House opens budget hearings for fiscal 2010
7:24 AM Mon, Apr 06, 2009 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The House Finance Committee opens hearings on Monday morning on Governor Carcieri's budget proposals for the year that begins July 1 with a packed agenda that includes a proposal to let police stop and fine motorists $30 for not wearing seat belts, regardless of whether they have committed any other offense. The fine is currently $75, but failure to wear a seat belt is a "secondary offense,'' meaning that no one can be stopped for failure to wear one unless there is some other road violation that warrants the stop. When it first posted its agenda, it appeared the committee would also wade right into Carcieri's controversial proposal to eliminate the corporate tax over five years and raise the estate tax exemption while eliminating subsidized dental benefits for poor families and the pharmaceutical assistance program known as RIPAE for the elderly. But House leaders decided to postpone their hearing on the proposed tax cuts. Instead, the lawmakers will focus the first hearing, beginning at 10 a.m. Monday in Room 35 of the State House, on a spate of other revenue-raising, bridge-repair and government reoganization proposals. One that has not yet gotten much attention would allow the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority to issue up to $50 million in bonds for steel repair and corrosion protection paint projects on the Newport Pell and Mount Hope bridges, with repayment requiring a potential, but as yet unspecified toll hike. The projected 30-year cost of repaying the bonds: $132 million. Other proposals on the first-day docket include: an increase in the fee for criminal background checks from $5 to $25; a $100 penalty for late renewal of food protection licenses and a penalty on employers who fail to pay withholding taxes for their employees, in an amount equal to 0.5 percent of the tax owed per month, up to 25 percent.
On Tuesday, the committee will delve into school funding issues and a Carcieri proposal that was described this way by the legislative press office: "Amends the charter school statutes to exempt charter schools chartered or subject to renewal after July 1, 2009 from prevailing wages and benefits, participating in the state teacher retirement system and classifying their employees as public employees.'' On Wednesday, the committee will consider Carcieri's proposed social-service cuts, including his attempt to eliminate RIPAE to save a projected $1.1 million, and dental coverage for an estimated 38,000 Rite care enrollees over the age of 21 to save a nearly equal amount. On Thursday, the committee will delve into the many ways the Carcieri adminstration is seeking to use its new Global Medicaid Waiver to reduce the amount the state spends on medical services and treatment for the low-income. One such proposal would allow the Department of Human Services to use "selective contracting'' for certain medical services, equipment and shared-living arrangements. Another would establish new and more stringent "needs-based criteria'' for admission to a nursing home or other long-term care facility. 
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Gee, do you think there'll be any LYING going on in these hearings? "Thanks Mr. Speaker, I just want to tell you that our Pension System is fine and Rhode Islanders don't mind paying more taxes". Rhode Island, "The Oceans of debt State"!!!!
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