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I used to believe that the business environment would only change when the tax structure was changed. But that will only happen when the political makeup changes. And RI's public sector is dependent upon the existing tax structure for it's livelihood. So you have a Catch 22. Tax structure won't change unless political makeup changes, because unions own the Democrat party. And political makeup will only change when the tax structure changes. It's really a death spiral. Producers continue to leave, while Takers continue to come. The pie is shrinking. That said, I would really like posters to answer the eternal question:

What specific state services to RI taxpayers receive as a function of paying state income and sales taxes, that NH taxpayers Do Not Receive as a function of paying Neither a sales nor income tax? Better maintained roads and bridges? Better state university system? Better system of human service delivery? Better state parks? Higher standardized test scores? No, no, no, no, and no.

In FY 2020 RI will spend $10B on about a million people, or $10,000 per person. NH will spend about $6.5B on 1.3 million people, or about $5000 per person. At some point, taxpayers in RI need to ask some blunt questions. Based upon competency levels revealed in RICAS, however, the ability to formulate cogent questions might be a real challenge. This, despite one of the most expensive systems of government-run education in the developed world.