Gubernatorial candidates Foulkes, Gregerson, Guckian, and McKee speak out at EPI Tax Policy Summit
“What I’m hearing is visionary leadership,” said Weayonnoh
Nelson-Davies, executive director of the Economic Progress Institute (EPI), to
the audience gathered in the Hotel Providence. “The people in this
room want our leaders to be moved, to dream, and to make things possible. We
want leaders who can confront affordability and energy costs, but what does
that mean when we’re making policy?
Front runners Foulkes and McKee
“I’m really inspired by the message that we don’t want a
Rhode Island where we are surviving, we want a Rhode Island where we can
thrive. That is my dream. I’m so competitive. Rhode Island has been my home
state since I immigrated to the United States at 16. I want us to win so bad. I
want that fire in our guts. We can make everyone jealous because they don’t
live in Rhode Island.
“I’m also very grateful to the candidates running for
governor who showed up to not just share with us what they think,” concluded
Nelson-Davies, “but to listen to what the people they might be leading tomorrow
think as well.”
The Economic Progress Institute held the People’s
Tax Policy Summit and Gubernatorial Candidates Reception on Wednesday.
The event brought together residents, advocates, and state leaders to discuss
rising living costs, tax equity, and the state’s financial future. Here’s the
video:
Four candidates for governor, including Helena Foulkes, Will Gregerson, Aaron Guckian, and incumbent Daniel McKee, were provided
three minutes to address those in attendance. The candidates were introduced
by Chelsea Speaks, from the RICJ (Rhode
Island for Community and Justice), and Joseph Ortiz, a “Tax
Justice Ambassador” with ARISE (Alliance
of Rhode Island Southeast Asians).
The following has been edited for clarity.
Helena Foulkes
“It’s been so fascinating to listen to all of this, and I especially love Weayonnah’s call to all of us to be bold. It’s important. It’s easy to think about the barriers, but her challenge to dream big puts us on the map.
“Four years ago, I walked into a room of about 75
carpenters, and I’ll be honest with you, I thought I knew what that
conversation was going to be about: wages, job sites, material costs, etc. Then
the first man stood up and started talking about childcare. He talked about
what it was doing to his family. I looked around the room and watched them nod,
one after another, like he was saying out loud what all of them had been
experiencing for years. That moment has never left me because that man wasn’t
asking for anything special. He was asking for a Rhode Island that works for
families like his, and we have not given it to him.
“The cost of infant care in this state is now higher than
in-state college tuition and the average rent. The people who have been running
this state will tell you we have universal pre-K, but they are not the parents
on the waitlist, the ones who, year after year, get a letter that says there’s
no more space.
“It’s not universal if it doesn’t apply to everyone. Less
than a third of low-income children are enrolled in Head Start or pre-K. That
is not a gap. That is a choice the people in charge of our state government
have made year after year, with a $15 billion budget at their disposal. That
ends with me.
“Earlier today, I announced the Rhode Island Employer Match
Childcare Fund, a $20 million pilot that brings the state and Rhode Island
employers together to share the cost of childcare. Employers who invest in
childcare retain their workers, grow their teams, and build stronger companies.
When families win, Rhode Island wins. I’ll expand tax credits for childcare
assistance, and by the end of my second term, every Rhode Island family will
have access to universal pre-kindergarten, not universal in name, universal in
practice. Childcare is only the beginning because the truth is the squeeze does
not stop there: Rhode Island is ranked dead last in the country in new housing
starts last year. There’s not a single community in this state where a family
making $100,000 a year can afford to buy a home.
“I hear it everywhere I go. People who grew up here, want to
stay here, and love this state are being told by the cost of living that
there’s no room for them anymore. That’s wrong, and it has to stop. My Rhode
Island housing program will build 20,000 new homes and apartments that Rhode
Islanders can actually afford, and the wealthiest Rhode Islanders will pay for
it.
“And we’re done cutting RIPTA one year and then funding it
again in an election year. If people can’t afford to live here and can’t afford
to get to work, it doesn’t matter how many good jobs we attract or grow. I will
invest $15 million in job access transit routes connecting workers to Quonset,
hospitals, and other work sites. No one should have to leave a place they love
because they can’t afford to stay.
“So here’s what I’m asking of you: Do not let them tell you
this is the best we can do. Do not accept taglines that say ‘affordability for
all’ when our state is not affordable. Talk to your neighbors, coworkers, and
the parents on the wait list. Tell them things can be different.
“Sixteen years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. It was the
hardest thing I’ve ever been through, but before she died, she gathered my
siblings and me together, and she said something I’ve always carried with me:
‘Take care of each other.’ That’s why I’m running for governor, because that is
what Rhode Island has always been at its best: Neighbors looking out for
neighbors and people who show up for each other even when it’s hard. That’s the
Rhode Island I believe in, and that is the Rhode Island we’re going to build
together.”
