0.0% Sales Tax States: How Do They Do It?

See Testimony at Special Joint Legislative Commission to study repeal:  http://ricaptv.discovervideo.com/show/watch?id=702&t=1

Download Full Report (PDF)

Highlights

  • Non-sales-tax states have higher revenue per capita than Rhode Island in certain key areas, without necessarily taxing at a higher rate.
  • The overall tax structures of non-sales-tax states do not rely on high rates in multiple categories.
  • Despite Rhode Island’s high taxation in all available categories, revenue in non-sales-tax states proved more resilient than in RI during the economic crisis, falling less and recovering more quickly, at and above the national average.
  • Non-sales-tax states manage to spend more per capita on critical government activities than RI, such as infrastructure and education.
  • The exception, where non-sales-tax states reduce their spending relative to Rhode Island, is in social welfare/wealth redistribution.
  • Non-sales-tax states have all seen net taxpayer migration from other states to them; Rhode Island has gone the other way.
  • The employment situation is healthier in non-sales-tax states than in Rhode Island.
  • Studies show residents will cross borders to shop in states without sales taxes.
  • The high population density across Rhode Island’s borders is likely to amplify the benefit to the state.

Rhode Island Employment Snapshot, August 2013: Needle Keeps Moving

Leading the country in the percentage drop of people who say that they are employed, Rhode Island’s unemployment rate skipped to 9.1% in August. According to the statistics published by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 4,469 fewer Rhode Islanders reported being employed than did the month before, and 3,729 fewer people reported that they’re either working or looking for work.

If the second number (the “labor force”) had remained the same, August’s unemployment rate would have been 9.7%. August nearly reduced all employment gains in Rhode Island over the past year.

As can be seen in the first chart, below, Rhode Island’s labor force (which hasn’t been this small since August 2002) is only 3,395 people higher than the number of people working just before the recession started.  Another drop like August’s will mean that about the same number of people who were unemployed in January 2007 have since completely dropped out of the labor force.

If the current employment existed with the same-sized labor force as at the beginning of the chart, the unemployment rate would be 12.9%.

The second chart shows that the Ocean State remains well behind Massachusetts and Connecticut.  A comparison of this chart from month to month would show Rhode Island’s relative position worsening.

RI-laborforceandemp-0107-0813

RIMACT-laborforceandemp-0813perc0107

Center to Conduct “Child Care Union 101′ Seminars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  – September 18, 2013

Providence, RI — The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity announced today that it will conduct a series of “Child Care Union 101” seminars this coming Saturday for home child care providers, including a bi-lingual session.

To raise awareness among providers who will participate in an upcoming election about whether or not to accept the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as their exclusive union representative, the Center has received funding to launch a public awareness campaign, with the goal of reaching as many of the 580 providers as possible, in order to provide them with important information before they vote.

The campaign, which kicked off with a post-card mailer this past weekend to providers, will also include social media and telephone outreach.

The private seminars for home child care providers will be conducted by Jennifer Parrish, a child care provider who for years has been organizing providers in Minnesota, and whose organization, the Coalition of Union Free Providers, is partnering with the Center to provide information about the impact that unionization may have on the family child care profession. According to Parrish, “when providers have access to this information, they overwhelmingly oppose unionization.”

The three “Child Care Union 101” Seminars to be held on Saturday September 21, are:

* 10:00AM – 12:00PM (Bi-lingual); Riverside Library 475 Bullocks Point Avenue, Riverside, RI

* 1:00PM – 3:00PM  Cranston Knights of Columbus Hall 1047 Park Avenue #3, Cranston, RI

* 3:30PM – 5:30PM North Providence Free Library 1810 Mineral Spring Avenue, North Providence, RI

Providers can RSVP at the Coalition’s website:  www.childcareunioninfo.com.

Earlier this week, the Center published a report introducing the concerns that unionization may cause for taxpayers, service providers, and other small business owners. The full report can be viewed here.

 

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Beware Child Care Providers & RI

BEWARE! The independence of 580 home child care providers will be decided in an upcoming election about whether they will be forced to unionize under SEIU.  Our report highlights what providers, other service professionals, and taxpayers should know …

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REPORT: What Taxpayers Should Know About the Unionization of the Home Child Care Industry

Stenhouse discusses issue on WPRI-12 NewsMakers … 

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MEDIA RELEASE, 9/16/13

Providence, RI — With the independence of almost 580 home child care providers to be decided in an upcoming election about whether or not to accept the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as their exclusive union representative, the Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity published a report today highlighting the risks to the home child care profession, to taxpayers, and to other independent small business owners and contractors in the state.

With record of broken promises and negative consequences in other states and with severe structural budget deficits, both child care professionals and taxpayers in Rhode Island should beware. The report, which reviews data from other states where similar unionization has occurred, documents the associated decrease in child care participation rates and discusses the future risk to other professions in the state.

The Center is partnering with the Coalition of Union Free Providers, a national organization comprised of child care professionals from other states, to provide information about the impact that unionization may have on the family child care profession.

