PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello is calling Gov. Gina Raimondo “tone deaf” for not supporting his plan to eliminate car taxes.
Mattiello made the comments on Twitter on Friday afternoon, widening a gulf between the two powerful Democrats on their competing legislative priorities.
The Cranston legislator also called Raimondo’s proposal to provide two years of free tuition at the state’s public colleges “unsustainable and fiscally irresponsible.”
Mattiello has pledged to fulfill a campaign promise to phase out municipal car taxes after narrowly winning re-election against a GOP challenger in November.
Raimondo has her own plan to reduce car taxes, but she’s questioned whether the state can afford to eliminate them.
Mattiello spokesman Larry Berman says the Twitter comments were in response to statements by Raimondo aides discrediting Mattiello’s approach.
