As you may have heard, the Rhode Island legislature voted in this year’s budget to reduce state reimbursement of the $6,000 local car-tax exemption to a reimbursement on only the first $500 of value. In the same budget article (Article 23), cities and towns were given the option of making up the lost reimbursement money by reducing the exemption itself to as little as $500, i.e. by raising a local tax.
To understand your state representative’s position on this issue, votes on two amendments need to be considered in addition to the final vote (pg. 160) on the Article.

1. The original version of the bill submitted to the legislature would have had the state reimburse the cities and towns for an exemption on the first $3,000 of vehicle value. Representative Steve Costantino of Providence introduced an amendment (pg. 155) which reduced the reimbursement to taxes paid on the first $500 of value. The amendment passed.
2. Rep. Karen MacBeth of Cumberland introduced an amendment (pg. 157) to make the reimbursement rate uniform across all cities and towns in RI. This did not alter a city or town’s power to set the level of the exemption, only the amount that the state would reimburse. The amendment failed.

A sizable majority of reps (46) voted both for the amendment lowering the exemption amount and for the final article. Of this group, only 4 voted to make the state reimbursement rate uniform; they are underlined in the list below…

The Honorable Speaker Fox, Ajello, Almeida, Azzinaro, Carnevale, Carter, Coderre, Costantino, Diaz, Driver, Edwards, Fellela, Ferri, Fierro, Gablinske, Gallison, Gemma, Handy, Hearn, Jackson, Kennedy, Lally, Malik, Marcello, Martin, Mattiello, McCauley, Melo, Murphy, Naughton, O’Neill, Pacheco, Palumbo, Petrarca, Pollard, Rice M, Ruggiero, San Bento, Serpa, Shallcross, Silva, Sullivan, Vaudreuil, Walsh, Williams, Williamson.

This is yet another example of the dysfunction in Rhode Island’s governing class; proposals that take the form of shifting costs from one place to another can expect to receive overwhelming support from the current statehouse majority, while reforms that would nudge the system towards a more rational and equitable structure garner little support.
In addition to the 46 reps listed above, another 7 representatives voted to lower the vehicle tax exemption from $3,000 to $500 but voted against the final article. Of this group of 7, 3 voted in favor of a uniform state reimbursement rate (indicated below using the same underlining convention as above) and 4 voted against…

Ehrhardt, Kilmartin, MacBeth, Menard, Rice A, Savage, Winfield.

Don’t let this group of 7 tell you that, because they voted against the final article, they were stalwarts in opposing the vehicle tax change — they all supported lowering the exemption to next to nothing, when that specific issue was voted on. Reps MacBeth, Menard and Rice may have voted against the final article on principle because of the failure to make the reimbursement uniform, but I’m not sure what excuse Reps Ehrhardt, Kilmartin, Savage and Winfield have. (And shouldn’t a guy who aspires to be the state’s AG have a better sense about bringing some fairness to the entire state?)
Two other reps voted no on lowering the exemption from $3,000 to $500, but yes on the final article, with Rep. Trillo also voting in favor of making the reimbursement uniform…

Caprio, Trillo.

Finally, 13 reps voted against the entire article changing the car tax and its associated reimbursements, against the specific amendment that lowered the new statewide exemption from $3,000 to $500. Of these 13, 9 voted in favor of a uniform state reimbursement rate…

Baldelli-Hunt, Brien, Corvese, DaSilva, Giannini, Guthrie, Jacquard, Lima, Loughlin, Messier, Newberry, Schadone, Wasylyk.

There were also some amendments offered on the subject of fire-district taxes that may have impacted a few votes, but the anti-correlation between the “let’s-make-the-reimbursement-fair” group and the “let’s-shift-the-burden-to someone-else” group is sadly telling. Rhode Island’s state representatives most eager to shift their fiscal problems to someone else are also the reps who seem to care the least about creating a system that is maximally fair to all of Rhode Island’s taxpayers.
CORRECTION:
Rep. Jon Brien of Woonsocket has brought to my attention the section of the House Journal from June 8, where he had his intention to vote against the amendment lowering the statewide car-tax and associated reimbursement from $3,000 to $500 entered into the official record. I’ve updated the post above to reflect Rep. Brien’s intent.
Share&nbsp&nbsp&nbspComment via Facebook

Footnote on Reps who didn’t vote on all 3 votes tallied in this post:
Reps DeSimone, Slater, Segal and Ucci did not vote on the amendment to lower the reimbursed amount from the first $3,000 of value to the first $500 of value. Rep Watson voted against.
Rep Ucci did not vote on the amendment to make the reimbursement rate uniform. Rep. Watson voted for, and Reps DeSimone, Slater and Segal voted against.
Rep Watson did not vote on the final article. Reps DeSimone and Ucci voted for, and Reps Slater and Segal voted against.