To the Editor:

Please no more study commissions. The following issues deserve full debate and a chance of passage. Put the politics aside and do what is right for the taxpayers of Rhode Island. Passage of at least half of these issues could save millions of dollars and make Rhode Island a more business friendly state.

- Eliminate state corporate income tax

- Increase R.I. estate tax's exemption amounts

- Reduction of individual income tax's top marginal rate

- Revoke annual cost-of-living increases in pensions paid to future retirees including school teachers

- Repeal the flat tax or at least freeze it

- Reduce and/or streamline our permitting process to become more business friendly

- Reduce the 36 school districts to four

- One statewide teacher contract

- One health care provider

- A statewide municipal purchasing system

- School aid funding formula

- Support Race to the Top

- Repeal the Caruolo Act

- Waive state mandates for cities and towns

- Abolish minimum staffing requirements

- Allow consolidation of city and town services

- Allow Twin River to become a full casino

- Pass legislation allowing a small container port at Quonset Point

- Eliminate the Master Lever

- Pension Reform (last year legislation was introduced that proposed measures to reform the retirement benefits to make them more affordable to communities, such as requiring higher contributions from the employee themselves, higher health co-pays, raising retirement age and requiring more years of service). Last year these bills never got a hearing nor did measures proposed by the governor that gave cities and towns a way to pare down their pension obligations such as higher co-pays, raising retirement ages, increasing years of service and eliminating cost of living adjustments (COLA). Our legislature MUST act on true pension reform; we cannot sustain the pension system in its present form.

The key words in this legislative session should be regionalization and consolidation of services.

Our legislative leaders, particularly the Speaker and Senate President should NOT allow these bills to die in committee nor ever see the light of day, they SHOULD allow full debate on the House and Senate floor and allow there colleagues to vote their conscience.

For a state that has the second highest unemployment, third highest taxes and one of the worst business climates, our legislature has done little over the last 10 years to address these issues. We can no longer put a Band Aid on these problems, we must stop the smoke and mirrors, we must put politics aside; let’s pass good legislation that will drive down our unemployment, our taxes and allow Rhode Island to portray itself as a business friendly state.

Paul D. Santilli

Former State Representative

Johnston