RI Senate Approves House Budget — Legislation Moves to Raimondo for Consideration

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Legislature Cuts Sales Tax for Feminine Hygiene Products

A new addition to the budget which will take effect in the fall will be the elimination of the sales tax on feminine hygiene products.

The change will take effect in October, pending budget approval in the full House and Senate. 

PHOTO: Wikipedia, Stilfehler

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Transforming URI's Governance

The proposal by URI President David Dooley to change the governance of the University from the state's Council which oversees Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island to a more independent board of trustees structure has been added to the budget -- functionally assuring its adoption.

In his remarks to the press late Friday night, Speaker Mattiello cited former Director of Administration Gary Sasse's comments on GoLocal LIVE that the measure is the "most important economic development this year" as his reason to put it in the budget. 

Read the GoLocalProv Editorial HERE.

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Senate Majority Leader's 195 Legislation -- In the House Finance Budget

RI State Senate legislation sponsored by President of the Senate Dominick J. Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) that “takes a new approach to economic development on large tracts of state land. Spurred by delays and impediments imposed upon the [Fane] Hope Point Tower proposal for the I-195 Redevelopment District, the bill intends to create a more streamlined process for approvals on these state-owned parcels moving forward” is now an article in the budget.

“We have a rare opportunity for development at the former I-195 land and some other areas across the state,” said Ruggerio. “In the I-195 District, a developer is hoping to invest more than a quarter of a billion dollars to create an iconic structure that redefines the skyline. We should have welcomed this investment with open arms. Instead, we did everything we could to chase the developer away. Thankfully, he’s still here. This process has sent a terrible message to anyone looking to invest in Rhode Island.”

The legislation strips the remaining regulatory authority from the City of Providence.

Mattiello said that the 195 measure, along with the URI change in governance, constitute "economic development" -- the reason he said for placing them in the budget. 

OUT

Commerce RI Takes a Hit

One of the agencies that took a hit is Commerce RI. Mattiello said the agency continues to enjoy $50 million in funding capacity, but the double incentive of Rebuild and sales tax exemption was removed. Tax exemptions in the future will be applied to the Rebuild program. 

Rebuild and other Raimondo economic programs were trimmed. 

OUT and IN

Raimondo's Beach Fees Out, Camping Fees In

Governor Raimondo's unpopular beach fee increase proposal is out.

Raimondo wanted to extend the hike for Rhode Island residents with a $2 increase in beach parking fees, bringing the cost to $8 during the week and $9 on the weekend.

Speaker Mattiello had indicated back in February the plan was dead on arrival -- read more here.

Camping fees are in. 

The Rhode Island DEM proposed to increase camping fees, and depending on the offering (three different tiers), camping fees would increase by as much as $16 in 2019, or as little as $4 for residents.

OUT

Raimondo's Proposal to Expand RI Promise -- Free Tuition -- for RIC Is Out

Governor Raimondo wanted to expand the RI Promise program-- the "free" Rhode Island taxpayer-funded tuition currently at CCRI -- in two ways.

Raimondo wanted free tuition for Rhode Island College students and older students for both the Community College of Rhode Island and RIC.

Both expansions are dead.

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Raimondo's Proposed Medicare Tax on Large Employers

Immediately after the introduction of Raimondo's budget that Wall Street Journal ravaged the proposal.

"She also wants to reimpose the ObamaCare penalty for individuals without health insurance. And she’d create a new $1,500 penalty on large “for-profit” employers for each employee who enrolls in Medicaid. This new tax is loosely based on legislation proposed by Bernie Sanders and would essentially punish businesses for hiring low-income workers," wrote the WSJ. 

The Raimondo Medicaid tax -- dead. 

OUT

Raimondo's Tax on Interior Designers

Governor Gina Raimondo's plan to tax the services of interior designers was roundly criticized. It was going to hit the small business for $1.4 million.

“I was pretty upset about it,” said designer Robin Garceau, who attended hearings at the Rhode Island General Assembly about the proposed tax on her business — and industry. “Why is [Raimondo] singling out certain services — why wouldn’t it be services across the board?”

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Expansion of Compassion Centers

The number of compassion centers under the approved House Finance budget is expanding from three to nine and the initial three owners have no claim on the new licenses.

The new licenses will cost $500,000 per license.

Lobbyists for the existing compassion centers tried to secure their rights to own the new licenses.

According to Mattiello's office, the expanded centers will be able to both grow and distribute. 

OUT

Raimondo's Proposal to Legalize Marijuana Is Out

Raimondo had pushed for the legalization of marijuana -- it was estimated that the tax would generate $6.5 million.

Legislators were wary of the impact on business and cities and towns. Mattiello had repeatedly voiced concerns about lack of planning and societal impacts.

OUT and IN

Statewide Expansion of Pre-K Proposed by Raimondo Goes Down

Governor Raimondo said in her State of the State Address that she would push for a statewide Pre-K program -- it has a $10 million price tag, but her proposal is not in the budget.