Will Gregerson
“Taxation is a powerful tool. Over the past 50 years, U.S. federal and state tax policies have redistributed $79 trillion from workers to the richest 1%. That’s $79 trillion of our money being taken from us and given to people who have more than enough. Rhode Island’s regressive tax system is an example of how such a system works. In our state, the lowest 20% of earners paid 13% of their income in property, sales, and income tax, and the top 1% only pay 9%, which means that the people making the least can never get ahead, and the people making the most have more money they can invest and use to grow their wealth. During the last half-century, tax cuts have depleted federal and state budgets, diverting money from public services and infrastructure, cutting services, and allowing our roads, bridges, sewers, and electrical systems to decay and crumble.
“At this point, so much harm has been done that there’s no
easy fix, and the only true remedy is to start fresh with a new tax policy that
has a singular focus: reversing and repairing the damage. Tax policy that
brings everyone up to a minimum level of wealth comfortably above the poverty
line, restores lost wealth, and revitalizes public services and infrastructure
by reclaiming what’s been stolen from workers since 1975. And when we rebuild,
we can build better and invest in a statewide publicly owned clean energy
utility to lower energy prices, a single-payer healthcare system to lower costs
and ensure all Rhode Islanders have access to 25,000 units of affordable
housing, and a public transportation system that’s effective and reliable.
Creating such a policy will require expertise, and as governor, I will hire
experts to design one that works.
“I also want to suggest that we do this without the
participation of free-market capitalists or the rich. They are the people who
put us here. They are responsible for this mess. They tell us they’re important
because they’re the job creators, but the truth is that economic activity
creates jobs, and while the rich hold onto money, workers spend it, and that
spending is what makes our economy dynamic and strong. Workers are the job
creators, and the only important people we need are experts and us. We can create
opportunity by investing in ourselves, and with the right tax policy, we can
build a state where everyone succeeds and prospers.”
Aaron Guckian
“My father and mother grew up in Providence. My father grew up in Washington Park. They went to Hope High School, and they were high school sweethearts. My mom is a retired respiratory therapist, and my father’s a union plumber. I grew up in East Greenwich. I have three beautiful daughters. My wife went to La Salle and was a professor at Johnson & Wales. So we’re very local, and we have deep roots. Right now, I’m running for governor, putting my life on pause.
“In my last job, I was the executive director of the Rhode
Island Dental Association. What I always said was, “If you can’t chew, you
can’t eat.” Over 500 kids in Providence alone need emergency dental care that
requires anesthesia. When we discovered that, I was able to get an intern from
my school, Connecticut College, and we worked together. It was a
small group. We were very nimble, and we began advocating to Attorney
General Peter Neronha. I said to him, early on, ‘If you have any
fine money, maybe you could make a difference.’ And boy did we make a
difference. A few months back, the announcement was made of over $10 million. I
think it was $12 million total, but $10 million has been spent by federally
qualified health centers to help these children. In addition, I am very proud
to have worked with Juanita Sanchez High School in the Providence
Career Technical Academy and to have created an oral health career
pathway. We don’t have enough hygienists. And so I connected CCRI,
the hygiene school in Lincoln, to Juanita Sanchez.
“We’re building a pipeline. Now, my platform is very simple.
I think we’re in the state of ‘toos,’ too many taxes, too many fees, too many
speed cameras, and not enough opportunity. I have a very simple platform: Work
directly with the union and frontline workers. When they find savings and fixed
systems, they get a revenue share. The rest of the money goes toward lowering
taxes and fees. [Our state budget has] grown $5 billion in five years. We have
$600 million worth of consultants who are outside the state. Let’s work
directly with Rhode Island talent. If you have an incentivized workforce, and
this is the key component: a twenty-four-seven, 365-day-a-year, anonymous idea
portal. If you have ideas, you could be cooking a sandwich at home, yelling at
your kids, and saying, ‘Hey, I think I can put some savings in.’ You can put it
directly in, and with the power of modern technology, we can fix this up.
Together, I’m very proud to say, we can change the tide. My
slogan is ‘Think big.’ I’m a big guy, big ideas, and we’re going to fix the
state one big idea at a time.
Daniel McKee
“It’s great to be here and, certainly, to find some of the things we’ve already gotten done during my administration and those we’re going to continue getting done. It’s been a busy day here. We’re working to ensure that the Providence schools go back to local control, for those who haven’t heard that.
“I’ll rattle off some of the things that I think you should
know. One is working with KIDS COUNT on the first-ever child
tax credit. We put that in our budget, and then, with the additional revenue,
we’re expanding that to $650 per child. We’re asking the General Assembly to
approve the child tax credit, which is about $90 million and will be distributed
annually to families.
“That’s one of the top priorities. We have probably the most
progressive tax policy. I think I’m the first governor to put a millionaire’s
tax in the budget to help backfill the cuts that came from Trump, and the
budget allocates funds to Planned Parenthood and the Food
Bank. These are all things we do regularly. $20 million going into
backfilling the Trump cuts to the health exchange, which would help 20,000
people if, in fact, the General Assembly approves it.
“We have an executive order that lowered premiums for
another 20,000 in the exchange and created the community behavioral health
clinics. We signed legislation raising the minimum wage and capping the cost of
insulin at $40 per month. There is a long list of things we have accomplished,
including Cover All Kids, which was another request that came in
and that we’re actually doing now. I think we have about $19 million in the
budget to cover all kids’ insurance, regardless of their immigration status.
