house finance – RI Future

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016

House Finance hears moving testimony on no-fare bus passes

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House Finance heard moving testimony from elderly and disabled Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) passengers about the economic burden placed upon them with the proposed abolition of free fares. Representative Scott Slater introduced a bill, H 7937, that would remove RIPTA’s bus “fare adjustments” and restore the free rider program.

About eighteen people spoke out in favor of the free rider program, noting that it is one of our state’s most needed and useful social welfare programs. As is usual when the government targets vulnerable populations for cuts in services or increased taxes, people begin to suffer as soon as the new proposals are suggested. The stress of having to fight for something so basic and essential to human dignity as the right to travel is an unnecessary cruelty inflicted by an uncaring government.

Many also spoke out about the failure of Logisticare, a private contractor employed by the state to get Medicaid recipients to their doctors. I’ll be preparing a post on that over the weekend.

“It’s financially impossible for me to be able to take a bus. You might say it’s only fifty cents, but I take the bus like seven or eight times a day. So fifty cents becomes two, three, four bucks a day… I just don’t have the money. I live off the government.”

“I only live on Social Security. I don’t get a pension from where I worked. I retired. I don’t have a husband for financial support… This is another bill to pay, and you don’t get a lot from Social Security.”

“Our seniors today are more active than ever, as you can see. We have people here that are volunteering, making a difference in kid’s lives, helping with raising their grandchildren, going to after school programs because parents have to work… think about your own family, and ask if your grandmothers and grandparents should have to pay to go to a grocery store, or a pharmacy or a doctor.”

“I live on a fixed income. I live alone. I have to go to the doctor’s for COPD, hypertension, cancer… I cannot afford it. To pay fifty cents even, I would just lose my life…”

“About seven thousand low-income seniors use these passes. They use them for many things. The only thing that Medicaid covers is trips to licensed medical providers. It doesn’t cover non-medical support groups like AA, other social services, food shopping, food pantries, employment, education, religious, family and social activities…

“RIPTA estimates that 60 percent of the people would pay the fifty cents. Applying that to the numbers, 7000 disabled people and 2800 seniors would not be able to afford [the bus]. This is RIPTA’s estimate.”

“It also affects our homeless population… If the folks who need to travel to and from shelters do not have the money to do so, they may be put in the position to panhandle to get this fare… they may be put in the serious position where they may have to sleep outside…”

“I have to go places seven days a week… We need to vote no fare on this bus pass.”

We know how many [homeless people], who have limited or no income, rely on the us pass program… to have their basic needs met. To get to shelter, to go to meal sites, to access clothing distribution and to recovery meetings like NA and AA. Our constituents also use the no-fare pass as a means to obtain housing and exit homelessness…”

“The vast majority of riders who pay two dollars support the no-fare bus pass… Riders really do support this program.”

“It’s very important that we don’t hit the most vulnerable population to fill a budget deficit.”

“The reason I’m here today is because I could get here for free. You’re going to shut up a lot of people by taking away their free bus ride because they’re not going to show up for these hearings. They won’t be able to make it to any of the support groups they are now attending.I won’t be able to get to church, I won’t be able to make it to RIPTA Riders…”

“People’s lives will become desperate if they have to pay fifty cents a ride…”

“The people who oppose free bus passes… have a lot of wrong information…”

“The impact is going to be devastating… If we charge people fifty cents they can’t get to the food pantry… Another woman called me and said ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do. I won’t get out of my apartment, I’m going to get depressed, and I can’t afford to shop in my own neighborhood.”

“The fifty cents can be a problem…”

“It’s harder for me to express why this would be devastating to me. I don’t volunteer. I keep thinking I would like to volunteer, and I seem to be overwhelmed by things I have to do or want to do and can’t seem to get to… I take buses sometimes just to be able to get places and see people. Circumstances in my life force me to be somewhat of a recluse. That’s why I’m saying there are subtleties here I’m not sure how to express…”

“I don’t think it’s right. I don’t know how many people on SSI, making $766 a month. Those people shouldn’t be getting charged at all. And I do believe in that…”

“I can’t believe some of the heartless things people say about this. They say, ‘Why should Rhode Island do this? Rhode Island is an outlier.’ We don’t have to be ashamed of who we are in Rhode Island. We don’t have to be ashamed that we’re more generous tan other states because we’re doing the right thing…”

May 2, 2016

Student activists urge House Finance Committee to pass tuition equity

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Rep. Grace Diaz’s Tuition Equity bill was heard in the House Finance Committee meeting Thursday evening, with several student activists giving powerful testimony in support of the legislation. House Bill 7374 would codify existing policy that grants in-state tuition rates at Rhode Island’s public colleges and universities to undocumented students who have graduated from the state’s public high schools.