"Tonight, I pledge to be the Governor who brings universal public Pre-K to Rhode Island. By the time I leave office, there will be a Pre-K seat for every four-year-old whose parents want it. The budget I'll submit later this week sets us on a path to make that happen. Let's get this done," Raimondo said.

Mattiello Friday night spoke to the House budget needing to address a shortfall of federal funding for Pre-K -- and that the proposal will expand the educational opportunity in Rhode Island, but will not be "universal" in 2020.

"We backfilled the Federal money $5 million — and added 280 high-quality seats. So it’s not universal. It’s an aggressive expansion to pre-K. The cost is $2.85 million," said Mattiello in a briefing to the press on Friday night, noting that the combined with the "back-fill" the state is investing close to $8 million next year.

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Raimondo's Hospital Cuts -- Some Restored

"Hospitals were down $11M under [Raimondo's] budget — this is slightly better than proposed with a few million more in general revenues.  They will be better off than proposed," said Mattiello. 

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Raimondo's "Netflix" Tax -- In

The one Raimondo tax that was adopted was the so-called "Netflix" tax which places a 7% tax on digital downloads.

Mattiello said it put digital products on the same level as brick and mortar.

It is estimated to generate $5 million in new revenue.

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License Plate Fee

The cost of the issuance will be $8 per set of plates — 3M will do the initial issue.

The fee is to the citizen — and the $8 will cover the cost of the plates. 

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Raimondo's Cigarette Tax Increase-- OUT

Raimondo's increase in the cigarette tax was rejected to increase the cigarette tax by 25 cents per pack and 30 cents on cigars.

Mattiello said their decision was based on the impacts on small businesses, particularly border-town convenience stores who also benefit from sales of other products to people who come in to buy tobacco products.

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Education Financing

The bill fully funds the state’s education aid formula, increasing direct aid by $34.4 million over the current year’s amount. The committee granted the governor’s request for $5 million for more support for English language learners -- this initiative was strongly supported by the Senate leadership. 

The budget also adds an additional $640,000 in funding for the Department of Education to help with education reforms.

IN/OUT

Double Loss for Raimondo -- PILOT Funded, But Her Enabling Power to Cities and Towns in Out

The House budget rejects both of Raimondo's initiatives. First, Raimondo's cuts to the PILOT program are restored. And, her initiative to allow cities and towns to create new local taxes on non-profits are out.

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New Tax on Opioids

Budget adopts Senate President Ruggerio’s proposed Opioid Stewardship Act (2019-S 0798) to establish a restricted receipt account for $5 million to fund "opioid treatment, recovery, prevention and education services" funded by a new tax to manufacturers and distributors on opioid products sold or distributed in Rhode Island.

Late negotiations added exemptions for those used for hospice care, addiction treatment and epidurals.

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GARVEE Bonds Are in the Budget

The budget includes up to $200 million in GARVEE bonds that will allow the state to take advantage of current low-interest rates to fund the reconstruction of the viaduct that carries Route 95 north through downtown Providence.

This is another freestanding bill dumped into the budget.

OUT

Raimondo's Minimum Wage Increase is Out

Mattiello said Raimondo's proposal to increase the minimum wage from $10.50 to $11.10 next year is OUT.

The General Assembly has increased the minimum wage in six of the last seven years.

Mattiello said that Rhode Island businesses were strongly opposed to an increase.

OUT

Defunded Vacant Positions

The House budget defunds all vacant state positions -- those positions that have historically been funded, but have not been filled by the Raimondo administration.

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Shekarchi's Small Business Tax-Cut Is In

House Majority Leader Joseph Shekarchi legislation to help Rhode Island small business owners who will be adversely impacted higher federal taxes as a result of  President Donald Trump’s new tax laws is now a budget article.

Shekarchi’s plan provides a "work-around" for owners of “pass-through” entities whose state and local taxes exceed the new $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction on their federal tax returns.

Connecticut passed similar legislation in May of 2018 and the proposed Rhode Island law “is carefully designed to be revenue-neutral for the state.”

“This bill will help small businesses, most of whom report their taxes as pass-through entities, by having the business entity pay the taxes on the business income and allowing a federal income tax deduction – which might have been limited if reported on the owner’s personal income tax returns,” said Willey. “Regular C-Corporations get this benefit, and this bill would put the pass-through entities on an equal footing with big businesses.”

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911 Revised, Federal Compliance, New Training, More Fees

The controversial 911 fees have been revamped. On one hand, the fee has been cut from $1 to $.50 and those dollars are now being placed in a dedicated restricted receipt account to meet federal law.

But, a new tax is being implemented on mobile accounts.

The budget adds $220,000 in funding to help train E911 operators to better provide CPR instruction to callers while they await emergency responders, and established restricted receipts accounts for E911 surcharge fees on phone bills.

To comply with federal requirements, the surcharges on phone bills will be split into two separate charges, one to support E911 operations and another for funding other public safety needs. Both will go into restricted receipt accounts. This creates a net new $10 million in new revenue.