POLL: Rhode Islanders say “No” to high costs of TCI Gas Tax

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Rhode Islanders Reject Notion of Higher Gas Taxes as Solution to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Support for TCI Crumbles as Residents Learn of Negative Economic Impacts #NoTCITax

TCI Poll Results
Crosstabs
TCI Gas Tax Page

Providence, RI – Struggling to recover from the pandemic lockdowns, almost 20% more Rhode Islanders oppose than support the plan for a new TCI gas tax as a solution to reduce carbon emissions, after learning of its potential negative economic impacts on lower-income families and on their own financial security. 

According to a recent poll conducted by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, initial conceptual support for the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) drops significantly when voters learn the policy will result in gas tax hikes, a significant projected loss of jobs, and a major reduction in the average family’s disposable income. 

Rhode Islanders oppose TCI when they learn about its high costs – including a $0.23 increase in the gas tax, an estimated 2,000 jobs lost, and a $1,200 reduction in disposable income for the average Rhode Island family.

  • Support for TCI falls from 42.0% (total of voters who strongly or somewhat support TCI) to 29.6% when voters learn of the projected negative economic impacts.
  • Opposition to TCI rises from 35.8% to 48.6%.

Concern over TCI’s negative economic impact is universal.

  • Support among Democrats falls from 62.2% to 41.8%
  • Opposition from independents/unaffiliated votes rises to 55% (from 45%) after learning of the high costs; support falls from 31.5% to 23%.
  • Support among younger voters falls from 52.3% to 33.1%

Rhode Islanders also fear that TCI’s economic impact will be disproportionately felt by low-income families and commuters.

  • 48% feel that TCI will “disproportionately affect commuters and low-income families.”

“Rhode Islanders clearly feel, after all we’ve been through, that now is not the time to punish people for driving their vehicles,” commented the Center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse. “On the flip side, by not adopting this TCI scheme and keeping gas taxes where they are, our Ocean State would gain a competitive advantage over our Massachusetts and Connecticut neighbors.” 

Results are based on a survey of 500 voters statewide fielded January 22-24, 2021 that included questions dedicated to TCI. Interviews were conducted by both live operators and collected online via text message. The margin of error is +/- 4.4% with a 95% confidence level. The poll was sponsored by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity and conducted by Advantage, Inc

TCI is a proposed interstate compact, officially endorsed by soon to be former Governor Gina Raimondo, that would artificially raise gasoline prices under the guise of reducing regional carbon emissions. Enabling legislation for TCI is expected in Rhode Island’s 2021 legislative session.  

Last week, the Center published a 10-page report, The Effects of a TCI-Style Gas Tax on Motor Fuels in Rhode Island, which calculates that the total social costs of such a gas tax would be 105 times more severe than the anticipated social benefits. Under TCI in Rhode Island, global carbon emissions would be reduced by an insignificant 0.00016%. 

Last month, the Center was one of 20 co-signers of an open regional coalition letter, which concluded that “at its core, TCI is a poor concept that is fundamentally regressive, economically damaging, and places an unnecessary financial burden on people who can least afford it.” 

More information about the proposed TCI gas tax can be found on the Center’s TCI webpage: RIFreedom.org/NoTICtax . 

Center Publishes TCI Economic Impact Report on Same Day Raimondo Auditions for U.S. Commerce Secretary

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Center Publishes TCI Economic Impact Report

Negative Costs Over 100 Times More Severe than the Benefits #NoTCItax

Providence, RI – As the state struggles to recover from the crushing economic lockdowns imposed by Governor Gina Raimondo, who today is the subject of confirmation hearings for the cabinet position of U.S. Secretary of commerce, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity published a report detailing the significant negative economic impact on the Rhode Island economy should the state approve participation in the controversial Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). TCI is a proposed interstate compact, officially endorsed by Raimondo, that would artificially raise gasoline prices under the guise of reducing regional carbon emissions.

