Lincoln Chafee Enters R.I. Gov. Race, Says He May Want to Add New Sales Taxes
In a speech he prepared for delivery at a hotel in Warwick, R.I., Chafee suggested the state consider adopting a two-tiered sales tax, which would impose a smaller tax on currently tax-exempt items like food and over-the-counter drugs.
Rhode Island faces mounting deficits, which have prompted Gov. Don Carcieri to propose a $125 million cut in state funding for local aid to temporarily alleviate the state's crisis.
Chafee reportedly said today he would prefer not to raise taxes, but the state must "honestly confront" its budget problems.
"Make no mistake, I will oppose any changes to our taxes without first reforming our spending, particularly the mandates," he said. He added, however, that "we have to make choices... [and] rather than forcing our property taxes to rise across Rhode Island, we should carefully examine a two-tier sales tax."
The additional tax, he said, would be "the least harmful tax to job growth and economic development is a broad-based sales tax." In addition, he said, it possibly lower the overall sales tax rate because of increased revenue or create the potential to repeal other state taxes.
Chafee, known as a moderate politician, lost his Senate seat in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, after narrowly overcoming a primary challenge. He left the Republican party the following year.
Chafee highlighted his status as an independent in his speech today, the Providence Journal reports, pointing out how he bucked the Republican party on a number of ocassions: "Not many saw through the fog of falsehoods and voted against the rush to war in Iraq, but I did," he said.