WRCcCtYX.00_00_55_20.Still001 — Rep. Grace Diaz testifying on her own bill, H7374

Rep. Diaz has introduced this legislation for over 11 years, and now, 20 other states have adopted similar policies, although only 16 have codified such in law. Diaz noted that she “was surprised to see many states that also provided tuition assistance to some students”, which her bill nor Rhode Island policy currently provides. She concluded by stating: “Regardless of immigration [policy], I believe every student needs to have access to higher education”

Even though Diaz’s bill is currently a policy that Rhode Island’s public institutions follow, she wishes to codify it as she is “afraid at some point we might have a governor who will get rid of the [existing] policy”

Rhode Island Kids Count also came out in support of the bill, stating that it is time to codify this legislation in law, as we have had a chance to see how it has been implemented.

Rodrigo Pimentel, Secretary of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats

Rodrigo Pimentel, representing Jobs with Justice, railed against the oft-used reasoning of immigration opponents: “the law is the law”. Here’s what they had to say about it:

“When we look back upon history, we see different groups that were marginalized and scapegoated for our nation’s problems. The oppressors will appeal to the law, often stating that “the law is the law” — they will hold the law as sacrosanct, as many have unfortunately done throughout our past.”

Pimentel said that “during slavery, run-away slaves would break the law by attempting to illegally cross the Mason-Dixon line, and the Quakers and abolitionists also knowingly violated the law by helping them. And it was the white slave owners that made it against the law to help runaway slaves.”

They also alluded to Donald Trump’s demagoguery, stating: “Today, we have a demagogue who comes along and says, “I know what the causes of your problems are”, it’s the immigrants, it’s the muslims, but it wasn’t so long ago when it was the uppity women who were trying to take jobs away from men, or blacks who were trying to take jobs away from whites. That’s what demagoguery is about. It is to dehumanize, disenfranchise, and discriminate, all to obfuscate the real problems facing our society.

Pimentel concluded their testimony by urging the Committee to “[reject] political expediency and [be] on the right side of history. By doing such, the committee will show that human dignity is sacrosanct, not blind appeals to the law.”

William Perry, member of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement.

Predictably, and embarrassingly, Terry Gorman and William Perry, of RIILE, resorted to appealing to what Pimentel had just spent their entire testimony dismantling: “the law is the law”. Perry stated how the current policy would is “aiding and abiding illegal immigration”, arguing that it is a violation of federal immigration law.

Addiqa Saleem, a student at the Community College of Rhode Island, supported the legislation. Even though she is not undocumented, she testified about her own experience on trying to qualify for in-state tuition as a legal immigrant in the State of Rhode Island.

Sabine Adrian, a Providence Student Union organizer, also came out in support of the legislation, reading written testimony of an undocumented student who could not have been present at the hearing.

Yaruska Ordinola, a senior at the University of Rhode Island testified in support. She eloquently stated that “by supporting this bill, you’re giving students like me the voice to pursue their education, students like me who call Rhode Island their home. We’re asking for a possibility, to pursue an education, and make our futures a reality”

For the full testimony, including other student activists and community members who testified on the legislation, see the video below:

June 12, 2015June 12, 2015

Tanzi stumps for South County as budget cuts its tourism funding

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Just because House Finance passed the FY 2016 budget onto the House floor for next Tuesday, doesn’t mean the entire House of Representatives has to like it. In fact, much of the bill is contested – such as the tourism cuts that Representative Teresa Tanzi, Narragansett/South Kingstown, has voiced her opposition to.

“When I moved here from Utah, everyone said “Oh, Newport, Providence!” People already know about Newport and Providence and I would say “No, Narragansett,” and nobody would know what Narragansett was. I have a really difficult time turning a portion of our money over from South County to help promote more Providence and more Newport.” she said, citing that the South County tourism board works very hard to market their area of the state.”

In response House Speaker Nick Mattiello said, “Despite that wonderful job, everyone still talks about Providence and Newport. It’s the integrity of the entire system that we’re looking at, and you need a Rhode Island brand. It’s not about localities. The current system doesn’t work, and we cannot go back to a system that doesn’t work.”