Read The Report

The 10-page report, The Effects of a TCI Gas Tax on Motor Fuels in Rhode Island, calculates that the total social costs of such a gas tax would be 105 times more severe than the anticipated social benefits. Under TCI in Rhode Island, global carbon emissions would be reduced by an insignificant 0.00016%. “The obvious purpose behind this TCI scheme is not environmental – it’s nothing more than a greedy money grab,” suggested the Center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse.

The report, researched and co-published by The Beacon Hill Institute in Massachusetts using its state tax analysis modeling program (STAMP), concluded: 

We find that the imposition of a carbon (or TCI) tax on motor fuels would produce a  less-competitive business environment, resulting in a slower-growing economy that  produces lower employment, disposable income, and investment. While the revenue generated under a carbon tax could be used to create new jobs, any new jobs would be created at the expense of the private sector.

Per the report, if TCI were implemented in 2022, within 5 years, the Ocean State would suffer:

  • A per family loss of disposable income of $1205/yr ($815 million overall)
  • A loss of 1856 state-based jobs
  • Reduced business investment of $826 million
  • A loss of state GDP of $416 million

“After all that the people of our state have been through this past year, for government now to punish people for driving their vehicles, is just flat out cruel, especially for lower-income families,” added Stenhouse. “In seeking to control and restrict the energy choices of businesses and residents, potentially leading to fuel shortages and long gas lines, these far-left unelected bureaucrats will give Americans another reason not to reside or work in Rhode Island.”

The Center’s report also listed multiple examples of failed carbon tax efforts in the U.S. and across the globe.

Earlier this month, the Center was one of 20 co-signers of an open regional coalition letter, which concluded that “at its core, TCI is a poor concept that is fundamentally regressive, economically damaging, and places an unnecessary financial burden on people who can least afford it.” 

Enabling legislation for TCI is expected in Rhode Island’s 2021 legislative session. In the coming weeks, the Center expects to release a public survey poll about Rhode Islanders’ attitudes towards increased gas prices, especially when those taxes result in little, if any, environmental benefit.

More information about the proposed TCI gas tax can be found on the Center’s TCI webpage: RIFreedom.org/NoTICtax . 

Center is one of 20 Regional Coalition Partners Formally Opposing the Proposed TCI Gas Tax

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Economic Impact Report & Public Poll Soon to be Released

Providence, RI – The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity announced today that it has co-signed a coalition “open letter” opposing the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), a proposed interstate compact that would artificially raise gasoline prices under the guise of reducing regional carbon emissions.

The coalition letter, which was signed by 20 free-market organizations from over 12 northeast and mid-Atlantic states, discusses how the recently released TCI memorandum of understanding (MOU), of which Rhode Island was one of only three states to officially endorse, purposefully misleads the public by claiming that minimal price increases at the pump will compel people to drive significantly less. The prior year’s version of the MOU indicated that a much more substantial TCI gas tax of 38 cents per gallon would be required to attain the goals put forth by the extreme environmentalists who crafted the TCI scheme.

“It is clearly obvious that as our state and region struggle to emerge from the crushing economic impact of the pandemic shutdowns, that now is not the time to increase travel and transportation costs for Ocean State families and businesses,” advised Mike Stenhouse, the Center’s CEO. “Further, as stated in our coalition letter, the TCI gas tax will necessarily hurt poor and rural residents much more severely than their higher income and urban peers.”

The letter concludes that “at its core, TCI is a poor concept that is fundamentally regressive, economically damaging, and places an unnecessary financial burden on people who can least afford it. Please reject it.” Enabling legislation is expected in Rhode Island’s 2021 legislative session.

In the coming weeks, the Center expects to release a TCI economic impact report as well as a public survey poll about Rhode Islanders’ attitudes towards increased gas prices, especially if those taxes return little, if any, environmental benefit.

More information about the proposed TCI gas tax can be found on the Center’s TCI webpage: RIFreedom.org/NoTICtax . 

Statement on Raimondo’s Cabinet Nomination

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A Downgrade for America is an Upgrade for R.I.

