in this state is critically low and very important to solving this problem. And one action that I think that we should take is to closely consider suing the federal government, Medicare. It would actually be a lawsuit against CMS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, over the state's unreasonably low Medicare reimbursement rate, which is a federal program, uh federally funded program. You know, Senator White House for many years has advocated for uh increasing Medicare reimbursement for the state of Rhode Island, and the Congress has not uh budged. But we are, in my view, and in the view of experts that I've spoken with, um really at an extraordinary disadvantage as compared to Connecticut and Massachusetts in Medicare reimbursement. Part of this is about how large health systems have been set up over there, um, that they draw providers out of Rhode Island. This is what's one of the things that's leading to our primary health care, uh primary care crisis in this state. Part of it is about something called the Bay State boondoggle, which is how, which is when uh the late great Senator Ted Kennedy before his death negotiated a higher Medicare reimbursement for the state of Massachusetts and nobody else. The upshot of it is that our system, both in Medicaid and in Medicare, does not have enough revenue. And this is one of the things that's putting pressure not only on primary care practices to close, but on health systems to consolidate in a way that does not serve patients. Thank you, Mr.
Bill BartholomewAlpha. Mr. Solomon, day one, the uh system as a whole.
Joe Soloman, Jr.That's a great question. I don't think we can wait for day one. I think we already need to do it now. Uh I can tell you in the General Assembly, we've been working on this issue for years. We've increased the reimbursement rates for physicians. We've uh either sponsored a legislation. And uh, I guess one of the biggest things for the healthcare is primary care physicians. So I introduced a bill that allowed foreign-trained physicians to practice in the state of Rhode Island, assuming that they hit certain requirements. Um, my doctor about a couple months ago sent me a letter saying that he's moving to a concierge practice and to remain in the practice, it's going to take $2,500 per year. You know, I think about if the doctor serves 1,300 people and goes down to 300 patients, what happens to those thousand patients who couldn't go to that particular doctor? Where do they go? And considering we have a primary care physician shortage in the state of Rhode Island, that's a huge problem. And I know we've already looked at, we're currently looking at the University of Rhode Island building a medical school. And we just we need to do more. We need to convene now. We can't wait for day one in January. It needs to happen now.
Bill BartholomewAll right, Representative Solomon, thank you. Representative Knight, day one as Attorney General Healthcare System Improvement.
Jason KnightWell, patients and providers are going to be the North Star for my administration when it comes to the healthcare practice of the attorney general in the engaged in the regulatory space and both advising the governor and the general assembly because you know we need a healthcare system. We have people in Rhode Island who I obviously we all need healthcare at times, and we can't do anything without the provider. So making sure that we have the providers and the financial networks that they need, um, the resources they need to actually do their jobs here is key and is going to be key throughout my entire administration. Day one, literally the first minute, we got to check in with Roger Williams and Fatima, right? We just um just completed the sale to Centurion with an $18 million backstop from the General Assembly, which Joe and I voted on February. Uh and you know, there's some real concern whether or not Centurion can pull that off with those two hospitals. So we have to be, I mean, this is nuts and bolts. We have the AG was on top of that issue, managing um, you know, being uh an involved participant in the bankruptcy and in the sale from prospect to Centurion. We've got to check in with those hospitals, see how they're doing, make sure that almost a year in by the time January rolls around, that they are functioning, functioning well, and there's no red flags. That's literally day one, first minute. After that, there'll be some other things to do.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you very much, Representative Knight. Believe it or not, we're actually approaching closing remarks here in just a few seconds. Uh, but before we do so, I just wonder if uh if we just go around the table as quickly as possible, what's your favorite thing about Rhode Island? I mean, this is like, okay, here we go. What's next? You know, which was who was your favorite teacher in elementary school? It seems, but I think it informs policy as well. Let's just stay in the order we were in, Representative Knight.
Jason KnightMan, I love the water and the beaches. Uh, anything I can do to get out on the water, get on a boat, get on a surfboard, get out on the beach. Um, I mean, we're right in the middle of the golden eight weeks, like July and August. Yeah, and it kills me that we're running a campaign during the season because I would love to be out on the beach. But that's what I that's what I really love about Rhode Island is the beach. All right, thank you, Representative Solomon.
Joe Soloman, Jr.I was gonna say the 400 miles of coastline of the state of Rhode Island, I know it's 39 miles of coastline in the city of Warwick. You know, just like Jason, I haven't had an opportunity to be out on the water on my jet ski, but looking forward to it next year.
Bill BartholomewYeah, the room we're in right now kind of feels like the beach uh a little bit, I suppose. Somewhat of an interrogation room on the beach. Uh Mr. Hearn, your uh favorite thing about the state.
Kim AhernUm I moved here as an 18-year-old to go to college, and I've been here ever since. I fell in love with the state, I fell in love with my wife, and we've been here ever since. And the thing I love the most is the community. I love being a parent in the city of Providence. I think there's so many amazing, diverse opportunities that my kids are having. Um, just even like at the pedestrian bridge on a Thursday night. Like spend a Thursday night at the pedestrian bridge in Providence, um, and you'll see all walks of life and amazing artists and community. And I just, I really do love that about our state.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you. Mr. Hoffman.
