GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

Senate Leader Confers with RISCPA On State Tax Policy

R.I. State Senate Majority Leader Dan Connors (D-Cumberland) attended the Government Relations meeting held on Jan. 20, to discuss the General Assembly’s recently convened 2010 session. Not surprisingly, Sen. Connors spent most of the meeting discussing the challenges facing Rhode Island as the economic downturn continues. 

Sen. Connors was first elected to the Assembly in 1996 when he was a 20-year-old student at Providence College.  He has chaired several key Senate committees as well as serving on the boards of RIPTA and the State Investment Commission.

In the course of the 45 minute breakfast meeting, held at the Providence Marriott, Sen. Connors explained how the Senate had created four separate groups to review all aspects of state and local government and draft proposals.  The membership of each group is comprised entirely of his Senate colleagues.

“I wanted to focus only on the matters at hand, and not get sidelined by distractions,” Sen. Connors said.  The groups are considering consolidation, pension issues, the state budget and taxation policies, among others.  Many of the proposals will be turned into legislation, Sen. Connors told the group.

Sen. Connors was very receptive to an offer from the committee to be a resource for the state Senate as it considers its options.  At his request, a second meeting with the Majority Leader to discuss specific aspects of tax policy is in the works.

In the course of the meeting, Sen. Connors broke the news to the group that a proposed “net receipts tax” would not be included in Gov. Carcieri’s proposed FY2011 budget.  Senior Administration officials had met with members of the RISCPA Tax and Government Relations Committees on Jan. 4 to discuss the proposal and seek input.  During the meeting the officials outlined the proposal, discussed some outstanding issues and conveyed the Governor’s view that any tax overhaul would be “revenue neutral.”  RISCPA President Jacquelyn Tracy offered the Administration the assistance of the Society in helping craft any new tax proposal.

“The net receipts tax proposal is an interesting one with a lot of moving parts, so it is difficult to understand what exactly the impact will be,” Tracy said.  “If the proposal is revived, we’ll be glad to work with anyone in state government to review all the possible outcomes and impacts.”

With 500 CPAs, attorneys and financial professionals in attendance, last week’s successful Society Networking Event at the Westin also drew a number of candidates for Governor.  General Treasurer Frank Caprio, former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee and GOP candidate John Robitaille all attended the event and mixed with the crowd.