Rep. Canario calls governor’s proposed new taxes and fees ‘an economic assault on Rhode Islanders’

STATE HOUSE – Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton) is calling the new fees and taxes in the governor’s FY 2020 budget proposal “an economic assault on all Rhode Islanders” and a troubling trend of taxing everything that needs to end.
“At this rate, the air we breathe will be subjected to a fee in the next budget proposal,” said Representative Canario.
After calling out the governor’s proposal to raise beach and camping fees last week, Representative Canario has heard from countless constituents reacting in complete anger to new fees and taxes in the governor’s budget proposal.
“We are already one of the highest taxed states in the country, yet the governor feels we still have yet to take every single nickel and dime out of our resident’s pockets. Our residents are watching their bank accounts shrink, our small businesses are closing and everyone is sick of being assessed a new fee on almost every aspect of their daily lives. It’s time the governor proposed her budgets as every Rhode Islander is forced to live – within our state’s economic means,” said Representative Canario.
The budget proposal includes new taxes on services such as Netflix, pest control services, landscaping, firearm and ammunition purchases, and mandatory medical insurance penalties.
“Taxing everything under the sun is not a path toward economic growth and development. No new resident or business is going to make the decision to move to Rhode Island because of our excessive fees and taxes. If we need more revenue for state operations, perhaps a better way to accomplish this is by growing our tax base and not through picking the pockets of our already stretched-thin current residents and businesses,” concluded Representative Canario.