Gina Raimondo’s Nomination for US Commerce Secretary Could Lead to Major Economic Consequences

Providence, RI – The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity today issued a statement regarding the nomination of Rhode Island Governor, Gina Raimondo to serve as Commerce Secretary for the pending Biden administration: “What will be a downgrade for the United States economy, should be an upgrade for our Ocean State economy.” 

The Center first broke the story of Raimondo’s nomination, based on its DC sources, way back on November 17 on its popular In The Dugout video blog show (25:15 mark), hosted by CEO, Mike Stenhouse. During the show, Stenhouse described the stark downgrade a Secretary Gina Raimondo would be for America, when compared to current Cabinet Secretary, Wilbur Ross, who from 2017-2020 led America to the greatest economic performance of any country in the history of the world. 

With limited experience in the private sector as a venture capitalist, Gina Raimondo has virtually no “hands on” experience in running a market-based business, as most of her career has been in government and politics, where she has become known as a Democrat hyper-partisan.

Conversely, the nonpartisan current Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross earned the reputation as a Wall Street icon. Ross is the former Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of WL Ross & Co. LLC and has over 55 years of investment banking and private equity experience. He has restructured over $400 billion of assets in the airline, apparel, auto parts, banking, beverage, chemical, credit card, electric utility, food service, furniture, gypsum, homebuilding, insurance, marine transport, mortgage origination and servicing, oil and gas, railcar manufacturing and leasing, real estate, restaurant, shipyard, steel, textile and trucking industries.  Secretary Ross has been chairman or lead director of more than 100 companies operating in more than 20 different countries. Named by Bloomberg Markets as one of the 50 most influential people in global finance, Ross was previously an adviser to New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on privatization, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the board of The U.S. Russia Investment Fund. 

As Rhode Island suffers from some of the most severe economic consequences and lack of population growth among all states in the nation, Raimondo’s economic and management track record over the past six years has led to a long-trail of wreckage in the Ocean State:

  • Under Raimondo, Rhode Island has regularly been ranked as having the “worst business climate” in America
  • Raimondo unilaterally destroyed tens of thousands of Rhode Island jobs and thousands of businesses via long-standing, unjustified, and ineffective “shut-down” mandates during the pandemic
  • Raimondo failed to adequately distribute federal CARES Act Covid-19 relief funds intended for the struggling small businesses community, instead, choosing to appropriate much of the funding to plug massive state budget gaps, a persistent problem during her tenure
  • Raimondo failed to reform the Providence public school system, which, during her tenure as Governor was called an “education horror show” by the Wall Street Journal, in the aftermath of a devastating report by the prestigious Johns Hopkins Institute
  • Raimondo has overtly supported multiple anti-jobs climate change initiatives, most recently including being one of only three states to sign-on to the radical Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) that seeks to punish businesses and families for driving their vehicles for work or pleasure
  • Raimondo’s catastrophic and failed rollout of Rhode Island’s public services database, UHIP (Unified Health Infrastructure Project), against the recommendation of the federal government, led to innumerable Ocean Stater not receiving their benefits 
  • Raimondo successfully led efforts to impose oppressive minimum wage mandates, unfair trucker-tolls that violate America’s sacred Dormant Commerce Clause of the US Constitution, 
  • Raimondo handed-out countless taxpayer-funded subsidies to insider corporate cronies, at the expense of small businesses
  • Raimondo partnered with SEIU in a scheme to destroy the private home care industry
  • Raimondo failed to reform the Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF), resulting in the death of many children under state-care

“With Rhode Island expected to lose one of its two prized US House Congressional seats when the results of the 2020 US Census are released, under Governor Gina Raimondo, our state has clearly become a less desirable place to raise a family, receive an education, and build a career,” commented Stenhouse. “If and when current Lieutenant Governor Daniel McKee becomes Governor, at least Rhode Island will have a chief executive who has made attempts to regularly engage the small business community and hear-out their concerns.”

