EDITORIAL: 50,000 Out of Work Means Fewer Rhode Islanders to Support Cost of Same Old Government
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
While tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders have lost their jobs and tens of thousands more have simply left the workforce, the full brunt of the economic catastrophe has not been felt — but Rhode Island decision-makers are funding a state budget that is status quo.
It is the same government as before the pandemic -- to wrestle with the issues that will be completely different in the near and far future.
The economic carnage -- which is being caused by the pandemic and a long-overdue recession -- is nearly endless across all business segments and especially in two of Rhode Island's largest employment sectors, the restaurant and retail industries. Other industries are being impacted too — everyone from the commercial real estate market to segments of professional services, and so many others.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTRenters and landlords will both be devastated. Many rental apartments in Rhode Island are on the first floor of a three-decker and the rent from that unit helps pay the mortgage for the owner. They have no margin for error.
While many businesses have been forced to reinvent themselves, this year’s Rhode Island budget funds government like it is “good times.”
Moreover, the next few years will require a different government than the one that existed before the pandemic.
It will require a smarter more efficient government that can assist the launch of thousands of new businesses to replace those that died under the government's limitations during the pandemic. But, Governor Gina Raimondo and legislative leaders Joe Shekarchi and Dominick Ruggerio are keeping the old government — it is a state government with little innovation at a time where innovation is a must.
In these next few months to as long as a year, the vaccine will take effect and some aspects of life will return, but the jobs recovery will not be immediate. In fact, as businesses have learned to work from home and found “workarounds” the job losses may increase.
According to Forbes many jobs simply will not return — and more than restaurants and retail workers. “Job postings for opticians and physical therapists saw a similar fate, down 61% and 40%, respectively. There’s also been a shortage of administrative and lower-skilled office roles. Jobs for event coordinators are down 69%, making it the second most at-risk job post-pandemic. Similarly, openings for executive assistants are down 55%, human resources generalists are down 37% and receptionists are down 35%, as most offices have been closed.”
The budget working its way through the legislature de facto level funds government — state and local. The same, the old, the pre-pandemic.
The funding source to balance the budget — the one-time federal fund infusion that was intended to support the response to the pandemic and to help small businesses.
Small businesses and workers are begging for help, but this budget doesn’t hear their cries for help. Instead of using this opportunity to modernize and regionalize Rhode Island's government — a government in many cities and towns that are operationally antiquated and often dysfunctional -- it props them up.
No one is advocating for more to suffer economic harm, but it is time to look at why Tiverton and Little Compton have separate police departments — and police chiefs and so many other redundancies. Many cost savings may be able to be achieved through technology and attrition, but no one will know as no one is even looking.
As the rest of the world is transforming at a dizzying pace, Rhode Island government has stayed functionally the same — lethargic, monolithic, and for Raimondo who ran for office as a leader who was going to channel her business experience to make Rhode Island more competitive and innovative, this year’s budget is the very definition of reactionary.
We simply have to do better.
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