Conservative Think Tank Gives Chafee a ‘D’ for Fiscal Policy

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Monday, October 15, 2012

GoLocalProv News Team

Governor Chafee is ranked among the worst Governors in the country when it comes to fiscal policy, according to a conservative think tank.

In its annual ranking of every Governor, the Cato Institute gave Chafee a ‘D’ thanks to increased spending and for increasing the cigarette tax. Five Governors— Pat Quinn of Illinois, Dan Malloy of Connecticut, Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, and Chris Gregoire of Washington— received ‘F’ grades.

Here’s what Cato had to say about Chafee:

“Lincoln Chafee is a former Republican U.S. senator who served one term and lost his reelection bid in 2006. He is now a political independent, but he leans left on fiscal policy. As governor, Chafee has presided over a substantial increase in spending. General fund spending in fiscal 2013 is expected to be up more than 11 percent from fiscal 2011. The rise in spending has generated a demand for higher taxes. Governor Chafee has signed bills to modestly broaden the sales tax base and raise the cigarette tax. To Chafee’s credit, however, he signed into law major reforms to the state pension plan.”
 

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