Dr. Bostom Blasts Raimondo’s Call for Mass Testing

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Call for Mass Asymptomatic Testing Not Evidence-Based

Dr. Andrew Bostom Appointed to Center’s Board of Adjunct Scholars

Providence, RI – The dubious public call by Rhode Island Governor, Gina Raimondo, for asymptomatic state residents to be tested twice before the end of the year is not evidence-based and is rendered even more questionable if vitally important “cycle threshold” data is not included in reporting PCR test results. This according to a Dr. Andrew Bostom, who today was appointed as an adjunct scholar to the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity.

In his most recent column, Rhode Island Crosses the Threshold of Covid-19 Testing Transparency, Dr. Bostom – an academic internist, clinical trialist, and Brown University degreed epidemiologist – cites a history of the long-held medical consensus that “asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks.”

Earlier this year, as explained on the Center’s popular In The Dugout show, Dr. Bostom was the first medical expert in Rhode Island, and among the first in the country, to raise awareness about the need for cycle-threshold (Ct) values to be reported publicly en masse as well as privately to patients. 

Dr. Bostom called it “misguided” and “hysteria”, in referring to the Governor’s policy of mass screening of RI residents who have no symptoms, especially without accompanying Ct data, which measures the viral load in individual testing samples. 

NOT ALL POSITIVE TESTS ARE THE SAME: The New York Times and Dr. Anthony Fauci have determined that many who test positive for the coronavirus have such miniscule levels of the virus that they pose no community or individual risk.

In recent weeks, both the WHO (World Health Organization) and the state of Floridarecognized the importance of Ct values, as most “positive” test results with high Ct values are essentially “false positives” … vitally important information when it comes to crafting public policy and treatment and quarantine regimens for individual patients. Yet Rhode Island and other states routinely keep this data hidden from the pubic.

Led by Dr. Bostom earlier this month, the Center’s analysis of a sample of about 5000 tests with Ct values confirmed that over one-half of all positive tests in the state may be harmless, in that those patients may not have been infectious or contagious.

Also this month, the Center launched a statewide petition campaign to demand Covid data transparency from the RI Department of Health (DOH); to collect and report critical Ct testing data. Upon signing the digital petition at RIfreedom.org/covid-transparency, an email will be automatically generated and sent to multiple members of the DOH and the Governor’s office. 

Dr. Bostom will be the hour-long guest today on In The Dugout at a special pre-Christmas time of 3:00 PM EST at www.RIFreedom.org/Live , to discuss his column, and to answer questions from viewers and listeners about any pandemic related medical questions, including his views on vaccines and therapy options.

To learn more about Dr. Bostom, and all of the Center’s adjunct scholars, scroll down the Center’s “About Us” web-page, here: https://rifreedom.org/about-us/

Sign The Petition For Covid Data Transparency
Much more covid-19 testing cycle threshold (Ct) transparency is required in Rhode Island, and across the United States to better control the virus.

Rhode Island Crosses the Threshold of Covid-19 Testing Transparency

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By Dr. Andrew Bostom

Still, much more covid-19 testing cycle threshold (Ct) transparency is required in Rhode Island, and across the United States.

Read The Full Column
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For weeks, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo has urged mass asymptomatic covid-19 testing claiming,

“We know that a strategic asymptomatic testing plan is one of our strongest lines of defense against the spread of COVID-19.”

Is this indeed a tenable, evidence-based strategy to “limit” covid-19 spread? Simply put, no.

During a January 28, 2020 Health and Human Services presser, Dr. Anthony Fauci emphasized, “in all the history of respiratory-borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks.” Here are his remarks in full:

“Historically people need to realize that even if there is some asymptomatic transmission [of covid-19], in all the history of respiratory-borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person. Even if there’s a rare asymptomatic person that might transmit, an epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers”

Click here to read more.

Union transparency

Center submits federal “official comment” in support of union transparency rule

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Official Comment on Federally Proposed Union Reporting Rule

Union members and the public have right to increased transparency

Read The Official Comment Here

Providence, RI – The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity today submitted an official comment to the US Department of Labor (DOL) in support of its proposed rule, “Labor Organization Annual Financial reports; LM Form Revisions.” 

