Projo Politics Blog

By Katherine Gregg
State House bureau

PROVIDENCE - A dozen Republican candidates for state and federal offices gathered outside the State House today to talk about what they would do to reverse the state's "atrocious'' highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate.

Jonathan Scott, the Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District, stated his belief that a "better education leads to better jobs.'' Mark Zaccaria, the Republican challenging U.S. Rep. James Langevin in the 2nd District, talked about "cutting federal spending to cut federal borrowing.''

Broadly speaking, they all called for lower taxes, less government spending and less regulation, with Zaccaria placing the blame for the current meltdown in the national housing industry on "over-regulation,'' which is how he described the actions taken in Washington in the 1990s to "try to get everybody a house'' by "incenting'' loans to people who could not afford them.

But as for which state taxes they would cut -- and how specifically they would manage government with less money coming in -- few had specific answers.

David Anderson, the Republican challenging House Majority Leader Gordon Fox in Providence, said he would consider higher income and sales taxes if that is what was required to reduce local property taxes, and shift more of the responsibility for financing the state's public schools to state taxpayers:

"Especially in my district, the [property tax] is very unpopular because Brown University and other nonprofits don't pay anything for .the services they get for their properties. I would fund education at the state level...We may have to have higher state level taxes, income and sales taxes, but I would not change the tax structure in such a way as to raise overall taxes.''

Anderson said he would also end the current policy of giving one-of-a-kind tax breaks or "special favors to new industries to try to entice them to come to Rhode Island...I would change the overall tax structure, treat all of the businesses the same..(with) uniformly lower taxes on a wider tax base.''

More specific than some of those who joined him at the press conference, Anderson also urged adoption of a variation on the "right-to-work'' laws in Southern states that prohibit union-membership as a requirement for employment to allow employees to instead join "any legitimate union or guild to represent their interests.''

When asked which tax or taxes he would lower, he said: "I can't give you those details but it is obviously something that has to be studied. It's not my area expertise.''

Sean Gately, the Republican challenging incumbent Sen. Beatrice Lanzi from western Cranston, said he would be more aggressive than current state leaders -- Republican Governor Carcieri included -- have been in trying to "fully develop'' Quonset Point in North Kingstown into the same kind of "lively shipping port'' that Charleston, S.C. created. "It will allow us to go and develop jobs in regards to some studies it could increase up to 3,000 high-paying jobs.''

"We are in a crisis right now. We [can't] sit here and talk platitudes. We have to drive the economy here in R.I. ... and the way we are going to do it is with these people behind me,'' said Gately, blaming decades of Democratic control of the General Assembly for "having the worst unemployment (while) we're first in prostitution here in this state. We can't even pass a law through the General Assembly to cut out human trafficking ...it's a shame.''

But even within this small Republican group, there was debate about what the state should do at Quonset Point, with Zaccaria saying the state should accelerate efforts to develop it instead as "an industrial park.''

None of the state's elected Republicans joined the challengers for their press conference. Asked where Carcieri was, his press secretary Amy Kempe said he had other commitments.

 Tags  economy election R.I. Republican candidates R.I. Republicans R.I. unemployment taxes

---