Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton) is severely disappointed with the FY 2021 budget proposal (2020-H 7171) that was recently submitted by Governor Raimondo.  In particular, Representative Canario cites the numerous tax and fee increases, several of which were rejected by the General Assembly last session.

“After reviewing this budget proposal, it appears that the word collaboration is not in the governor’s vocabulary.  We are facing over a $200 million deficit and the governor’s proposal to close this gap is filled with disastrous economic policies that the General Assembly rejected only last year, including numerous new taxes and fees, as well as several increases in existing taxes and fees,” said Representative Canario in a press release today.

“Rhode Islanders are in better shape than they were a decade ago after the Great Recession, but our residents are nowhere near financially stable in their daily lives.  Most Rhode Islanders simply cannot afford to have even more money taken from their pockets and bank accounts.  Our governor likes proposing ideas that get her plenty of national press, but yet, as in years past, she fails to offer meaningful and realistic ways to pay for these initiatives.  This budget proposal is nothing more than a political document and in no way is it a good-faith attempt to fund and manage the State of Rhode Island,” said Representative Canario.

“The proposal for legalized recreational marijuana is simply the most glaring, disappointing, and insulting example of the governor’s disregard for the legislative branch.  After being told many times in public and in private that the General Assembly is not comfortable legalizing marijuana, the governor instead chose to include it in her budget anyway, adding an additional $20 million to the deficit, rather than collaborating with the General Assembly to find real solutions to the budget deficit.  Collaboration is how things get done in government, perhaps one day the governor will realize this and add the word into her vocabulary,” concluded Representative Canario.

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