The Center believes the proposed DOL changes are important updates to union reporting and will, as a result, provide union members with the information they need to hold their unions to account and ensure their dues are spent as they intend.

According to the Center’s CEO, Mike Stenhouse, “The rule promotes increased transparency and benefits American workers.” Informing public employees of their legal rights and of the activities of their unions is an important component of the Center’s ongoing MyPayMySayRI.com initiative. 

The Center argues that these rule changes are urgently needed so that union members have a better ability to see and understand how their dues are being spent. Increased transparency would help the DOL and local officials to root out corruption. Importantly, it also would empower union workers to make more informed decisions relating to their participation in unions and to monitor union activities so that they can better-protect their hard-earned dollars.

Also, because detailed public reporting of union spending is not always required, bad actors sometime see a loophole to try to game the system to their personal advantage. The Center’s official comment cites three examples of recent union corruption in Rhode Island that have led to criminal convictions involving wire-fraud and embezzlement. Also, in its comment, the Center suggested modifications to the proposed rule. 

The official comment period closes at midnight tonight. Federal action to enact, or not, the proposed rule could occur in 2021.

Reporting of COVID-19 Ct Values Can Better Shape Public Policy

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Not All Positive Tests Are the Same

Despite months of stonewalling of prior APRA requests … and just one day after a petition campaign by the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity sent over 1,000 emails to various state-government officials, including the DOH and the governor … the Center has obtained information released to a persistent citizen by the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services; partial data covering a limited number of positive Covid-19 tests performed before July 2020.

According to Dr. Andrew Bostom, Covid-19 advisor to the Center and Rhode Island resident, a Brown University degreed epidemiologist, academic internist, and clinical trialist:

“This first public revelation of cycle threshold (Ct) data, from over 5,000 RIDOH covid-19 rtPCR positive tests from late February through the end of June, reveals that a considerable number (36.2%) of these positive tests occurred at a Ct > 33, a level generally considered by the medical community to be associated with extremely low Covid-19 infectiousness. 

Initial analysis of this data also confirms the need for all future RIDOH reports of daily positive test results to include breakdowns of the Ct data. 

Deeper analysis of even more data can be immensely important in determining more data-driven, targeted, and effective public policies. I join with the Center in petitioning the state of Rhode Island to follow Florida’s lead and to immediately begin collecting and reporting Ct data for all Covid-19 PCR tests.”

The data includes 9,878 COVID-19 tests divided into two “N” groups corresponding to each other by day from February 29, 2020, through June 30, 2020.

The cycle threshold (Ct) value is the number of cycles needed for the virus to be detected from the person’s sample. The higher the Ct value the smaller the amount of virus present in the sample. Most medical experts agree that Ct values over 33 likely indicate non-infectious, non-contagious levels of the virus. In practice, for example, the country of India only triages (treats or closely monitors) cases where the Ct values are less than 25.

Routine government collection and detailed reporting of this data can be enormously helpful in determining public policy, and in informing patients and their doctors when it comes to determining more appropriate individual quarantine and medical treatment regimens.

Of the total tests reported in Rhode Island, 51% had Ct values of 30 or higher, while 66% had values of 25 or higher.

Considered over the span of the report, Ct values gradually rose through May, after which they dropped along with the number of tests being conducted per day.

Cycle Threshold

In The Dugout: Online Forum on Cycle Threshold Data & Petition for Covid Data Transparency

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On this special-edition of our popular “In The Dugout” online video-talk show, we feature a public forum to discuss the importance of “cycle threshold” testing data and the State of Rhode Island’s efforts to block repeated requests for access to this information.

The forum features:

  • Announcement of a statewide petition campaign demanding collection and release of this Ct data
  • Dr. Andrew Bostom, Rhode Islander, academic internist, clinical trialist, and Brown University degreed epidemiologist expert on cycle threshold data
  • State Representative Patricia Morgan, whose related APRA requests are being stonewalled
  • State worker, Jay, who has had both success and failure in obtaining his personal Ct medical information
  • A Judicial Watch statement on their APRA efforts to obtain related information
  • Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center and host of the forum
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