The fall New England Economic Partnership outlook for Rhode Island (digested in Op-Ed form on the facing page) is similar in many ways to previous iterations. The forecast growth rates for the Ocean State lag New England and U.S. expectations. Yes, we are getting better. We just aren’t very good.
Why does this state of affairs persist? From the business-community perspective, the issues can be boiled down to two – the cost and ease of doing business in Rhode Island is an outlier in too many ways to support robust business growth.
Edinaldo Tebaldi, the Bryant University economics professor who drafted the report, points to the need to have a “tax-competitive” state revenue regime. Some progress has been made, from personal income tax reform to the estate tax, but more can be done.
Mr. Tebaldi also says that the efforts to create a “uniform, predictable, efficient and simplified regulatory environment” must be expanded. The Office of Regulatory Reform, after a strong start, seems to have slipped into a bureaucratic malaise. That just won’t do.
Whoever the next governor is, Rhode Island needs someone to bring a greater sense of urgency for reform. Otherwise, a year from now, we will be having the same conversation. •