STORY OF THE WEEK: Legislative leaders in Rhode Island have for years reflexively opposed efforts to raise broad-based taxes. The trend has been more in the other direction, with a four-point cut in the highest marginal tax rate signed into law by then-Gov. Don Carcieri in 2010, and the phaseout of the car tax embraced by then-Speaker Nick Mattiello in the heat of a 2016 challenge for his state rep seat by GOP rival Steve Frias. That hasn’t stopped advocates from arguing each year that raising taxes on upper-income Rhode Islanders is a matter of fairness. In a 2024 report, the Economic Progress Institute’s Alan Krinsky wrote that dire predictions of rich people fleeing Rhode Island due to a tax hike aren’t grounded in reality: “While shifts in tax rates may play some role for individuals in relocation decisions, including where to move once the decision has already been made, the evidence shows this happens only at the margins and that tax rates have never motivated large numbers of higher-income individuals to move out of or into a state.” During a House Finance hearing this week, EPI Executive Director Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies said the possible move of Hasbro to Massachusetts has more to do with public transit and the available talent than tax policy. The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council maintains that Rhode Island already has a progressive approach on taxes and it cites a heavy reliance on high earners. “‘Wealth flight’ out of RI has been happening at a large clip for over a decade — this would purge wealth completely,” tweeted House GOP Leader Mike Chippendale (R-Foster). The results of the May Revenue Estimating Conference today will affect the outlook of legislative leaders. For now, one key question is whether Val Lawson’s ascent as Senate president changes the equation.

2. TAXING MATTERS: On paper, Senate President Lawson and Majority Leader Frank Ciccone (D-Providence) present something of an ideological balance, since she’s more liberal and he’s more conservative. But they are both stalwarts of organized labor, and the steering committee of the Revenue for RI Coalition, which advocates for higher taxes on the top 1% of earners, includes the RI AFL-CIO, the RIFT, NEARI (of which Lawson is president), and SEIU, 1199NE.

3. BOTTLED UP: Is a 10-cent refundable deposit a way to improve recycling in Rhode Island and get more bottles and cans out of the waste stream, or something that would pose a new burden for consumers and retailers? That’s the debate playing out around a proposed bottle bill as lawmakers approach the end of the legislative session. Back in 2021, the Globe editorialized that Massachusetts’ bottle bill “has been a remarkable and well-recognized success.” A coalition of retailers, grocery stores, liquor stores and distributors has banded together to oppose expanding the concept to Rhode Island, one of only two New England states without a bottle bill. In a statement, the group said, “Bottle bills elsewhere have added unnecessary burdens on residents who are forced to take bags of bottles and cans to redemption centers to redeem them.” After both sides sounded off during a Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture hearing this week, a House committee is planned for Tuesday. Regardless of what happens, using fewer single-use plastics may be the best way to slightly diminish the “waste wars” documented by Rhode Island native Alexander Clapp.

4. FLOODING THE ZONE: Former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon touted a plan for Trump to overwhelm opponents by flooding the zone with so many initiatives that it would cause a lack of focus. That seems part and parcel of what Trump has done since returning to the White House in January. New York Times investigative reporter Eric Lipton told NPR’s Terry Gross this week that there are so many conflicts of interest involving the Trump family that “it's hard to write about them all. It's hard to read about them. It takes a fair amount of energy simply to keep up. And you — they all — they kind of all blur together. And, you know, they're happening simultaneously.” But in unveiling his latest lawsuit against the Trump administration — over what he called the dismantling of the federal Department of Health and Human Services — Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha offered a different view. He pointed to the granting of preliminary injunctions in the cases he’s brought against the Trump administration in arguing that the White House can be “stopped in its tracks … Mr. Bannon is wrong in thinking no one can stop the president,” Neronha told me during his news conference. “We’ve stopped him and we’re going to continue to stop him because we’re right on the law … We’re going to continue to win and when we win, it’s not a matter of winning in three years. It’s a matter of winning in a week or a month or in some instances, in some of our cases, in a matter of 24 to 48 hours.” 

5. HEALTHCARE: AG Neronha called news that Providence Community Health Centers is cutting 10% of its workforce due to low reimbursement rates as alarming as it is unsurprising. “It’s quite simple really,” Neronha said in a statement. “Our health care system will continue to collapse unless state leadership invests and raises Medicaid reimbursement rates to support the financial needs of Rhode Island health care practices. And to be clear, this latest hit to our health care system could not have been predicted by quarterly financial reports. Providence Community Health Centers is a well-respected, critically important organization, and yet, they are struggling to survive; the latest victim in this state’s unwillingness to address reimbursement rates. What’s infuriating is that we know what the problem is, and we know how to fix it, but instead we are rolling out modest health care grants and commissioning more studies. Rhode Islanders deserve quality, affordable, and accessible health care, and state leadership is failing to deliver it. I urge the General Assembly to support increases in the state budget for Medicaid reimbursement. It’s not too late yet. But it almost is.”

