A bill has already been introduced in the Rhode Island House (H5034) to lower the state’s corporate income tax rate from 9.0% to 7.4%. As far as I can tell, there are no gimmicks in this particular bill, no lowering-but-broadening schemes or anything like that, just a permanent lowering of the corporate tax rate starting in 2010. State Representative Joseph Trillo (R-Warwick) is one of the bill’s sponsors, further lending credence to the idea that it’s for real.
What surprised me a bit is that Representative Amy Rice (D-Portsmouth/Middletown/Newport) is also a sponsor, along with Raymond Gallison (D-Bristol/Portsmouth) and Jack Savage (R-East Providence). Is it naive for me to think that this particular lineup could be the result of democracy actually working at the participatory level, and the East Bay reps listening to the concerns of the various taxpayer groups that have been active in that part of the state?