Which should be a higher priority for the state: Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s plan to provide two years of free college tuition, or House Speaker Nicholas A Mattiello’s proposed phaseout of the car tax?

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and House Speaker Nicholas A Mattiello have differing priorities for the fiscal 2018 budget.

Raimondo has prioritized a plan to offer two years of free college tuition, while also reducing the state’s car tax.

The governor’s $30 million Rhode Island Promise initiative would make all Rhode Island students eligible for a scholarship to cover two years of tuition and fees at the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Rhode Island or Rhode Island College, regardless of income. She has said she would consider changing her proposal to make it less expensive.

But Mattiello questions whether the state can afford the free-college plan. Instead, he wants to focus on a multiyear phaseout of the car tax.

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Which plan should be a higher priority for the state? Or do you think both state leaders should be focusing on something else?

 

Which should be a higher priority for the state: Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s plan to provide two years of free college tuition, or House Speaker Nicholas A Mattiello’s proposed phaseout of the car tax?