FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2013
Providence, RI — Hailed as the largest tax cut and economic stimulus plan the state of Rhode Island has ever considered, an expert panel has been assembled by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity to testify at Wednesday’s hearing of the “Sales Tax Repeal Act of 2013″ (H-5365) in front of the RI House Finance Committee on May 15, at 1:00 pm in Room 35 at the RI State House.
The panel is comprised of: ...
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Opinion
Local developer Arnold “Buff” Chace of Cornish Associates and a Massachusetts real estate investment fund, High Rock Development, recently released a “redevelopment plan” for the property at 111 Westminster Street in Providence’s Financial District popularly referred to as “The Superman Building.” As the Providence Journal reports, the plan requires state-taxpayer-funded public subsidies of $39 million, $21 million in federal-taxpayer-supported tax credits, and up to $15 million in city-taxpayer-supplanted tax forgiveness in order convert ...
Continue Reading...The RI Center for Freedom and Prosperity submitted the following pieces of testimony to the appropriate House and Senate committees regarding proposed 2013 pieces of legislation.
As an IRS approved, 501-C-3 nonprofit organization, the Center is not allowed to openly advocate ‘for’ or ‘against’ a specific bill, however we can provide testimony with regard to research and perspective relative to the underlying issue contained within the bill.
May 15 (H5365) – Stenhouse, Katz and expert panel present the entire case ...
Continue Reading...Rhode Island’s unemployment rate fell again, down to 9.1%. If that’s good news, however, then the state’s strategy must really be to get people to give up on ever finding work.
The first chart below shows that employment slid a little, creating a trend mainly of stagnation. But it appears that the bottom may be falling out from under the total labor force (those either employed or looking for work). But for the decrease in the number of people looking for ...
Continue Reading...Related Links: WJAR-10 TV Story; GoLocalProv Story
As an update to prior studies of the effect of increasing the minimum wage on Rhode Island’s employment situation, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity estimates that proposed increases could cost the state hundreds or even thousands of jobs.
Legislation currently making its way through the General Assembly would increase the minimum wage to $8.25 per hour, from its ...
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MEDIA: NBC- Channel 10, ABC Channel 6, 630 WPRO
The State of Rhode Island has developed a new spin on the idea of “laundering” money, as part of the cycle of taxpayer dollars that end up in the pockets of the special few, according to a follow-up post today on The Ocean State Current, the journalism wing of the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity.
According to the post ...
Continue Reading...Related Links: GoLocalProv, New Allegations Surface in RI Medicaid Fraud;
In the wake of an investigative article published this morning in The Ocean State Current about suspiciously high overtime payments to government employed nurses and psychiatrists, the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity plans to publish additional related information in the coming week.
Considering that public dollars are being paid to government workers who, for years, have collected six-figures in overtime from a facility that was cited in ...
Continue Reading...Posted by: Justin Katz
Rhode Island families are being torn apart. Parents, children, and siblings are being driven out of the state in search of good work and a more reasonable cost of living.Reducing the state sales tax from 7.0% to 0.0% will bring shoppers and retail and construction jobs back to our state and keep our families and businesses intact and at home here in the Ocean State.
Related Links: view the complete 2013 Zero.Zero brief as a PDF; see
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Related Links: 2012 Report Card
It isn’t surprising that a year of no bold legislative or executive action to free the Rhode Island economy or education system from its shackles, or to lighten the heavy hand of government, was a year of no significant improvement in the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s annual Report Card on RI Competitiveness.
For perhaps the first time in recent memory, the Rhode Island General Assembly will consider legislation that could have a profound positive impact on the lives of virtually all residents and businesses in the state. Rhode Island families are being torn apart. Parents, children and siblings are being driven out of the state in search of good work or retirement at a more reasonable cost of living. Businesses struggle ...
