When Rep. Trillo Mentions Tax Hikes….
….look out.
Rep. Joseph A. Trillo, of Warwick…said he expects a battle over new taxes in the coming weeks and months.
“The problem is, if we go down that road — and we may have to, hopefully we don’t — we face the possibility of more people who have to leave [Rhode Island],” he said. “We can put up tolls, but we can’t put up fences.”
Give Joe credit, that is a great line
I get sick of saying it but not only can’t you put up fences you can’t put up tolls either. It is illegal, forbidden, verboten to toll an existing Interstate built with federal money-ie RI’s stretch of 95 and 195.
I will try to get a specefic link tonight or tommorow morning.
“Federal law expressly prohibits the placing of tolls on any highways constructed with federal financial aid, including roads that are part of the Interstate System”
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2001/rpt/olr/htm/2001-r-0878.htm
Now-let me add that there ARE pilot programs where states can add tolled high congestion LANES (not toll the whole road) in urban areas. The North Stonington-Hopkinton border would obviously not be a viable market for the construction of such new lanes.
A good explanation of why the state CANNOT toll I-95 is found here:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/tollroad.htm
We cannot tax our way out of the budget mess. Period.
I don’t think Joe was actually advocating for tax hikes. I know him, and that’s the last thing he’d want. What he was pointing out was simply that it is a route that the Democrat General Assembly may be likely to take, because they can use the “crisis” as an excuse. They made also feel emboldened by their recent electoral gains.
As for as I’m concerned, let them go for it. Tax us into oblivion. Sure, we’ll all suffer (those who remain), but it will make for a good campaign issue in 2010. People tend to remember tax hikes longer than other things, especially when they aren’t getting anything extra in return for it.
PS Perhaps we could try building a wall around the state to keep people from escaping. I heard of a great one that they used to have in Berlin…