RI Senate rejects House budget proposal
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—The Rhode Island state Senate rejected a budget proposal approved earlier Wednesday by the House of Representatives, instead passing its own version that would rely more on the state's rainy-day fund.
The 27-9 Senate vote, coming hours after the House easily passed its own midyear spending plan, throws a wrinkle into the budget-balancing process as the state labors to close an estimated $220 million deficit in the fiscal year ending in June. An identical version of the budget must be passed by the House and Senate before being transmitted to the governor.
The Senate budget strikes a provision calling for refinancing of the state pension system's unfunded liability, said Senate spokesman Greg Pare. It proposes making up for the difference by using $42 million from the rainy-day fund -- or about 2.5 times more than the $16 million recommended by House lawmakers.
"The long-term negative ramifications of enacting (the House proposal), in our opinion, were something we could not support," said Sen. Daniel DaPonte, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who introduced the amendment.
House Finance Committee Chairman Steven Costantino stressed to his colleagues the importance of preserving the rainy-day fund during a lengthy floor debate Tuesday night. But DaPonte said the House proposal would add a long-term cost of $2.2 billion to taxpayers.
"The rainy-day fund, while it's something that no one looks forward to going to, it exists for times of financial difficulties like we're in right now," DaPonte said in an interview.
The Senate plan now heads back to the House for consideration. The General Assembly is in recess next week. House spokesman Larry Berman had no immediate comment Wednesday evening and said it was not decided when House lawmakers would take up the Senate version of the budget.
Gov. Don Carcieri, a Republican, said Wednesday he would veto the House budget unless major changes were made, though Democrats hold a veto-proof majority in the General Assembly.
The Providence Journal reported on its Web site that this was the first time since 1976 that the Senate had rejected a budget plan passed by the House.
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