House Reacts To New Budget
Saturday, June 25, 2011
If both sides leave a little angry, you’re probably doing something right. That was the sense leaders on both sides of the aisle expressed following the passage of a $7.7 billion House budget that mostly avoided tax hikes and the upfront fixes that have plagued budget cycles in recent years while cutting or altering a number of social service programs in the state.
The budget passed overwhelmingly following over nine hours of debates that ended well after 1:00am early Saturday morning. While no one appeared completely thrilled with the budget, House Majority Leader Nicholas Mattiello said difficult –but fair- decisions had to be made.
“We have to look at what our budget has available and make [the right] choices," Mattiello said. "Everyone in this country is making tough choices today."
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Outspoken House Minority Whip Joe Trillo said he believes the House budget is a major improvement over many of the proposals produced by House Democrats over the last five years. He praised House Speaker Gordon Fox and Finance Chairman Helio Melo for a job well done.
“This is a hard budget year, I realize that,” he said. “I want to compliment everyone that worked on this budget. I think compared to the alternative we were facing, you’ve done an excellent job producing a better budget.”
Then he offered an amendment that would have gotten rid of the slightly expanded sales tax, which includes taxes on over the counter drugs, digital downloads and sightseeing tours. Trillo suggested the way to make up for the $17 million in projected new revenue would be to “reduce the amount appropriated to hospitals for uncompensated care.”
Finance Chair: Budget Achieves Great Structural Balance
One of the concerns on the left side of the aisle was just how much the Republicans were supporting the House budget. In additional Trillo, Minority Leader Brian Newberry and former Minority Leader Bob Watson both praised the budget as great alternative to what Governor Chafee had in mind.
But Finance Chairman Helio Melo said the budget still helps some of the neediest Rhode Islanders. He said his first budget process was difficult, but “we did it with a lot of discussion, a lot of passion, and a lot of concerns, not only for our constituents but for the state as a whole.”
Melo said some of the accomplishments of the budget include providing more help for senior citizens, funding the hardship program, adding to the PILOT program which helps cities and towns, and fully funding the educational funding formula. He acknowledged that some cuts had to be made, but he also said that in addition to balancing the budget, they also managed to pay back the rainy day fund.
“This budget has long term savings built in to achieve a great structural balance,” Melo said.
Still Voted Against
Despite praising the work the House leadership did on the budget, Watson said he simply couldn’t vote to support it because of the $17 million increased sales taxes.
“If you’re against tax increases, if you believe in that principle that we don’t raise taxes to solve our budget problems, you have to vote against this budget,” Watson said.
Newberry: A Potential Disaster
Newberry said that while he was opposed to any sales tax, he was generally supportive of the House budget.
“There has been a lot of rhetoric out there that this budget is a joke,” he said. “This is not a joke.”
Still, Newberry did express concern over the late night casino amendment that he claimed he had only seen in “the last 90 minutes.” While the Minority Leader said he supports full-fledged casino gaming, he warned that jamming the amendment through could be dangerous.
“I do not want us to do something that is going to cost the state in the long-run,” he said. “I think it is potential disaster.”
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