Their disagreement stems from Governor Gina Raimondo’s idea to centralize state tourism spending. Currently, Rhode Island has no unified state marketing efforts and instead dives proceeds from hotel tax receipts between 8 regional tourism agencies. The money will now go more towards the state Commerce Corporation, rather than the tourism bureaus themselves. In the House version of the budget, $4.7 million goes straight to the Commerce Corporation, while less than a million goes to the actual tourism district. In Gov. Raimondo’s version, $6.4 million would go to the corporation, leaving the districts with $1.7 million.

Rep. Tanzi (D- District 34). Photo courtesy of http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/ — Rep. Tanzi (D- District 34)

After the hearing, Tanzi continued to express her concerns about the funding cuts, and how they will harm her district as a whole.

“I think that the way that the South County tourism board is run is actually very effective. We have been compliant, we turn in our reports when we’re supposed to, our production cost of our marketing materials, everything is done in house. We’re very conscientious about how the money is spent,” she said, especially in comparison to other tourism boards across the state. Tanzi believes that this will only disserve the southern portion of Rhode Island, especially because Newport and Providence, in her opinion, do not need more marketing.

“The beaches are their own unique part of it,” she said. “We need to have our own budget to market that appropriately. We’re competing with the Cape, we’re not competing with Massachusetts.”

As the budget is currently written, Tanzi stated that to “cannibalize” the smaller parts of the state in order to market Rhode Island as a whole is not the best use of money, and it will only show poorly within the coming years.

“My guess is that my businesses in South County, who have five months out of the year at most, to make their living to make it through the entire summer, are going to suffer as a result of this,” she said. Tanzi has spoken to many of the businesses in her district since the budget first came out in March, adding that such funds are always a concern for business owners in the area.

But, the prospect of Tanzi submitting a successful amendment to support her district is slim to none, in her view, calling South County the “small fish,” in comparison to Newport and Providence.

“Just the basic numbers of looking at it, you’re talking about a couple of South County people, versus the city folk and the Newport people, who outnumber us on the floor. So, my chances of an amendment passing are ridiculously infantile. They’re infinitesimal, they’re so small, so, no, I won’t,” she said.

Even without the hope of amending the budget, this year, though, Tanzi still holds out hope for next year, planning to bring forth data showing the exact effects of these cuts on South County tourism, and maybe even get to create a separate brand for her district in the process.

June 10, 2015

House Finance approves budget bill, full chamber to vote Tuesday

The House Finance Committee considers the FY 2016 budget.

After much deliberation, the House Finance Committee gave a unanimous 19-0 vote on the FY 2016 budget late on Tuesday night, which included $37.7 million more than the proposed budget given by Governor Gina Raimondo back in March. The legislative budget proposal is for $8.67 billion dollars, with $3.55 billion from general revenue contributing to that.

“We concur with many of the governor’s initiatives for economic development,” House Finance Chairman Raymond Gallison (D-District 69) said in a press briefing tonight.

According to Gallison, the committee, in large part, accepted Raimondo’s budget, but there were some key provisions that saw change, including Social Security, Medicaid, and sales taxes to businesses.

Those who made between $80,000 and $100,000 will be exempt from paying social security income tax. These tax cuts will give retired Rhode Islanders $9.3 million in tax relief. Businesses are also now exempt from paying the sales tax on corporate utilities. Governor Raimondo had originally proposed phasing it out over five years, but will instead be taken out all at once this year. The earned income tax credit for middle to low income households has also increased from 10 percent to 12.5 percent.

The budget outlines a 2.5 percent Medicaid cut for hospitals, and a 2 percent cut for nursing homes. Gallison said this provides more protection for nursing homes. The House budget cuts Medicaid roughly $67 million, a far cry from the $90 million that the governor had proposed, but the hospital license fee has been increased to 5.862 percent, which would bring in $13 million in additional revenue.

“Funding to maintain HealthSource RI is included in the budget,” Gallison said, outlining the distribution changes to its funding. Now, individuals will pay a surcharge of 2.86 percent on their monthly premiums, and businesses will pay a .59 percent surcharge. The budget allocates $2.6 million for HealthSource RI going into FY 2016. There is also no more additional surcharge for outpatient and imaging services.

Full-day kindergarten is another key provision, with the governor allocating $1.4 million from general revenue to fund programs in the seven communities that don’t offer full-day kindergarten yet. Educational aid was increased by $35.8 million in order to pour money into the educational funding formula. There was also $20 million added for school construction purposes.

