 |
|
1/15/2025
|
Op-Ed: A strong and compassionate RI needs everyone to pay their fair share
|
By Rep. Karen Alzate and Sen. Melissa A. Murray
For the last several years, we have introduced legislation that is critical to funding the needs of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable and struggling residents. And quite sadly, this segment of Rhode Islanders continues to grow at an alarming rate every single year.
We are talking about families fighting to put enough food on the table every single day. We are talking about seniors having to forego necessary medical treatment and medicine. We are talking about parents, children and veterans without a safe, dry and warm place to spend their nights. We can’t forget about about our stressed students going without proper mental healthcare and our small businesses that are closing their doors at an ever-quickening pace, either. Everyday essentials, like food and childcare, cost more and more while our residents’ wages have stagnated and fail to keep up. Our infrastructure is crumbling around us and the price tag to keep Rhode Island functioning continues to soar.
But, while these problems become worse and worse for an ever-increasing amount of Rhode Islanders, we continue to give out large corporate subsidies and tax breaks to our wealthiest businesses and residents.
Something must change.
This is why we will be once again introducing legislation to enact a “millionaires’ tax” in Rhode Island. This new tax will help us to uplift our schools, invest in our children’s educations and futures, fund the rehabilitation of our crumbling infrastructure and provide the social safety nets that too many of our residents are relying upon to survive.
As we now see in Massachusetts, the voter-approved “millionaires’ tax” has generated $1.8 billion over the fiscal year for the state’s residents. This staggering amount of money will do so much for the people of Massachusetts and it shows what is possible if the rich pay their fair share in taxes.
With these results over the border, now is the time for Rhode Island to do the same. Rhode Islanders across the state are struggling on a daily basis and our state’s much-needed services are already being stretched thin due to lack of funding.
The gap between the rich and poor continues to widen due to decades of policies that have helped the rich get richer. We can’t keep balancing budgets by cutting vital social service programs that our most vulnerable citizens desperately need.
Contrary to what some are saying, this legislation will not make Rhode Island less-competitive. Instead, it will give us the flexibility to properly fund critical programs and services on an ongoing basis. It will help put our state on more solid financial footing going forward, ensuring a more equitable tax structure that works for every single Rhode Islander, making Rhode Island more competitive and stronger in the process.
Rep. Karen Alzate, a Democrat, represents District 60 in Pawtucket and Central Falls. Sen. Melissa A. Murray, a Democrat, represents District 24 in Woonsocket and North Smithfield.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
|
|