Lincoln Chafee Promises that the General Assembly Will Pass His Tax Increase. Another Potential State Senator Disagrees.

During Friday's night's Rhode Island Gubernatorial debate broadcast on WJAR-TV (NBC 10), independent candidate Lincoln Chafee rather blithely asserted that the General Assembly would go along with his plan to extend a 1% sales tax to items currently not taxed in Rhode Island...

If the governor is leading the way on a tax increase...the General Assembly is going to go along. That's the governor's leadership. That's his plan and they can go along with it. That's going to happen.

As State Senator Frank Maher pointed out in the previous post, Mr. Chafee's is making a promise and/or prediction about a body that has yet to be elected and whose composition is therefore unknown.

If Sean Gately is elected as a State Senator -- he's the Republican candidate from District 26 (Cranston) -- he will be one Senator not supporting the expansion of the sales tax, offering this position on the issue...

I oppose it.

I presume that answer applies, whoever it is that proposes a sales tax expansion, Governor included.