PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said Wednesday legislative leaders need to reconcile their differences on the state’s fiscal 2018 budget, and present a balanced package for her approval.
Until that happens, she said Rhode Islanders should know the state government will continue operations, using last year’s budget. “We will continue to operate this government without missing a beat,” she said. “The longer the gridlock lasts, the harder that will be.”
Raimondo told reporters at an afternoon press conference that she has spoken several times over the past few days to both House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, D-Cranston, and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, D-North Providence, and encouraged them to come together to pass a budget.
She wouldn’t say exactly what she told them, or what they told her, but said her message was consistent. “It’s the job of our legislature to pass a budget. My message has been clear: figure out a way to pass a budget.”
The House and Senate have passed alternate versions of the state’s fiscal 2018 budget, which was to have begun July 1. Mattiello adjourned the House unexpectedly on Friday afternoon, after he said he learned the Senate was considering changes to the budget approved by the House and the Senate Finance Committee.
On Wednesday, through a spokesman, he said he objected to an amendment approved by the Senate that was “designed to kill the repeal of the car tax.” Mattiello also said that he was, “committed to giving the public the car tax relief they have been requesting for a long time. The Senate needs to pass the budget that was agreed to by the Senate President and was recommended by the Senate Finance Committee. The last-minute shenanigans over a long-negotiated budget have to stop. They lead to nothing but all-night sessions and bad decisions.”
A spokesman for Ruggerio said Wednesday the Senate had no plans to meet again.
Although Raimondo told reporters she has the authority to call the two chambers into session, she said that would be only under the most extraordinary circumstances, and the state isn’t there yet.
Of the state’s cities and towns, many of which have delayed mailing auto excise tax bills, awaiting a final budget, Raimondo said she had told mayors to use their own judgment about what to do, saying they know their needs and their cities best.
Raimondo said her administration is now compiling a list of key dates that will require decisions to be made, should the budget impasse remain in effect. One is likely to be Aug. 1, when the state is to make state aid payments to municipalities, including for operation of schools.
Of the Community College of Rhode Island, which has advertised the Rhode Island Promise program – a proposed two years of free tuition included in both budget versions – Raimondo said incoming students should apply and assume that their associate’s degrees will be covered.
“We’re going to keep our promise to you.”
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com
