The Chafeedom
WPRI’s Ted Nesi reports that Governor Chafee just can’t understand why people are so opposed to raising taxes. He blames the Providence Journal. The Providence Journal is “hurting Rhode Island” with its barrage of negative editorials, advertisements and articles about the Chafee administration’s sales tax proposal, the governor told WPRI.com on Monday. He blames former…
WRNI’s Ian Donnis has this from Governor Chafee: I haven’t heard from anybody how to get out of the $295 million hole. There’s just been critic after critic without offering any constructive alternative — and I’m still waiting. I’m open-minded to anybody who has a better idea. Now that’s someone in a bubble. Or someone…
Only in the Chafeedom….First, Governor Chafee proposed doubling the fees for accessing state beaches. Under the plan, season passes would double, from $30 to $60 for residents and $60 to $120 for non-residents. Weekend daily parking would increase from $7 to $15 for residents and from $14 to $25 for non-residents. A legislative panel reviewed…
I start with a chart. A chart of the Full-Time Equivalent positions (FTEs) in the major departments of Rhode Island government from 2009 thru Governor Chafee’s 2012 Budget Proposal. I’ve also included some specific sub-departments if I thought they warranted particular scrutiny. The major departments are bolded while the sub’s are regular font. 2009 2010…
It’s almost humorous. The Providence Journal’s PolitiFact team couldn’t do otherwise than find that Lincoln Chafee broke his campaign promise not to raise taxes without first relieving the burden of state mandates on cities and towns. As if to counter that affront to media darling, on the same page, they declared that he kept his…
Here’s an interesting tidbit from Ed Achorn: I asked Governor Chafee last week whether he, or anyone in his administration, had done an analysis of the number of jobs that his tax hikes would cost the state, since many financially stressed Rhode Islanders would respond by traveling the short distance to neighboring states for goods…
Perusing the list of items that Governor Chafee wishes to move from tax-exempt to taxable, I came across this peculiar item, sure to help grow the economy: Employment agency services Sure, employment agencies are arguably unnecessary middlemen in employment chain, but they’re a halfway step for businesses looking to ease into hiring. And they’re now…
Here’s a point worth restating throughout the current session of the General Assembly (emphasis added): By broadening the general sales tax and levying a new 1 percent tax, Chafee’s budget would raise about $165 million in new tax revenue — even after taking into account the drop in the general sales tax rate. That would…
Ted Nesi has put up a list of newly-taxed items being proposed by Governor Chafee. I’ve copied it after the jump. As a commenter to Ted noted: …the fact Rhode Island has so many sales tax exemptions is interesting in and of itself. The state has a total of 82 exemptions, 20 of which have…
Another interesting fact emerges when comparing Governor Carcieri’s last five-year forecast with Governor Chafee’s first. This table shows the degree of change that the former has made from the latter forecast: 2012 2013 2014 2015 Personnel expense -$16.8 M -$12.3 M -$27.9 M -$45.5 M State operations (including personnel) -$43.7 M -$38.4 M -$53.6 M…