“Across the country, child care providers have found themselves stuck paying high union dues and fees with little to no benefit in return. These providers often didn’t realize their businesses were targets of the SEIU until it was too late”, said Jennifer Parrish, founder of the multi-state Coalition. “Every provider has the right know all the facts, including what this will cost them and how this may impact their profession, prior to casting a ballot. When providers have access to this information, they overwhelmingly oppose unionization.”

The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a nonpartisan public policy think tank, is the state’s leading free-enterprise advocacy organization. The Center works to make a profound, positive impact on the lives of every family and business in the state through the exchange of market-based ideas and reform solutions aimed at restoring economic competitiveness, educational opportunities and – ultimately – hope for a brighter future.

Report Summary

Hundreds of home-based child care professionals, who started their own businesses to build better futures for themselves, may soon lose their independence and the freedom to provide services in the manner they see fit. Most never considered that unionization would be part of their work; nor do they see themselves as incapable of operating their businesses without union representation.

Today, they are independent small business owners; in the coming weeks, if a majority of those who vote at a small special election opt to unionize, every one of them will see herself transformed into a quasi-government worker, forced to pay compulsory union dues or fees and subject to the agenda of a national and international political entity: the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

The successful unionization of this group of providers, however, will not end the matter, with consequences reaching into industries throughout the state. Other independent service providers who receive subsidized payments from the state may also be forced to unionize against their will, including small business owners or independent contractors in other areas of child or home care, health services, real estate, or even in the retail industry.

Regarding home child care providers, this report reviews results from other states and discusses a number of important considerations and projections of which these providers and the general public should be aware, especially those who are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. If patterns observed with similar efforts in other states hold true in the Ocean State, there are a number of reasons for the child care industry, other professionals, and taxpayers to be concerned:

  • Broken promises: Unions are usually not able to fulfill the promises they make to providers.
  • Individual rights: Child care providers may be severely restricted.
  • Reduced services: In other states, when home child care providers are unionized, the number of providers and children served usually shrinks.
  • Legality: Involuntary representation by a state-selected monopoly union may be unconstitutional.
  • Increased union clout: The financial and political power of the statewide union stands to be substantially increased, with up to $500,000 or more to further advance its political agenda.
  • Trojan horse: The stated mission of the AFL-CIO labor union is to expand its membership in Rhode Island, targeting other independent contractors and small businesses in the state.
  • Burden on taxpayers: As unions seek to provide benefits to a newly unionized professionals, it will come at taxpayer expense.
  • Missed opportunities: Other alternatives do exist for child care and other service providers that might be better for everybody involved.
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See Also:

Center Calls on Labor Relations Board to Revise Child Care Unionization Ballot Language

Unionization of RI Childcare Providers May Be Unconstitutional

Unionization of Child Care Providers May be Unconstitutional

Recently, Rhode Island passed a law requiring childcare providers caring for children from low-income families to accept monopoly union representation. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has petitioned for an election to become the monopoly union representative. This may be unconstitutional.

[button url=”http://www.rifreedom.org/?p=9524″ target=”_self” size=”small” style=”royalblue” ] Read the full post …[/button]

Center Calls on Labor Relations Board to Revise Child Care Unionization Ballot Language

View the official petition to SLRB here … 

The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity is calling on the State Labor Relations Board to revise the proposed language on the ballot in the upcoming election that will determine whether or not upward of 580 private contractors – that provide child care services in their home to clients who receive state-subsidized assistance – will become unionized.

The Center recommends a simple revision that more clearly defines the reality of the the options that these childcare providers are being forced to consider. Per a recent report in the Providence Journal, the ballot question currently reads: ‘Do you desire to be represented for the purpose of collective bargaining by Service Employees International Union, District 1199, NE or by no provider representative.”

This language is devoid of the word ‘exclusively’, and, therefore, does not appropriately highlight an important provision that child care providers should be made aware of; that such representation would be exclusive to SEIU, and that by voting to unionize, providers will be forced to petition their state government through an involuntary association. As previously argued by the Center, this may be in violation of their constitutional right to freedom of association.

The Center recommends that the ballot language should be revised to read: ‘Do you desire to be represented for the purpose of collective bargaining exclusively by Service Employees International Union, District 1199, NE or by no provider representative.’

“Many providers, who today proudly call themselves independent business owners, free to make their own decisions about how best to operate their business, are concerned that, after the election, they may be involuntarily reduced to the status of unionized state employees, subject to the agenda of national and international unions, forced to pay dues, and forced to be represented exclusively by the state’s hand-picked monopoly union”, said Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center.

Following remarks this past weekend (@ 9:00 minute mark) on WPRI-12’s Executive Suite by AFL-CIO union boss, George Nee, the Center is also concerned that the child care unionization effort is a ‘Trojan Horse’ and just the first of of many planned steps of organized labor where other independent contractors and small business owners across the state will soon also be forced to unionize (e.g., child care centers, home health care providers, landlords), providing even more financial and political clout to unions, and creating a further drag on the state’s already stagnant job market and bloated budget.

Related Links:  Unionization of Child Care Providers May Be Unconstituional