PROVIDENCE – The R.I. General Assembly is faced with a number of reoccurring issues this year as the economy continues to lag.
The leadership of both the House and Senate provided a glimpse of some of the challenges to come during a Wednesday luncheon for business leaders hosted by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.
A top priority for lawmakers was the state budget they must craft for the fiscal year starting July 1; the state already faces a roughly $290 million shortfall.
“It is going to be a budget of difficult choices,” said Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed.
She delivered the solemn assessment to a sold-out crowd of about 600 people, including some 50 state representatives and about a dozen state senators.
State legislative leaders promised to carefully study areas that have been topics of discussion for years. House Speaker Gordon D. Fox said the state needed to look at the pensions of state workers. Fox also said he was open to discussing the possibility of Twin River adding table games to its offerings in a move the gaming facility says could add to the state’s coffers.
One thing, however, was not on the table for Fox.
“I don’t support raising taxes,” he said.
Sen. Dominick Ruggerio, who leads the Senate Democrats, advocated for discussions on how to develop the land freed up by the relocation of Interstate 195 in Providence.
Meanwhile, the Senate Republican Leader, Sen. Dennis Algiere, called on the state to repeal – or at least reduce – the $500 minimum corporate tax. He also called for the lawmakers to rework the estate tax.
His House counterpart, Rep. Robert Watson, implored business leaders to pressure lawmakers to reject a proposal by Gov. Lincoln Chafee to place a 1 percent sales tax on some items currently exempt from the sales tax. He said special interest groups would pressure lawmakers to support the tax.
“They’re going to beg us to go with the tax increase, and we shouldn’t do it,” he said.
Later in the discussion, Paiva Weed said all lawmakers support lowering costs for businesses but, she cautioned, every decision has ramifications. She said repealing the minimum corporate tax could cost the state up to $23 million and potentially reduce money available for job training.
She asked the business leaders in the room to work with lawmakers to tell them what would be better on that, and other, issues.
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