The Rhode Island Economic Story

In the second paragraph of the following quotation we see why Rhode Island will find another bottom to hit as the rest of the country recovers economically (hopefully):

"With the exception of the tax proposals, I'm not sure what else has been put on the table," [Department of Administration Director Gary Sasse] said. "If you don’t change our economic climate, deficits are going to get worse, and you're not going to sustain the investment in services we're currently making ... I think if we make decisions now to position ourselves we could take a quantum step to improve our competitiveness.”

But Sasse’s position was largely drowned out yesterday by a chorus of opposition, which included an economist from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The article doesn't explain the reason that a Boston bank VP was at the hearing, but it's mainly the chorus that's of interest — drowning out the soft-spoken voice attempting to explain that the various interest groups are going to lose the things that they're seeking to protect if we don't take action.