Legislators Making Up Taxes as They Go

One must laugh out loud, if only to keep from crying. Here go Rhode Island legislators toying with making tax code more complicated and less beneficial to taxpaying corporations, with a tinge of state tinkering with the shape of the economy (i.e., what sorts of businesses it rewards):

Current law generally allows the tax break only if a business creates jobs that pay at least $11 an hour or so (about $22,900 or so a year, based on a 40-hour workweek).

The proposed legislation would allow the break only if a business creates jobs that pay at least $18.50 an hour or so (about $38,500 a year).

State Rep. Steven M. Costantino, D-Providence, chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee, and chief sponsor of the bill (H 6164), said, "I think we all want [more] jobs. But in order to get a credit, I think you have to have a higher threshold."

Businesses would continue to be free to create jobs at various pay levels, Costantino stressed.

But in order to claim the tax break, they would have to create jobs that pay more money than the law currently requires — and also carry health insurance and retirement benefits, according to the bill.

And yet:

The state thus far has not studied in detail the benefits that the job-creation or other such tax breaks provide to the state, cities and towns, such as tax payments made by the job holders or other economic benefits.

As far as I can tell, there's not even any sort of governing philosophy behind vague expectations about what the actual results of such legislation will be. That is, legislators don't even appear to consider whether, in broad terms, more companies will benefit, fewer will benefit, more will create jobs, or fewer will create the jobs that apply to their business models (because they don't qualify for incentives).

Of course, the whole issue is colored by the fact that this tax break is largely enjoyed by a single company — CVS. That being the case, the General Assembly should just make things simpler and boost business activity period by lowering the taxes and trimming the fees, regulations, and mandates on people and organizations that contribute to Rhode Island's economy.