Entries by RI Center for Freedom

Center Joins Liberal Groups in Supporting Two Justice Reinvestment Bills that would Benefit Minority and Other Communities

June 6, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , /by

Bi-Partisan Coalition Supports Right-to-Earn-a-Living for Nonviolent Criminals and Protecting Civil/Property Rights Providence, RI – The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity urges legislative leaders to reconsider two bills that would provide Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) and occupational licensing reforms, two areas consistently supported by the Center in recent years.  Each bill has similarly been implemented in over dozens of other […]

NEW: Center Publishes Municipal Summary of its “Public Union Excesses” Report

June 5, 2019 /0 Comments/in , /by

Municipalities Across RI are Burdened with $590 million in Excess Costs… Not counting liabilities for paying people not to work! Providence, RI— The #1 reason why local property taxes are up to 25% higher than they need be, is because of the $590 million in “excessive” costs, shared by municipalities across Rhode Island, for collectively-bargained government […]

PAID FOR NOT WORKING;TAXPAYER RIPOFF #1: Ghost Workers and the Triple-Whammy of Union Release Time

May 28, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

One of the most objectionable schemes of government union collective bargaining process, which excessively drives up the cost of government for taxpayers, in ways or at levels that do not exist in the private sector, is being paid for not working. This issue, along with many others defined in the Center’s report, Public Union Excesses, […]

Testimony: Opioid tax bill would harm families and businesses across Rhode Island

May 20, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , /by

To: RI Senate Committee on FinanceFrom: Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity, Mike Stenhouse Subject: Written Testimony re. Opioid Stewardship Act (S0798) Chairperson Conley, Jr. and Committee Members: As CEO for the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, a non- partisan research and advocacy organization, I would like to provide some background re. S0798, which is […]

Perpetual Contracts Will Keep Rhode Island in Perpetual Decline

May 14, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , /by

Providence, RI— Statement from Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity on the “perpetual (evergreen) contracts” legislation that was signed into law today by the governor: “The number one driver of the Ocean State’s declining population and jobs numbers –  are high property taxes. Our Public Union Excesses report clearly connects high property taxes with […]

CENTER Refutes NEA-RI Claims about its Cost of Collective Bargaining Report

May 6, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , , /by

Unions Respond with Mindless Attacks and Unsubstantiated Claims Teachers Union Response Addresses the Wrong Points Correction Providence, RI— The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity refutes the unsubstantiated and off-target claims made last week by two government union officials in publicly responding to the Center’s Public Union Excesses report. The eye-popping report details how Ocean State taxpayers are dishing out […]

CENTER’S NEW REPORT: Public Unions Cost Rhode Islanders $888 Million Per Year

April 30, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Property Taxes on Families & Businesses Driven Up By 25% “Firefighter Overtime” and “Evergreen” Bills Would Give Unions a More Unfair Negotiating Advantage Providence, RI– With two-thirds of the statewide burden heaped on local taxpayers, Rhode Island property taxes would be 25% lower were it not for the ‘excessive’ costs imposed on families and businesses […]

Jobs & Opportunity Index (JOI), March 2019: In Need of a Turnaround… Soon

April 24, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Although its rank did not change, March was not a good month for Rhode Island on the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity’s Jobs & Opportunity Index (JOI). With four of the 12 datapoints’ changing, RI is still 47th in the country, but slippage in employment and income brings a warning sign of things that […]

Progressive Policies Sink Ocean State Back into the Bottom-10

April 15, 2019 /0 Comments/in , , /by

Providence, RI– How much bad news can our state absorb before its political leaders change course, asks the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity? Fittingly, it is on Tax Day that high taxes once again are cited for sinking the Ocean State. Despite a booming national economy, many recently published metrics show Rhode Island […]