Senate President Outlines Ways RI Should Use Unexpected $174m Surplus

After years of yawning budget holes every year, Rhode Island lawmakers are cheering the revelation that Rhode Island apparently now has $143 million in extra revenues for fiscal 2015 and 2016 and $30 million less in “caseload expenditures,” for a total of $173 million in surplus money not reflected in Gina Raimondo’s budget proposal released earlier this year.

Now, legislators are kicking around ideas on how to use the surplus money, including Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed of Newport, who said late last week that Rhode Island should invest the money to make the state more competitive, improve education and promote job creation.

“Rhode Island’s economy is gaining momentum,” said President Paiva Weed (D–Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown). “The increased resources should be invested wisely in ways that will fuel continued economic growth now and in the long term. The Senate stands firm in its commitment to making the state more competitive for business growth and investing in quality education, workers, and infrastructure.”

Here are Paiva Weed’s recommendations:

• The $500 minimum corporate tax. Proposals to exempt new companies for the first three years, or for those with limited earnings, should be considered.

• Local property tax relief. Restore funding to the state Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program to help avoid local property tax increases.

• Medicaid transition. Adequately fund the transition to new Medicaid models of care, supporting community-based investments to meet the Senate’s goal of improved services while restructuring for a sustainable budget.

• Invest in education. Education and worker training is the top priority for the Senate. This is the most critical investment we can make. It lies at the heart of health and prosperity for individuals, families, and the state. It must include adequate and smart funding for school building construction and repairs, child care, and other investments in children and the future.

• Transportation Infrastructure. Increased state funds should be used to match federal funding. More projects can move forward to improve the state’s roads and bridges and to maintain them. It helps to avoid additional debt if the state uses these funds to advance needed upgrades.

“When entrepreneurs turn a profit, they reinvest in their businesses for future success. Rhode Island should do the same, investing surplus funds in long-sought reforms to make the state more competitive, and in the fundamentals that build a thriving economy: education, the workforce and infrastructure,” said President Paiva Weed.

What do you think? How would you invest or use the surplus money?