6. CIVIL LIBERTIES: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador by the Trump administration, doesn’t have a criminal record in the U.S., but he was accused of abusing his wife. That’s one reason why there are sharply varying views on his case. Critics of Trump say it represents foundational issues of due process. Many Trump supporters point to Abrego Garcia’s less-than-perfect past in downplaying that concern. On Political Roundtable, RI ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown acknowledged that public views in these cases present concern: “Well, it certainly does, but I think you’re seeing some pushback even from the public. I mean, I think you’re right that maybe in generic terms they support what the Trump administration is doing, but when they look at the specifics there’s been a lot of concern and consternation and legitimately so. I mean, when you see a young Tufts University student confronted by hooded agents, whisked off into an unmarked car solely because she wrote an op-ed that was critical of government policy, that causes a lot of people concern. And that is what is going on in this country right now. And I don’t think that the majority of the public thinks that that is the way to implement immigration policy, even if they think there should be crackdowns on it.”

7. RELIGION: Bruce A. Lewandowski, bishop-designate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, offered this reaction via statement to the selection of Pope Leo XIV: “For some time now, Catholic Rhode Islanders have had the unique and unenviable experience of not only waiting for a new bishop, but also a new pope. Happily, the time of waiting has come to a close. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, even as we continue with grateful affection to remember Pope Francis, the Holy Spirit, who never disappoints, has seen fit to give us Pope Leo XIV. Let us join our voices to those of Catholics and People of Good Will around the globe in thanking God for the election of our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Please continue to pray for a generous outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon him as he assumes his responsibilities as the Successor of St. Peter. May Our Lady of Providence watch over our New Pope and keep him always in her care.” More on local reaction from David Wright.

8. SOCCER: The past and present of Pawtucket blended last Saturday as Rhode Island FC staged its home opener at Centerville Bank Stadium. If you looked in the distance, remnants of the Apex Pyramid were visible. Another direction offered a view of Memorial Hospital, which closed in 2017. Of course, most of the sold-out crowd of 10,000-plus was focused on the great sightlines of the new stadium, the exciting 0-0 tie that played out on the pitch, and the opportunity to enjoy a beer or corned beef sandwich from Maven’s while being part of something new and different. Lots of RI politicos and reporters made the scene, and the weather held out until a last-minute downpour sent people scurrying. Sure, Ben Mondor is off wincing somewhere about how paid parking for the new venue goes for up to $30. But Pawtucket needed a boost — and while questions remain about the cost — pro soccer in Rhode Island is a welcome addition.

9. CRAFT BEER: State Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Narragansett), chair of the House Small Business Committee, is trying to foster a compromise that would exclude craft brewers at a low level of output — around 5,000 to 7,500 barrels a year — from the restrictions of Rhode Island’s three-tiered alcohol distribution system. McEntee spoke about this at State of the Brew, an event staged Wednesday evening by The Public’s Radio and Rhode Island PBS at the Guild in Pawtucket. We screened my recent story on the craft beer industry in the state, and Hagan was joined on the panel by Matt Gray, co-owner of Ragged Island Brewing in Portsmouth, and Matt Taibi, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters, Local 251. We had a good crowd of beer enthusiasts on hand. Thanks to all who took part.

10. IMMIGRATION: Paul C. Kelly Campos reports on the release of a Guatemalan man whose apprehension — by a federal agent breaking into a car with an ax — gained a lot of attention.

11. RI POLI-MEDIA PEOPLE IN THE NEWS: Congrats to Mark Arsenault, ex of the ProJo, and David Scharfenberg, ex of the Providence Phoenix, on being among the Pulitzer finalists at the Globe … Peter Asen has signed on as director of housing production and preservation at the RI Department of Housing … Grace Voll is now doing comms for General Treasurer James Diossa … Melissa Cherney is the new CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

12. RI SENATE: While the filing deadline to run for the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Dominick Ruggerio is not until 4 p.m. on May 30, it looks like the Democratic contenders will include North Providence Town Council President Dino Autiello, former state Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell and three-time Ruggerio opponent Lenny Cioe.

13. CANNABIS: It was three years ago this month that Gov. Dan McKee signed Rhode Island’s adult-use cannabis legislation into law. At the time, there were doubts about whether the state would live up to rhetoric about social equity, and those licenses have yet to be issued. With the window on applications for 24 new cannabis shops expected some time this year, the Cannabis Policy Coalition is renewing its call for updates, including the removal of what it calls exploitative loopholes in who could apply as a social equity applicant.

14. KICKER: If ever there was a time when our pangs for a simulation of the Providence Newspaper Guild Follies soar to new heights, it’s when Bravo unveils plans for Real Housewives of Rhode Island.