Angry Reactions to ‘Nightmare’ State Budget
Saturday, June 05, 2010
The state budget the House has passed is balanced, doesn’t raise taxes, and begins to reform the burdensome state pension system.
But as the debate over the budget dragged into the early morning hours of Friday, tempers flared and state lawmakers, several of them Republican, said the budget didn’t go far enough in trimming pension benefits or helping towns and cities cut their own budgets. A major sticking point for a lot of people—across the political spectrum—was a proposed cut of about $120 million in local aid to cities and towns. The House is allowing communities to raise car taxes to cover the difference.
Lieutenant Governor: RI Going Backwards in TimeGET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
“I am outraged that we are going backwards as a state by opening the door to the return of the most regressive tax in RI history—the car tax,” said Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts. “When I voted to phase out the car tax more than a decade ago, it was to start the process of eliminating a tax that truly hurt hard-working families. It is shocking that in 2010 Rhode Islanders will again face paying a tax that they can afford even less in this tenuous economic climate.”
Activist: Budget a ‘Nightmare’
“Cutting the average Rhode Islander’s income tax by eight dollars and eleven cents while increasing the car tax by as much as $420 for every Providence car owner is not tax reform – it’s a nightmare,” said Peter Asen, Executive Director of Ocean State Action.
Congressional Candidate: Higher Taxes Inevitable
“I am outraged that the Rhode Island General Assembly has once again passed a budget that has slashed local aid and will force cities and towns to raise property taxes,” said Republican state rep and First District Congressional candidate John Loughlin. “At the same time, it has granted cities and towns the ability to pass along massive increases in the regressive car tax. This is a budget that will mean that virtually every Rhode Islander will be facing a bigger tax bill.”
State Rep: ‘It’s Smoke and Mirrors’
At the height of the budget debate, State Rep. Charlene Lima, a Cranston Democrat, had some choice words for the deficit-reduction plan. “It’s smoke and mirrors balancing—we’re taking the money and we’re shifting ” Lima said. “We’re throwing the state’s deficit problem in the face of property taxpayers.”
Toward the end of the debate, Rep. Joe Trillo, a Warwick Republican, said the plan for reducing the budget was half-complete. He said the state needed to lift unfunded mandates on communities for it to really work. “Santa Claus has made us a promise that he is going to bring us the tools we need so the cities and towns can save themselves,” Trillo said.
