Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

 

 

Jan. 16, 2020        

Larry Berman at (401) 222-1408

 

Speaker Mattiello releases statement on governor’s budget proposal

 

STATE HOUSE – House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello issued the following statement today regarding Gov. Gina M. Raimondo's budget proposal, received by the House of Representatives today: 

“Yet again, the Governor has presented us a budget lacking many details. I am very concerned about her proposal to generate revenue from the sale of recreational marijuana when she was advised this would not be an acceptable policy to the General Assembly. Over $20 million has been estimated, which is risky and short-sighted at best.
 
“Additionally, I am very concerned with the number of pervasive debt proposals which require a full vetting by the House Finance Committee.  We are disappointed at many of her suggestions, including the raising of taxes and fees, which had been previously rejected by the General Assembly.
 
“It’s no secret that I’m interested in maintaining the current law regarding the car tax phase-out. This is the second year in a row that the Governor has tried to tinker with the car tax. We must keep our promise we made to our constituents and taxpayers. Lastly, other local aid reductions are very troubling and will have grave consequences for some of our cities and towns.”  

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For an electronic version of this and all press releases published by the Legislative Press and Public Information Bureau, please visit our website at www.rilegislature.gov/pressrelease. 

 

 

 

Former President Trump is in court again today as his criminal hush money trial resumes. Jurors are once again hearing testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who gave details this week on how he protected Trump from negative stories leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Trump faces felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.       President Biden is the first sitting president to be interviewed by Howard Stern. He made a surprise appearance on the Howard Stern Show Friday morning, with the interview being announced just minutes before it happened. The first part of the interview focused on Biden's political career while also touching on the 1972 accident that killed his first wife and daughter.        Inflation is still on the rise, according to a new economic report. The Commerce Department says personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy rose two-point-eight-percent from March 2023 to March 2024. When food and energy are included, the increase was two-point-seven-percent.        The U.S. is calling on China to stop supporting Russia's war on Ukraine. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing today. Blinken told reporters he raised concerns with Chinese officials over the country's support for Russia's military. Blinken, however, did not respond to a question over whether the U.S. would be willing to impose sanctions on China.        Gas prices are up slightly heading into the weekend. Triple-A reports the national average for a gallon of regular is three-dollars-and-66-cents, up a penny from yesterday. Drivers are paying 13 cents more than a week ago. The lowest gas prices are being seen in Mississippi at three-oh-eight a gallon, while commuters in California continue to see the highest prices at the pump with a gallon costing an average of five-40.       Eminem's new album "The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace)" [[ coo-day-grah ]] is dropping this summer. He made the announcement just before making an appearance at the NFL draft in Detroit, releasing a trailer for the album right after. It shows a true crime reporter talking about the rapper's alter ego's death. This is Eminem's 12th studio album.       

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