Higher education saw an increase of $7 million. The Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority is being downsized, with its responsibilities now being transferred to the Council of Post Secondary Education and the Office of the General Treasurer.

Other major provisions within the bill include cuts to all eight local tourism bureaus, a $2 million increase for RIPTA, and a $0.25 increase in the state sales tax on cigarettes, bringing it up to $3.75 per pack. The tax increase is estimated to bring in $1.7 million in revenue.

What is absent from the budget is just as significant as what is present.

“This budget does not contain anything whatsoever to do with a proposal for a stadium, or any tolls on trucks as proposed by the governor,” Gallison said during the hearing. Also notably absent is the “Taylor Swift tax” on million dollar homes in the state.

Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello has gone on the record saying that the proposed budget is business friendly, and will allow for economic development in the state.

“The budget that’s going to be voted on tonight is very pro-business, pro-economy. It’s going to serve as a catalyst for existing businesses as well as working to attract new businesses to the state of Rhode Island,” he told members of the media on Tuesday.

Gallison agreed with that sentiment, giving his own statement at the beginning of the hearing.

“We continue to move Rhode Island onto an economic path to enable businesses to continue to grow,” he said.

The bill is scheduled to go to the House of Representatives floor next Tuesday.

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014

On tax equity, RIPEC salves the souls of the House Finance Committee

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Last evening the RI House Finance Committee heard testimony on two bills that would increase the marginal tax rate on people making more than $200,000 a year. Representative Maria Cimini proposed a 2% increase, from 5.99 to 7.99% on incomes over $250,000, while Representative Larry Valencia proposed a 4.01% increase on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,00 for married couples.

Valencia asked the committee to explain the effectiveness of tax cuts for the rich (starting in 1996) given that these were supposed to bring more jobs to Rhode Island, not less, as evidenced by our high unemployment. Appeals to reason however, were not found persuasive by the committee.

At least ten people spoke in favor of the bills, some telling very moving stories about the way they struggle in a state that continues to cut services and cut assistance to our cities and towns, resulting in higher property taxes. In fact, it’s the property taxes that are hitting these Rhode Islanders the hardest, even as the myopic House Leadership continues to champion a policy of across the board tax cuts, curbs on spending and other austerity measures. The impassioned pleas of struggling Rhode Islanders fell on deaf ears, because appeals to compassion were not found to be persuasive.

Everyone knows that the bills proposed by Cimini and Valencia are going nowhere this year. Chairperson Raymond Gallison, recently appointed to his position by Speaker Mattiello, shaped the discourse by calling up all those in favor of the bills and listening politely, reserving the last word for John Simmons, executive director of a right wing think tank, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC). Gallison and Simmons are on a first name basis, and Simmons’ testimony was welcomed as a breath of fresh air.

Simmons simply restated the same things RIPEC says every year. Increasing taxes is wrong. The rich already face a higher tax burden than the poor. We shouldn’t be targeting the job creators. Philosophically, why should we be punishing those who are successful? The rich are rich because they are better than the poor, more deserving than the poor, and more important than the middle class. Here’s Simmons’ closing argument:

“Then there’s the philosophic issue, I guess I want to address that. It’s a little bit different. Is it because we can tax people who can make money and are successful that we should? Is that the philosophy we want for people to come to Rhode Island and grow a business here? If you make money we can take it from you? I don’t know that that’s the right message to send to people who want to come to Rhode Island. It’s the opposite. If you are successful we would like you to come to Rhode Island.”

Note that Simmons is not all that interested in those who already live in Rhode Island. He isn’t talking about improving the lives of Rhode Islanders, instead he’s talking about making Rhode Island a haven for the rich and successful. If Rhode Islanders are lucky, I suppose, we might find jobs shining the shoes and cleaning the yachts of our more deserving citizens.

This is what Gallison, representing House Leadership as Chairperson of House Finance, found persuasive: A naked appeal to everything he wants to believe is true, despite all evidence to the contrary. It’s called motivated reasoning, a process of having a conclusion and then searching for reasons to believe it. No contrary examples, no logic, no amount of suffering and no evidence contrary to the deeply held belief will be truly considered.

So what do you say to the man who eases your mind and continues to guide you down the primrose path of massive economic inequality? What do you say to the man who confirms all your biases and tells you that everything you sincerely wish were true is true and good, despite the nagging fear at the back of your mind that tells you it’s all a lie?

Gallison said, “Thank you very much John, I appreciate it.”