State GOP: Tax Increases Inevitable
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
With 23 days to the start of the new fiscal year and still no details on what the final state budget will look like, the Rhode Island GOP warned yesterday that the state is inevitably headed for higher taxes.
State Chairman Ken McKay pointed to a news report that said the Senate Finance Committee chairman is in negotiations over “raising taxes.” McKay demanded to know more about those negotiations—saying General Assembly leaders should disclose what is being discussed.
“What are they negotiating over? What is the House position on higher sales taxes, what is the Senate’s position? This is serious stuff when we are bleeding jobs already and when Rhode Islanders are moving out-of-state to escape” said McKay. “Leader Fox and President Weed have a responsibility to tell Rhode Islanders what their position on collecting more taxes from us is before this budget gets too far down the road.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMcKay: General Assembly should disclose its plans for more taxes
“If they are seriously talking about, or more appropriately, negotiating raising taxes, then we need to know what taxes and how much,” McKay added. “We should be assured of a fair process in the budget, separate articles and votes, and plenty of time for notice of hearings before the finance committees to maximize public participation.”
McKay’s warning comes as the General Assembly leadership has remained silent for weeks as to exactly what its alternative will be to Governor Lincoln Chafee’s proposed expansion of the sales tax, which met with widespread protests in the business community and was rejected by the House and Senate leadership nearly two months ago.
State rep: ‘The budget remains a complete mystery’
Even one member of the House Finance Committee last week told GoLocalProv he had no idea what is being planned. “From my vantage point, the budget remains a complete mystery,” said Laurence Ehrhardt, R-North Kingstown. “There’s no clear proposal on the table. You don’t even see trial balloons on some of the major issues.”
But the wait may be soon coming to an end. Details on the House proposed budget could be released as early as the end of this week, according to Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker Gordon Fox.
In an interview, McKay said that even though the House and Senate rebuffed the sales tax plan they will eventually be forced to return to it in one form or another. “I don’t think that the leadership in the House and Senate know what to do and they don’t have a plan to balance this budget without raising taxes,” McKay said.
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Related Articles
- A LIVELY EXPERIMENT April 14, 2011 Political Fallout of Failed Chafee Budget
- Chafee Budget Dead
- Chafee Budget Threatens RI Film Industry
- NEW: Chafee Budget Unveiled Tonight
- NEW: Chamber Slams Chafee Budget Proposal
- NEW: GOP Condemns Chafee Budget