Editor’s note: these are the candidate’s responses to questions provided by RIPR. The views expressed are the candidate’s alone, edited only in cases of inappropriate or libelous language. No changes have been made to correct errors of fact, spelling or grammar.
What are the three most important steps for improving Rhode Island’s economy?
We have to solve the affordable housing crisis. I plan to cut red tape and create incentives for cities and towns to unlock a housing construction boom, helping our builders and tradesmen build 40,000 new homes in Rhode Island over the next decade. In doing so, we’ll create 9,000 good jobs a year while lowering home prices.
We have to raise wages. We will raise the minimum wage to $15-per-hour to ensure all Rhode Islanders have the opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families.
We must end corporate handouts and instead support our own businesses here in Rhode Island. Governor Raimondo’s agenda of paying out-of-state companies taxpayer money – transferring wealth from the public to wealthy corporations – has failed us. It has taken a system that creates massive inequality and exacerbated it. We will end corporate handouts while cutting taxes and fees for home-grown small businesses that are the lifeblood of our economy.
Some economists think a recession is likely in 2020. What should the state do to prepare for the next downturn?
To shield ourselves from a downturn, we must build an economy based on thing things people in our state need. That means we must build a local, home-grown economy based on affordable housing, renewable energy and health care. And we must create the Rhode Island Investment Bank to help support these industries. The state of North Dakota started its own bank a century ago. Since then, the North Dakota bank has played a critical role in creating local jobs, growing the local economy and protecting the money of its citizens. After the Wall Street banks collapsed in 2008, North Dakota’s bank continued its 13-year run of record profits through the Great Recession, increasing its assets from 2.8 billion in 2007 to $7.3 billion in 2016. There is no reason why we can’t do it here.
Is the state doing enough to help people who have been left behind by the economy? If not, what additional steps should be taken?
Over the past four decades, wages in Rhode Island have been stagnant while the price of so many necessities has climbed higher and higher. Over the past dozen years, income inequality in Rhode Island has worsened. The wealthiest now earn more than half of all of the income in the state – a greater share than in 2006 – while the share for working families and the middle class has fallen.
In order to build an economy that works to improve the lives of all Rhode Islanders, the government has to stop serving the large, wealthy corporations at the expense of the rest of us. Instead, we must build an economy that works for people and communities — and build it on the resources and talent here in our state.
What would you do to improve public school education statewide?
For two decades our state has steadily cut taxes for the corporations and the wealthiest 1% of individuals while leaving our schools so underfunded that school buildings are now literally crumbling. At the same time, Rhode Island has placed dead last in the country for the education of Latino children. We must repeal those top-tier tax cuts and finally provide the funding our schools need to invest in good teaching, undo teacher pension cuts, shrink class sizes, and make sure our schools buildings never fall apart again so that every single child in our state can get a quality education.
Would you continue with RI’s designation as a sanctuary state? Why or why not?
As Governor, I will strengthen sanctuary and asylum policies here in Rhode Island, including ensuring that no state agency shares information about any state resident with ICE, either intentionally or otherwise. I will issue state drivers licenses to all Rhode Islanders regardless of documentation or immigration status to help ensure their safety and equality in our state. And, unlike the current Governor, I will end the practice of giving state tax breaks and other corporate welfare to defense contractors who profit from the Trump Administration’s horrific immigration policies.
