R.I. House approves $14b tax-and-spending plan
'That concept is so simple, but bears mentioning in a week that saw the
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The budget bill passed 66 to 9 on a nearly party-line vote. One Republican, Marie Hopkins of Warwick, joined the Democrats in approving the plan.
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House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi said there remains 'uncertainty' in Washington as the US Senate considers the
He said he was most concerned about potential cuts to food stamps and Medicaid. 'Drastic changes' in federal aid could prompt a special fall legislative session, Shekarchi said. (The General Assembly does not typically meet in the summer or fall, reconvening in January.)
The House Finance Committee last week revealed the
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The extra tax does not apply if the homes are rented at least half of the days out of the year. State leaders have not yet calculated how much revenue the new tax, which would take effect next summer, would bring in.
The tax was previously nicknamed the 'Taylor Swift' tax when it was proposed in years past, after the pop star's $28 million home in Westerly.
Representative Charlene Lima, a Cranston Democrat, argued on the floor that the tax would punish Rhode Islanders who are not wealthy but whose family beach homes have dramatically increased in value over the decades.
'This is not the Taylor Swift tax, this is the mom-and-pop tax,' Lima said. 'They're hardworking men and women who we're treating as millionaires.'
Lima proposed an amendment to increase the threshold for the tax to $2 million homes. The amendment failed, with 17 representatives in favor and 56 opposed.
'Taylor Swift can afford it, sure,' Lima said. 'That's not who you're hurting. You're hurting real people.'
Representative Katherine Kazarian, an East Providence Democrat, disagreed.
'A million dollars is a lot to spend on a primary home, much less a second home,' Kazarian said. 'If you own a second home that is valued at a million dollars, you can pay a little more in taxes.'
Other changes from McKee's original proposal included a 2 cent increase in the gas tax, an additional $45 million in Medicaid spending on primary care (including a federal match), higher registration fees for electric vehicles, an increase in the tax on home sales, more money for school districts, and $22 million more to
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A number of Republican amendments were rejected on the floor, including a proposal by Representative Brian C. Newberry, a North Smithfield Republican, who sought to 'claw back' $11 million that Attorney General Peter F. Neronha secured in a
Newberry said state law mandates that the proceeds of any monetary settlements entered into by the attorney general be paid into the general fund and controlled by the General Assembly. He argued Neronha ignored that mandate when he settled a case with Barletta Heavy Division over contaminated soil at the 6/10 connector, a highway interchange in Providence.
'This should be the decision of the people in this chamber and the Senate,' Newberry said. 'The attorney general needs to be taught a lesson. This is one way to teach him a lesson. Take the $11 million from his budget and they can go back crawling to the Rhode Foundation.'
In a statement, Neronha said, 'Directing funds from the resolution of a criminal case brought by this office and authorized by a court to solve severe and unmet oral health challenges for Providence children is well within the authority of my office. We are prepared to defend attempts to argue otherwise.'
The House ended up rejecting Newberry's amendment by a vote of 13 to 60.
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Afterward, Shekarchi told reporters that he did not think Neronha violated the law, since the settlement was approved by a court.
'In this country that we live in, if you don't like a ruling of a judge, (US Supreme Court Chief) Justice Roberts said the best way to handle that is to file an appeal,' Shekarchi said. 'It's not to go to the legislative body and try to limit the court's discretion. If this particular settlement was improper, the solution is to appeal that.'
In a separate settlement announced Monday, Neronha secured $30 million for Rhode Island in a nationwide opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. While most of that money will be appropriated at a later time, the House did use some of it Tuesday to put $1.3 million into
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The budget debate, which began just after 4 p.m., was over before sundown, a rarity in a chamber that has been known to legislate until the wee hours.
Shekarchi attributed the speedier debate to the 'many, many' budget caucuses and meetings held during the session, where lawmakers made their priorities clear.
'I think it's a good budget,' Shekarchi said. 'We really went out of our of way to help the residents of nursing homes, the patients in the hospital, the people who take RIPTA to work. I'm really proud of the budget.'
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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Steph Machado can be reached at
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