A PTO bake sale in his city, said Sen. Frank S. Lombardi (D-Dist. 26, Cranston), can raise enough money to send busloads of school children to the State House every year to learn about their government.

“That’s one reason it was so disturbing when the local PTO was barred from conducting a bake sale at the polls this recent election season,” Lombardi said. “I understand conducting a bake sale at the polling places is technically a violation of our laws, but sometimes laws with good intentions can have unfortunate consequences. Denying our school children extra educational opportunities that PTO fundraising events are able to provide is certainly unfortunate.”

Lombardi has introduced legislation in the Rhode Island Senate that will specifically allow bake sales to be held at polling places “as long as conduct does not interfere with the orderly conduct of the scheduled election.”

The dust-up in Cranston about the banned bake sales was as much a surprise to Lombardi as it was to the PTOs and school officials.

“This is something that has been going on for years without incident. Raising money to provide a better and broader education for our school children is something PTOs do, and as long as it is not hindering people from casting their vote, I see no harm in allowing them to continue,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi said that the bake sales he has encountered in the times he has gone to the polls have not been disruptive in any way of the election process.

“The PTOs do what they can to help raise money for school activities and this has been a very popular kind of event and helps the PTOs greatly with their mission,” he said. “I want to see them be allowed to continue doing this.”

Among the more than a dozen co-sponsors are Sen. Hanna M. Gallo (D-Dist. 27, Cranston, West Warwick), Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence), Sen. Maryellen Goodwin (D-Dist. 1, Providence) and Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III (D-Dist. 7, Providence, North Providence).