The DHS and snow removal in RI (Coventry: casinos, budget)

[AlfieBoy]

Originally Posted by forty and out

Relying on the Feds for snow removal? That is what STATE budgets are for. PERIOD. You guys need more toll roads.

I don't know about tolls, but for crying aloud, snow is not unexpected in RI in Winter. So, you know, budget for it appropriately. Some years it snows less, some years it snows more. Build a robust revolving contingency fund and pay for it by charging those who use the roads. Christ on a Cracker, it's not complicated. But to go begging to the feds for things the state should pay for itself smacks of a welfare state as a collective and a welfare mentality at an individual level. Gimme gimme gimme. Well, there's also a huge federal deficit, and this simply adds to it.

I'm used to Southern states abusing the system, but their governments are well known leeches (and they are the biggest whiners about "Big Gobberment," yet they cannot WAIT to see a federal check appear in their collective mailboxes). I think this is sleazy, it's low-rent and it disgusts me.

[ormari]

Originally Posted by AlfieBoy

I don't know about tolls, but for crying aloud, snow is not unexpected in RI in Winter. So, you know, budget for it appropriately. Some years it snows less, some years it snows more. Build a robust revolving contingency fund and pay for it by charging those who use the roads. Christ on a Cracker, it's not complicated. But to go begging to the feds for things the state should pay for itself smacks of a welfare state as a collective and a welfare mentality at an individual level. Gimme gimme gimme. Well, there's also a huge federal deficit, and this simply adds to it.

So, bump up the gas tax? Probably not, because that's at the state level so there would be lots of fighting about how to allocate the funds. Bump up the car tax??? Lots of luck with that!!!

I think the gas tax is the better way to handle it. Weight the distribution of funds to cities/towns by # of cars registered in the town or city divided by the total cars registered in state.

I like the revolving contingency fund idea. How do you protect the fund from the politicians during the flush years?

Looks like Boston is trying to get the Feds to bail them out for 75% of the cost of cleanup from the blizzard:

Boston To Start Full Force Snow Removal Monday Evening

[Hollytree]

Originally Posted by AlfieBoy

I don't know about tolls, but for crying aloud, snow is not unexpected in RI in Winter. So, you know, budget for it appropriately. Some years it snows less, some years it snows more. Build a robust revolving contingency fund and pay for it by charging those who use the roads. Christ on a Cracker, it's not complicated. But to go begging to the feds for things the state should pay for itself smacks of a welfare state as a collective and a welfare mentality at an individual level. Gimme gimme gimme. Well, there's also a huge federal deficit, and this simply adds to it.

I'm used to Southern states abusing the system, but their governments are well known leeches (and they are the biggest whiners about "Big Gobberment," yet they cannot WAIT to see a federal check appear in their collective mailboxes). I think this is sleazy, it's low-rent and it disgusts me.

So we should fund the RI Emergency Management Dept. by adding $7 million to the state budget? That is the major part of what the Repubs are holding up.

[AlfieBoy]

Originally Posted by ormari

So, bump up the gas tax? Probably not, because that's at the state level so there would be lots of fighting about how to allocate the funds. Bump up the car tax??? Lots of luck with that!!!

I think the gas tax is the better way to handle it. Weight the distribution of funds to cities/towns by # of cars registered in the town or city divided by the total cars registered in state.

I like the revolving contingency fund idea. How do you protect the fund from the politicians during the flush years?

Looks like Boston is trying to get the Feds to bail them out for 75% of the cost of cleanup from the blizzard:

Boston To Start

Can't bump up the state gas tax -- RI is at the max. allowable by Congress (who, you know, is bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industrial complex). Oh, I don't know -- maybe an excise tax of title transfers, new car sales, increase the annual general tax assessment, increase registration fees, tag fees. Maybe a carbon tax. Maybe an excise tax on auto repairs. I mean, shoot, I have to pay sales tax on my dogwalker's bill and I pay sales tax on Uber and cabs; I'd bet there are clever tax ideas locked in some dusty file cabinet on the State House that could be dusted off.

Point is, long and short, and this is probably true of everyone and every thing, but especially true of car owners: they don't want to pay their fair share. They want to speed around town on ancient roads that cost a lot to maintain, they crush the underlying water lines that are hugely expensive to replace, they spew their noxious fumes into the air that we all breathe, and they want to do it on the cheap. No, no and no.

Nothing in life is free. That I have learned. Driving is not a right, dontchaknow, it is a privilege. So pony up.

[AlfieBoy]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

So we should fund the RI Emergency Management Dept. by adding $7 million to the state budget? That is the major part of what the Repubs are holding up.

Holly, we are convoing about the feds paying for snow removal, not the EM costs. Totally different topic, and one worthy of discussion.

[ormari]

Originally Posted by AlfieBoy

Can't bump up the state gas tax -- RI is at the max. allowable by Congress (who, you know, is bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industrial complex).

Are you sure about that? This map from the American Petroleum Institute shows other states with more (combined Federal, State, Local) taxes than RI.

http://www.api.org/~/media/files/sta...ne-tax-map.pdf

[AlfieBoy]

^ I thought I was, but guess not! Problem Solved: raise the damned state tax on gasoline and then we won't need to go begging to the feds like that loathsome Gov. Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (R-LA) every time it sprinkles in Louisiana.

[forty and out]

If the state government is so stupid that they didn't budget for snow removal and it seems like taxes are a moot subject let the police handle it. Zero, zilch discretion. Let them enforce every traffic law and statute. That is a sure way to bring in revenue.

[Hollytree]

Originally Posted by AlfieBoy

Holly, we are convoing about the feds paying for snow removal, not the EM costs. Totally different topic, and one worthy of discussion.

I think that if you re-read the initial article cited from my first post and then this article, you will see how emergency declarations influence money for snow budgets. That is why the two senators are lobbying. Note that the January storm cost the state $9 million.

R.I.'s initial tally of January blizzard's cost at $9 million - Gate House

[AlfieBoy]

^ Not doubting it did. Where we disagree is who pays. I say it is a state responsibility, and you believe it a federal responsibility. From the article:

Starting Wednesday, she said, “FEMA and RIEMA will send assessment teams out to visit local municipalities throughout the state who have submitted a damage assessment that may qualify for federal disaster reimbursement if RI is declared a disaster area. …

Holly, with all respect, this wasn't an earthquake. This wasn't Katrina. This was a few inches of snow! "Disaster area?" How many people died? How many bridges collapsed? This is Winter. It snowed. It is the job of cities and the state to prepare... and pay. So, there's no "disaster," there's a cost.

Did RI go to DHS when 38 Studios slammed the state to the tune of more than $75 million? Now THAT was a disaster!

We just disagree about the locus of financial responsibility.