Tax Equity
I fundamentally believe that our tax structure should be equitable and that those who have the most should pay their fair share to support the social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP that are lifelines for our most vulnerable neighbors. For far too long, our state government has catered to special interests instead of putting ordinary Rhode Islanders first. Proponents of these tax cuts approach claim that they stimulate economic growth, but we find ourselves trailing our neighbors despite the fact that Rhode Island has the lowest corporate tax rate in New England and the second-lowest income tax rate (above only New Hampshire, which doesn’t have one). We need to invest in robust public services to make Rhode Island a place where everyone wants to live and in strong safety net programs so that everyone who wants to live here can afford to do so.
As your State Representative, I will fight to:
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In 2006, Rhode Island passed one of the largest state tax cuts in U.S. history, reducing the marginal income tax on top earners from 9.9% to 5.99%. The loss of revenue from these cuts has undermined our state’s ability to provide support in times of economic downturn like the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic, and it threatens to do the same in the face of the looming Trump recession.
In 2012, with our state still reeling from the Great Recession, Rep. Ajello took to the House floor to voice her opposition to a proposed repeal of the 2006 cuts. She was the final Representative to speak on the proposal and played a key role in persuading her colleagues to kill it without bringing it up for a formal vote. Fourteen years later, we are still facing the consequences of her advocacy against tax equity.
The proposed “millionaire’s tax” in the Governor’s fiscal year 2027 budget package is a strong start, but it would only raise the top rate back to 8.99% and only apply to income above $1 million. (Prior to the 2006 cuts, the top rate applied to income above roughly $550,000 in 2026 dollars.) We need to fully repeal the 2006 cuts to protect our social safety net from the brutality of the Trump cuts.
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Corporations aren’t moving out of Rhode Island because our taxes are too high. If they were, they wouldn’t be going to Massachusetts, where the personal and corporate income taxes are higher than they are here.
In recent years, the General Assembly has approved a sweeping tax cut for Citizens Bank, an extraordinarily long 30-year tax break for the Superman Building, and even a tax-stabilization agreement with Exxon. Rep. Ajello voted for all three of those pieces of legislation. I will never support a deal that enriches a powerful industry and undermines our state government’s ability to provide for those in need.
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Many policies that the city government wants to implement require authorization from the General Assembly. Mayor Smiley was only able to exceed the standard limit on tax increases—which he did with a regressive property tax increase that disproportionately burdened single-family homeowners to benefit corporate developers—because the General Assembly passed a law authorizing him to do so.
Not only did Rep. Ajello cosponsor and vote for that law, she also cosponsored a more extreme initial proposal that would have allowed for an unlimited increase. In fact, she was the only State Representative not employed by the Mayor to cosponsor that initial version. (She was also the first State Representative, and one of only two total, to endorse him in 2022.) I will oppose regressive taxes that unduly burden ordinary people to benefit special interests.
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In addition to finding new revenue streams, we should maximize the ones we already have. The Department of Revenue estimates that in the 2023 fiscal year the state failed to collect over $250 million in taxes owed. (For reference, the city of Providence received $127 million in state aid for the 2026 fiscal year.) Enhanced tax enforcement more than pays for itself, with estimates ranging from $5 to $15 in revenue for every dollar spent.