Delaware has twice the land mass of Rhode Island, no sales tax and a $6.6-billion state budget.
On the other hand, Rhode Island has a 7% sales tax and a $14.2-billion budget with the prospect of …
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Delaware has twice the land mass of Rhode Island, no sales tax and a $6.6-billion state budget.
On the other hand, Rhode Island has a 7% sales tax and a $14.2-billion budget with the prospect of very little help from the federal government.
Rep. Michael Chippendale made the comparison in opening remarks to the Warwick Rotary Club on Thursday, adding, “It makes us ask what are we getting for $14 billion? Education, the economy and health care are not doing so well.”
The House Minority Leader, Chippendale was accompanied by former Warwick Ward 1 Councilwoman Sue Stenhouse, who is chief of staff for House Republicans. While often on opposite sides of the aisle, Chippendale said legislators of both parties realize the state is dealing with a serious budget issue that according to the latest projections is nearly a $300-million shortfall.
With only 13% of state representatives Republicans, Chippendale observed, “we don’t have control of the budget.” But that doesn’t mean Republicans aren’t looking for ways to cut waste and reduce expenditures. Republicans will once again look to create the office of an inspector general, which has proven to save millions in other states. He is looking at education, saying the state’s approach of “throwing money at it hasn’t worked.”
The high cost of energy is in his sights, too. Renewals – solar and wind – represent a small portion of the power the state needs. He favors relaxation of regulations to enable utilities to purchase nuclear and hydro power. He also argues that natural gas, which he said could be made 99% efficient, should be explored.
Chippendale was asked what will become of toll gantries now that state efforts to give local truckers a break was knocked down by a federal court. He said legislators are looking at activating the tolls and option may be to activate only those gantries where there is a high level of out-of-state truck traffic. He doesn’t see the gantries being used to toll cars since that would be political suicide and besides, he noted, the toll legislation passed in 2016 includes a Republican amendment that expanding the tolls to cars would require a referendum.
Chippendale also sees the need to increase medical care, pointing out that the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates are lower than those of Connecticut and Massachusetts and that is driving health care workers from certified nursing assistants to doctors out of the state.
“People able to leave are leaving,” he said.
He also called for deregulation as a means of reducing health care costs.
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Straightnnarrow
"Delaware has twice the land mass of Rhode Island, no sales tax and a $6.6-billion state budget. On the other hand, Rhode Island has a 7% sales tax and a $14.2-billion budget with the prospect of very little help from the federal government." Incredibly, Mr Chippendale didn't attempt to explain how this could be and, instead, sees the "need to increase medical care". In inother words, more government at the expense of the taxpayer. What a great and original idea!!!
Friday, April 11 Report this
JohnStark
Mr. Chippendale is only scratching the surface but uses the wrong state for comparison. New Hampshire, with over 17,000 miles of state highways has virtually the same number of state highway department employees as RI with it's 1100 miles of state highways. And New Hampshire's highways are far better maintained using their 23 cents per gallon of gas tax vs. RI's deplorable highways using a gas tax that is 65% higher. New Hampshire, where no schools have been taken over by the state, spends considerably less per pupil in total education spending with far superior results on virtually every metric. RI's ongoing War on Prosperity through confiscatory estate taxes, capital gains taxes, and income taxes have driven thousands to NH, where there are no estate taxes, capital gains taxes, or income taxes. Or sales taxes. RI's $14.2B state budget might look superior on the surface when compared with NH's $15.3B. That is until take into account the fact that NH's state budget is a TWO-YEAR budget used to fund services for 40% more citizens!
Sunday, April 13 Report this