If Rhode Island drives out its top earners with higher taxes, it’s not just the wealthy who leave – it’s their tax dollars, too. And when that happens, the rest of us are left footing the entire bill for running the state. 

That’s the hidden consequence behind H 5473 / S 329 and similar proposals aimed at increasing taxes on the so-called "top 1%." The proposals may sound fair on the surface, but they risk hollowing out our tax base and leaving the other 99% of Rhode Islanders – working families, small business owners and middle-income taxpayers – holding 100% of the burden. That’s not justice. That’s economic self-sabotage. And we should all be angry about it.

Rhode Island’s economic strength relies on smart, forward-looking decisions that grow opportunity – not punish success. If we want to create jobs, retain talent and support the public services our communities rely on, we must stop turning to short-sighted revenue grabs that undermine the very foundation of our economy.

Most Rhode Islanders can’t simply pick up and move. They’re tied to their communities, their schools, their mortgages. When the economy contracts, they’re the ones left standing in it. The most dangerous part of tax migration is that it doesn’t come with a press release. People don’t send out farewell emails or hold news conferences when they decide to shift their legal residence, move assets or change the trajectory of their financial lives. They simply do it – quietly, deliberately and often long before any official data catches up.

That’s the flaw in arguments that say “there’s no evidence people are leaving.” By the time evidence appears in a dataset, the damage is already done. These are decisions made at kitchen tables, with financial advisors, behind closed doors – not captured in exit polls. And once those dollars, jobs and charitable gifts are gone, they’re extraordinarily hard to recover.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island is competing every day for people, capital, and credibility. Massachusetts may have enacted a millionaire’s tax, but it’s operating from a position of strength – anchored by world-class institutions, global tech hubs and deep pools of capital. Rhode Island doesn’t have that kind of margin of error. Our economy is more fragile. Our talent base is more mobile. 

And here’s the bigger question: What are we doing to bring people back from Florida? Thousands of former Rhode Islanders – entrepreneurs, executives, professionals and retirees – have already left, not out of disloyalty, but because they felt they were being pushed out. Let’s reverse that by passing a Welcome Back to Rhode Island tax package before the end of this legislative session – a bold, strategic initiative to invite former residents to return, reinvest and rejoin our economic ecosystem. Other states are marketing themselves with smart tax policies. Why shouldn’t we?

Today’s debate is about whether your kids will have opportunities in a state that grows or one that declines.  We urge the General Assembly to reject H 5473 / S 329 and take a more mathematical view of Rhode Island’s long-term competitiveness. Don’t narrow our tax base . Expand it. Don’t squeeze those who fuel our economy. Support them. Don’t wait for the data to confirm the exodus. Lead before the session ends.

Laurie White is president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce