Your Link to Linc: January 2010 Archives
Why I want to serve as your Governor.
January 4, 2010
This November, Rhode Islanders will make one of the most important decisions in our State's history. Our next Governor will inherit a state with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and a looming budget deficit of $500 million. We are in the midst of a jobs crisis, and our economic future is on the line. And beyond the statistics, thousands of our fellow Rhode Islanders are suffering because they can't find work and are worried about their long term future.
The question that our citizens need to ask is: who is best able to lead Rhode Island at this critical time?
Certainly experience is important. So, too, are the candidate's ideas for our future. We need a Governor who can combine real world experience and new ideas with the integrity and balance to lead Rhode Island to a New Way Forward. That's why today I am announcing my candidacy for Governor.
We have to change the way business and politics work in Rhode Island. Our state has a long tradition of independence, tolerance and a deep commitment to equality. I believe that running as an independent will free me from the constraints that party politics impose on candidates. This freedom will allow me to bring in the best people from both major parties and people without political ties to solve our problems. The standard for government service in these trying times must be what you can do for our state, not who you know in politics.
In asking for your vote, I'm proud to point to my record as Mayor and as your United States Senator during particularly turbulent times.
I was elected to lead Warwick during a recession where people and businesses were feeling the kind of pain they are experiencing now. By promoting teamwork, offering energetic and consistent leadership and making smart decisions every day, we improved city services from recreation fields to sewers. We invested heavily in public education, set the highest standards for ethical conduct, strengthened neighborhood pride, all while keeping the cost of city government below inflation. Businesses knew they could rely on an honest and efficient government which made doing business less complicated and less costly. I initiated an era of wise growth and now, what many saw as Warwick's greatest liability, T.F. Green Airport, is primed to become its biggest economic asset.
As your Senator, I refused to participate in zealous partisan politics. By demonstrating a willingness to work with both parties to build consensus, I was able to shepherd my Brownfields Revitalization Plan through Congress and ultimately led it into law. As a result, thousands of derelict properties are being put to productive use across the country. The new Johnson and Wales campus on the Providence/Cranston line is just one of these revitalized sites, creating hundreds of jobs for Rhode Islanders. This bill is also known as the Small Business Liability Protection law. We need a Governor who has a record helping small businesses, the backbone of our economy.
In the Senate, I stood against strong headwinds when I knew that our leaders were wrong. I demonstrated my independence by voting against the Bush tax cuts that hurt our middle class, undermined our economy, and plunged us into historic deficits. My vote protected Clean Air laws and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. On every environmental issue I stood tall. Not many saw through the fog of falsehoods and voted against the rush to war in Iraq, but I did. I'm proud of my record of independence and always doing what is best for Rhode Island and our country.
It's critical that Rhode Island's next Governor has a record of sound leadership in difficult times and a strategy for turning our state economy around. We need a leader who understands the role that education plays in economic development. Good schools are the key to strong communities, where families can live and businesses can relocate and prosper. Increasingly, job training is vital so that workers can gain new skills that will allow us to attract companies to our state, and develop the high tech, clean tech and biotech jobs of the future. As Governor, I will make education a centerpiece of our economic strategy. Governor Rell of Connecticut has proposed a merger of her state's vo-tech high school and community college systems. This Middle College System is an innovative way for the state to be intimately involved in creating a skilled workforce. I like this idea and will follow the progress across our border.
We must start early and work deliberately to craft an honest budget that doesn't transfer the pain to the local level. As Governor, I'll be a fierce opponent of shifting the state's problems onto the backs of property taxpayers.
There are three keys to dealing with Rhode Island's budget woes.
First: the state must control government spending and be more efficient. As Governor I will be a visible and vital force at all the departments and agencies of the state. I did this as Mayor and believe it is essential for a leader of any organization to hear first hand from the people who are on the front lines. As Governor I will not need a year-long blue ribbon commission to tell me the Central Landfill is wasting millions and millions of dollars! I believe in hands on management, and I believe our state needs that kind of leadership, and needs it now.
Second: I pledge to be a champion of the property taxpayer. The insidious property tax dampens exactly what we want to encourage - good schools, home ownership and business growth. I will be a partner with our mayors and town managers as we work together with the General Assembly, to repeal many of the costly state mandates on cities and towns. We cannot reduce state aid to our local communities without reforming these mandates. We need a new partnership between state government and cities and towns in Rhode Island. As a former councilman and mayor I understand how to make that new partnership work.
Third: I want to generate new state revenue from economic growth, not by raising taxes and fees. With growth comes revenue through increased sales and income. I know that there are bright days ahead for Rhode Island.
