By Anita Baffoni WPRO News
Governor Gina Raimondo says she will support and sign the General Assembly’s version of the state’s $8.9 billion fiscal 2017 budget Friday at 10 A.M. at the State House.
“I think it’s a good budget. It makes record investments in public education, investments in jobs training, reduction in business taxes,” Raimondo said. “It’s a good step forward to getting this economy back on track.”
The Governor spoke on a variety of topics with reporters over lunch on Wednesday, including her support of a line-item veto which didn’t get approved by the House or Senate. Raimondo says she will continue to support the line-item veto, giving her power to reject individual provisions of a budget. She said pursuing it in an election year, 2018, will make more sense than pushing it during next year’s legislative session.
Raimondo said it is “very possible” she may veto some of the 300 bills headed to her desk. One bill she said she would have definitely vetoed if it had passed the General Assembly, would restrict local police chief’s discretion in issuing concealed-carry gun permits.
“Particularly in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando when the federal government and other states are taking steps to make people safer, it was surprising and upsetting that the legislature would go the other way to make it easier to get a gun,” Raimondo said.
Delayed tax returns have been frustrating Rhode Islander’s for months now and the Governor says the safety precautions that are causing the delay are well worth it because of the amount of mistakes that are being discovered. She says the same delays aren’t expected for next year because this is the first year of this new approach.
The Governor says she is still searching for a chief of staff to replace Stephen Neuman, who is leaving her administration to work on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Her communications director Joy Fox is also leaving to work for former US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
When asked if she is looking to hire a full time chief of staff who is a Rhode Islander, Raimondo said, “I think it would be great but mostly I want to find the right person.”