Keith HoffmannI love, I love the sense of family and community in this state. I um I grew up here and um when when I was 13, my dad passed away from uh cancer linked to age and orange exposure in the Vietnam War. And uh a group of families in our community really came together to help um support uh our family at that time. And um I was very lucky, and there are people all around this state who are struggling a great deal more, especially in the crisis that we're facing with this federal administration right now. But Rhode Islanders are an amazing people and everybody is uh is connected, of course. Uh, you know, one or two degrees of separation, and it just makes this state into uh such an extraordinary uh an extraordinary place, an extraordinary community that I believe if we all come together and we fight for a better state for all of us, we can we can succeed in facing many of the challenges that are ahead.
Bill BartholomewYeah, we all know the experience of bumping into Sheldon White House or Nelly Gorbea at the grocery store and what that looks like. So um thank you all for being here today and making time for this. This is uh definitely nice to see um a thorough discussion here from uh from our standpoint. So thank you for not turning this into uh you know a nonsensical waste of time. I think we gleaned policy perspective and differentiation here today. So, with that being said, we'll go in the same order we did opening remarks for closing statements. Please keep them to 60 seconds or less. Uh, we begin with Mr. Hoffman.
Keith HoffmannWell, thank you so much, Bill, for hosting this forum today. And I agree it was substantive, and it's a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with you and your listeners. Um, today we've discussed such important issues. We've talked about uh both the criminal division's functions within the AG's office and the importance of um ensuring that the healthcare system uh remains accessible to Rhode Islanders and affordable. Um, the work that we do holding corporate bad actors accountable. We've talked about civil rights and reproductive rights and rights for our uh trans members of our community. Uh, we have talked about the importance of uh firearm safety in the state, a critical piece of the attorney general's uh portfolio and workload. This is the work of the next attorney general to ensure that this critical part of our state and of our state government remains effective at carrying out its critical mission. And as attorney general, I believe that I have the energy and the experience as a former senior leader of the office, uh, alongside Attorney General Nerona to continue to fight every day to make our state safer, stronger, and fairer for all of us.
Bill BartholomewAnd thank you, Mr. Alfman. Mr. Hearn.
Kim AhernThank you both for having us, and thank you to the men who joined us in this conversation. It was a wonderful opportunity to talk. For the past hour or so, we'll be talking about the future. And so I'd like to talk a little bit about what brought me here. I come from a family that deeply believed in service. Both my grandfather served in War World II. My late mom dedicated her career to the United States State Department, and my late father served two tours in Vietnam and came back determined to make our country a better place. And so those values guided me. Um, they taught me that work is not titles or recognition. It's about showing up and doing the work and standing up for what's right. And they guided me to the attorney general's office as a prosecutor fighting for justice and for survivors. They guided me through state government, through some of Rhode Island's biggest challenges. But most importantly, they guide me as a wife and as a parent. Um, my wife, Jen and I, like I said at the outset, we're raising three kids. And like any parent, I think about the world they're being exposed to. And I want them to grow up in a place where they are safe, where there are opportunities and where their rights are protected. And to me, that's what the Attorney General's office is all about. Um, and so I hope to earn your vote on September 9th. Thank you so much.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you, Ms. Herod. Representative Solomon.
Joe Soloman, Jr.Thank you so much. So you've heard from all four of us today. And here's the difference. I'm the only candidate up here who's seen this system from every angle. As a prosecutor, bail commissioner, and a legislator, I made the calls and I've had to live with them. I won't need to learn this job while Rhode Islanders wait. Here's what I'll do with it I'll put violent and repeat offenders first. Go after the guns driving the violence, the stolen guns and the ghost guns, and stop leading those cases down. And I'll build a unit that does nothing but protect seniors from fraud. For six years I've chaired the committee that oversees banks and insurance companies. Independent researchers rank me among the most effective legislators in the state. I don't say that to brag. I say it because the attorney general's office is 250 public servants, and they need a leader who gets results, not another voice in the room. I'm not running for this job. I'm not running for this office to run for the next one. I want this job, not the next one, this one. And I've made the tough calls for over 10 years, and I'd be honored to keep making them as your next attorney general. Thank you.
Bill BartholomewThank you, representative, and representative Knight.
Jason KnightWell, thank you, Bill, for having us and WPRO for um hosting this debate. I wish we could do these forums all the time because I think the voters really get a uh sense of who we are, what the differences are, just as you said. Listen, we live in a moment of peril in the United States and in Rhode Island. Uh, in Rhode Island, we've had two mass shootings in the last few months. If Brown shooting, a Pa Tucker shooting is terrible. We have a president who tears at our rights every day, who's uh just intent on ripping up the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and there are just so many outrages. I mean, he pardoned the insurrectionists from January 6th, people who hurt cops. Um, he stripped away the rights from women. He has co-opted ICE to spread terror on our streets. And the AG is the first and the last line of defense between all of that and your family and mine. And I'm the only one in this race who has a just a strong record of progressive values and putting those values into action with a deep well of experience. Basically, I can make government work. So when I'm your attorney general, I will protect Rhode Islanders from the wrongdoers and the bad actors, whether they're on the street corner or in the boardroom or in the White House. And uh, we'd love to have your listeners' support. If anyone out there is interested, it's jasonknight, ri.com. And remember to vote September 9th. Thank you.
Bill BartholomewRepresentative Jason Knight, Representative Joe Solomon Jr., Kim A'Huron, Keith Hoffman. This has been the Rhode Island Attorney General Democratic Primary Forum here on WPRO in Bartholomew Town. I'm Bill Bartholomew. Thanks everybody for tuning in. We'll see you next time.