Our congressional delegation, with my help for seven years, worked hard to bring federal dollars to our state and to invest in our future. Now we need smart leadership to fully realize the enormous growth potential that we possess. The foundation has already been laid. We've relocated Route 195 to modernize the traffic flow around our capital city. That opens up acres of once - undervalued and isolated land between the Brown University Medical School and the Rhode Island Hospital campus. It has created a natural place for us to encourage growth in healthcare-related industries, and is a huge opportunity to create new jobs in a fast growing sector of the economy. I will be a full partner with those who have been working toward that end.
We built a new highway to Quonset Point and invested heavily in a new freight rail system to connect Quonset to the intercontinental freight rail system. That infrastructure has given us the chance to develop new green maritime-related industries there creating more good jobs for our state. There are exciting plans for offshore wind energy projects that can bring good new jobs to Quonset. I will take a personal interest in all the details that will ensure the success of the Quonset Industrial Park.
And right here behold the future. Across the street, we're building a new train station in Warwick and linking it to T.F. Green Airport. This unique intermodal development will serve as a national model for connecting air, rail and highway travel. Strong leadership can attract corporate leaders from our region and elsewhere to build their headquarters here for ease of travel. Already there is exciting activity in hospitality, retail and office space, both here at Iron Works and D'Ambra Construction down the boulevard and that is just the beginning. This surrounding real estate will bring much-needed jobs and revenue to our state. I conceived of this project as Mayor, led the fight to win federal funding for it as Senator, and working with Mayor Avedisian will continue to guide it forward to its full potential as your Governor.
To deal with this enormous jobs and budget crisis, we need honest leadership that isn't afraid to tell the truth to people. That having been said, I will take Governor Carcieri up on his challenge when he said: "if you've got better solutions, let's hear them."
We have to honestly confront the immediate gap between the revenue we take in as a state government, and what we need to spend to support the services we provide, particularly our schools and state colleges. I agree with the economists who have studied the effects of various types of taxes on economic growth in their conclusion that the least harmful tax to job growth and economic development is a broad based sales tax. Make no mistake, I will oppose any changes to our taxes without first reforming our spending, particularly the mandates. Rhode Island's sales tax is already the nation's second highest, surpassed only by California. But Rhode Island has one of the broadest lists of exemptions, including: food, clothing, over the counter drugs, over 70 categories that total 9 billion dollars a year.
We have to make choices if we are going to be the master of our economic destiny in this state. Rather than forcing our property taxes to rise across Rhode Island, we should carefully examine a two-tier sales tax. Other states have this system and it is working. Illinois has a 6.25% sales tax but a separate 1% tax on food and over the counter drugs. Tennessee has a 7% sales tax but a 5.5% tax on groceries. Working together, we can find the right formula for Rhode Island, one that provides the revenue we need to spare property taxpayers an ever-increasing burden, while taking into account the strain that families already feel from taxes.
Over the last several months I have endorsed the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council's plan for a cooperative approach to our budget crisis. I will continue to do so, with an emphasis on studying the premise of taxing our exemptions at a different and very low rate. Creating a two-tier sales tax addressing previously exempt items could help us lower the overall sales tax rate in Rhode Island because of the increased revenue. And with proper fiscal discipline as our economy improves, broader exemptions could return or other state taxes that are critical to job creation could be lowered or repealed.
The most important objective is to develop a strategy that ends the spiral downward, where problems are pushed from the state level, to cities and towns and ultimately to the doorsteps of property taxpayers. We need to confront the challenges we face with honest determination, and end the political bickering. I will talk about these issues out in the open, not behind closed doors. I will speak out, and listen to every side, and when I choose a course ahead, you can be sure that I will be guided by the public interest, and a firm resolve to right the wrongs of a state budget process that is crippling our economy and our future.
We're long overdue in Rhode Island to finally take advantage of our central geographic location between the economic giants New York City and Boston. We need a Governor with the vision, drive and experience to get the most out of what we've started. We need a Governor with a proven record of bringing people together to work for the common good. And we need a Governor who has unquestioned integrity, and can represent our state at the highest levels of business and government.
Together we can revive our state's economy, and get Rhode Island back on track.
Let's build a state government that is worthy of the people it is meant to serve. Let's embrace the independent spirit that defines Rhode Island, from the top of our state house, to the tip of our shoreline. Together, we can forge a New Way Forward, so that our children can grow and prosper in the state we love.
I ask for your help, your trust, and for your vote.
Let's make it happen!
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Linc Chafee is a tested leader of unquestioned integrity and a strong independent voice. As Governor, he will work hard to create new jobs, rebuild our economy, solve our chronic budget problems, end corruption, and forge a new way forward for Rhode Island.
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