Issues

Chris's legislative priorities include:

• Bringing high paying jobs to the area - green manufacturing jobs that cannot be exported
• Lowering property taxes and strengthening our school system by supporting a statewide education funding formula
• Rolling back targeted tax breaks for the 500 richest Rhode Islanders, providing much needed funding to our cities and towns
• Standing up to the Governor's policies that hit our children and seniors hardest

Jobs & The Economy

For the past year, Chris has been working with labor and community groups to bring green manufacturing jobs to Rhode Island. These jobs, such as building solar panels and wind turbines, would offer good salaries, benefits, and lifetime careers. Because of the nature of the products, they are also jobs that couldn't be exported overseas. Our city and state have the infrastructure to lead the way in this emerging industry, but we must ensure that we seize this opportunity to boost our economy. Chris will continue to champion this initiative when he's elected.

Lowering Property Taxes & Strengthening Our Schools

While most states fund two-thirds of education costs for cities and towns, Rhode Island only provides one-third of education funding. This forces cities and towns to raise the only tax they can - the property tax. We need a fair and balanced education funding formula that will not only strengthen our local schools, but will also provide much needed property tax relief.

Rolling Back Tax Breaks for the Richest 500 Rhode Islanders

As working families see their taxes rise and their services cut, the 500 richest Rhode Islanders are getting tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks every year. Chris is strongly opposed to this flawed economic policy and will push to rollback the tax cuts for the very wealthy. This money needs to be put back into vital programs such as healthcare.

Standing Up to the Governor's Policies

The Governor talks about job creation, but has done nothing to create jobs or stimulate our economy. Instead, he slashes funding to services that hit our seniors and children hardest and appoints his friends to state boards and commissions. For example, the Governor appointed everyone who sits on the board of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The PUC has been nothing more than a rubber stamp for companies like National Grid, who keep raising their rates and shutting off the power of a record number of families - over 20,000 now - every year. Chris supports legislation to have broader community representation on state boards and commissions and will stand up to the Governor's cuts to education and healthcare funding.