“We’ve put in historic investments in housing, healthcare,
and our new schools. More schools are being built in Rhode Island than ever
before. Billions of dollars worth of schools are being constructed right now.
Historic investments in our education funding with the additional revenue, and
we are asking to put even more dollars in this year to help our communities,
especially young families who have financial needs. Millions more dollars are
going there and also establishing a path to higher education for everyone in
the state, not only the College Promise that I made permanent, but also I’m the
one who introduced the Hope Scholarship. I’m asking the General
Assembly to approve the Hope Scholarship this year, which will provide a
pathway to a very affordable four-year degree for those who choose that path.
“So the work continues. I can tell you, I do need help. I’m
working on four things in our budget right now. One of them is to eliminate
this Social Security tax so we can help our older adults in our state stay here
and pay their bills. We’re one of eight in the country. I put in a strategy
that can do it over a three-year timeframe. I’ve asked the General Assembly to
accelerate that along with the child tax credit.
“The one I need help with is this issue of energy. People
who are paying their energy bills are struggling, and I
have a proposal that brings us down to the reality of the new
landscape the Trump administration has imposed on us for a billion dollars’
worth of savings. I’m asking the General Assembly to provide us with immediate
relief by eliminating the sales tax on our electric bills. We’re talking about
well over a billion dollars in savings, and we’re still on track in a realistic
way relative to energy costs.
“So that’s what we’re working on. I think I got a lot in
three minutes. I’ll certainly be happy to stick around a little bit if anybody
has any questions about the particulars.”
Before the event, I was able to talk to Helena Foulkes
for a one-on-one interview:
Helena Foulkes: RIPTA (Rhode Island Public
Transit Authority) is a key part of making sure people can get good-paying
jobs, because if they can’t access transportation, they can’t get the job. I
met with a lot of people in the manufacturing community who were trying to
figure out how to partner with RIPTA to get buses, let’s say, from Central
Falls to Quonset. RIPTA has become much more flexible, but you can’t play
politics with its funding. We cut $10 million last year. We’re adding $10
million this year. We need a steady, consistent stream.
I saw you at a lot of those RIPTA meetings and rallies. It’s
very moving to hear people talk about the impact of a bus line going down. I
propose to spend $15 million.
Steve Ahlquist: Is that $15 million to plug the
hole in funding, or is it to establish new lines for business commutes?
Helena Foulkes: I think we’ll have to see where
this session ends up, and what RIPTA’s funding is this year, so I don’t know.
We’ve got to figure out what holes need to be plugged, and we’ll work with the
business community to ask, “What are some great-paying jobs people can’t get
access to?” Quonset is a great example. Then we could consider partnering with
schools to prepare kids for those jobs in Quonset, as Central Falls is doing
with its new high school. But I’d like to be practical and start with two or
three of them.
Steve Ahlquist: There are big employers in Rhode
Island, like the hospitals, universities, and other anchor institutions. Buses
do run to these, but sometimes the issue is scheduling.
If you’re a nurse and you get out at 4 am, no buses are
running.
Helena Foulkes: That could be an example of how
we create innovation. If there are enough shift workers at a certain time, to,
for instance, go to the East Bay from Rhode Island Hospital, why not?
Steve Ahlquist: There are very smart people at
RIPTA. They could put together that plan. Also, RIPTA is one of the most
fiscally responsible state entities in Rhode Island.
Helena Foulkes: Think about all the audits and
oversight RIPTA has had, and meanwhile, nothing for RIDOT.
Steve Ahlquist: I think we should put RIDOT
under RIPTA, not the other way around. RIPTA doesn’t waste money and creates
good union jobs. Properly funded, RIPTA will get people to where they need to
go.
Have you heard about the issues we’re having with the
paratransit program?
Helena Foulkes: No.
Steve Ahlquist: Paratransit is a special program
for low-income people with disabilities to get rides where they need to,
outside regular bus lines. When the governor and legislature cut RIPTA funding
and bus lines, paratransit applications went way up.
Helena Foulkes: Interesting.
Steve Ahlquist: People who were previously
making do with regular bus routes needed to apply for paratransit, adding a
bunch more rides to a much more expensive program.
Helena Foulkes: So shortsighted...
Steve Ahlquist: Apparently, paratransit is an
unfunded mandate, meaning RIPTA has to provide this service. So an increasing
amount of RIPTA funding goes to Uber or a taxi service to get paratransit
riders where they need to go. It’s penny-wise, pound-foolish. These unexpected
things happen when you arbitrarily cut programs.
Helena Foulkes: This is going to happen with
Medicaid. Look what Trump’s doing.
Steve Ahlquist: I know.
Helena Foulkes: If we kick all these people off
of Medicaid, they’re going to end up in the emergency rooms.
Steve Ahlquist: Everybody is going to feel that.
It doesn’t matter how rich you are. If you can’t get into the hospital because
it’s overburdened, you can’t get to the hospital.
Helena Foulkes: Exactly right.
Steve Ahlquist: Thank you for your time.
