Five days into the new fiscal year, Governor Gina Raimondo Friday signed into law, the nearly $10 billion state budget that was passed by the General Assembly.
And while the Democratic governor complained in a statement that lawmakers stripped some job training and other tools that she said were necessary to spur job growth, legislative leaders countered with a statement of their own, saying they held the line on “costly new taxes the Governor had sought to impose”.
“The General Assembly’s budget does impose greater accountability on the executive branch to curb overspending and encourage fiscal discipline while being responsive to health and safety concerns,” said House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio in a joint statement.
“As we continue to address the structural deficits, it is imperative that we get hiring and spending practices under control. Given recent management failures, it’s not surprising that these important measures would be met with such resistance from the Governor,” the two lawmakers wrote.
“The General Assembly’s budget restricts our ability to grow the economy and unwisely takes our foot off the gas at a critical point in our comeback,” wrote Raimondo in a statement transmitting the budget to the Secretary of State, the action that completes the budget process.
“By cutting our innovative and effective new economic development tools, our progress is put at risk.” Raimondo cited reductions in job training programs.
“Too many Rhode Islanders will be denied their opportunity at a better job because of the cuts to the Real Jobs Rhode Island job training program,” Raimondo wrote.
