Tax Relief for Rhode Islanders

Montana recently had a budget surplus. With all kinds of suggestions on how to return money to taxpayers, their governor came up with a plan that he calls a "Square Deal." He is offering a one-time $400 check to every property owner in the state.

"The Schweitzer plan, part of his new Square Deal, provides no tax relief for second homes owned by Montanans or recreation homes owned here by out-of-staters. It would give no tax relief to businesses or corporations, which he said had reaped millions of dollars in tax relief under Republicans."

Then there is the bad news: "Looming budget issues are a K-12 school system the courts declared unconstitutionally underfunded; a university system where students have faced steady tuition hikes because of insufficient state funding; a corrections system stuffed to the gills because of the methamphetamine problem; a social services systems where the demand always exceeds supply; and state public employees and teachers' pension systems that face potential deficits estimated at $1.5 billion."

Any of this sound familiar? We're in a pretty strange situation here. We are cutting taxes (for the wealthy few) when we had budget losses. Montana has some good ideas here which we should be open to. Real "tax relief" isn't given just to a lucky few. And property tax relief isn't" just stop spending" with no plan for how. While we all like to believe that we're rather unique here in Rhode Island, the truth is that many other states face the same problems. We would be wise not to necessarily re-invent the wheel, but to borrow the good from what we see, wherever we find it and to plan not just for this year but for our future.

BTW: Montana is a beautiful state (at least in the summer). Go & you'll see real cowboys with guns on the back of their trucks, huge farms, Glacier Park (yes, even in the summer you can touch the glacier), & Flathead Lake. You can river raft, catch (& release) rainbow trout, see beautiful rare birds, & eat huckleberries (larger & sweeter than blueberries). At night you'll see why it is referred to as "Big Sky" country.