If you listened to Chafee's inaugural address last month you didn't get much of a sense of these manifold and urgent problems, including a $300 million deficit on a $7.8 billion budget and an 11.5 percent unemployment rate. Vaguely referring to challenging times the state faced, the governor mentioned prominently only two specific initiatives, his rescinding through executive order of a program requiring employers to check whether new hires are eligible to work in the United States, and a bill to allow gay marriage in the state. Chafee touted these moves as part of his prescription for reviving the Rhode Island economy by creating a 'civil state' of diverse interests. That, he said, would "do more for economic growth in our state than any economic development loan."
Think of all the new revenue from marriage license fees and the sales tax on tacos. |