Campaign 2018 in R.I.: Raimondo endorses progressive economic agenda

July 31--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Working to fend off a primary challenge on her left flank, Gov. Gina Raimondo on Monday endorsed a slate of progressive economic proposals, including expanding the earned income tax credit and the state's paid family leave law.

Raimondo's five-point "protecting opportunity for working families" platform draws from high-profile recent legislative initiatives, including a gender equity law and crackdown on payday lenders, that the General Assembly's progressive lawmakers have not been able to pass. Raimondo also wants to do more to catch and punish employers who break state labor laws.

"Hardworking Rhode Islanders should get the pay they deserve and the workplace flexibility they need to care for themselves and their families," Raimondo said in a campaign news release. "We must also ensure strict protections from unethical employers and lenders who can take advantage of Rhode Island's most vulnerable."

Earned Income Tax Credit: If she is reelected this year, Raimondo proposes raising the state's earned income tax credit from 15 percent of the federal tax credit to 20 percent. In 2016, Raimondo backed, and the General Assembly approved, hiking the tax credit from 12.5 percent to the current rate.

Moving from a 15-percent to 20-percent credit is estimated to cost $9 million a year, Raimondo campaign spokeswoman Emily Samsel told The Journal. Raimondo's plan does not include a specific funding source to pay for the expansion.

Temporary Caregiver Insurance: Starting in 2014, Rhode Islanders were able to take four weeks of time off from work to care for a loved one or bond with a newborn child while receiving Temporary Disability Insurance benefits.

Raimondo proposes allowing Rhode Islanders up to six weeks off work under TCI, which last year approved 6,224 claims and paid out $12 million in benefits, according to the Department of Labor and Training.

She also proposes raising the maximum weekly benefit that workers earning around minimum wage can receive while creating a graduated contribution system where lower-wage workers contribute less to the TDI fund than higher-income workers. Workers pay into the TDI fund through payroll deductions.

Pay equity: As she did this year, Raimondo said next year she hopes to back legislation like the bill that passed the state Senate aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence, would have banned employers from asking a job candidate's salary history or preventing existing employees from discussing what they make with one another. The House passed a more business-friendly version that many female state lawmakers described as watered down and senators rejected. Goldin also spearheaded the original push for temporary caregiver insurance.

Payday lending: For years, the payday lending industry has successfully fought off efforts to reduce the interest they charge Rhode Islanders on short-term loans.

Samsel said Raimondo supports giving Rhode Island usury laws that would cap interest like those in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Wage theft: "In her second term, Governor Raimondo will work with labor organizations, advocates, and the business community to explore and support legislative and administrative changes to punish employers committing wage theft -- not paying workers for the hours they've worked, or paying sub-minimum wages," the campaign stated in a news release.

Perhaps surprisingly, Raimondo's "working families" platform does not include any proposal for an increase in the state's minimum wage. The state's $10.10-per-hour minimum wage is set to rise to $10.50 in January, but no increases are scheduled after that.

"Governor Raimondo is the first Rhode Island Governor to ever propose a minimum wage increase every year and she remains committed to keep raising it," wrote Samsel, although she wouldn't say when or how much Raimondo wants to raise the minimum wage next.

Matt Brown, Raimondo's opponent in the Democratic primary for governor, is campaigning on raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.

"From the very beginning, Matt Brown has focused on bold solutions that serve working families and leave no one behind, like raising the minimum wage, expanding Medicaid funding and creating a universal health care system, dramatically expanding affordable housing and creating good jobs that pay well," Brown campaign spokeswoman Juliet Barbara said in an email. "He's been talking about these concrete steps from the beginning and will fight to make them happen as governor."

Brown has proposed creating Rhode Island's own health insurance system modeled on the federal Medicare program, and on Monday it came up when the Republican Governors Association attacked Democrats across the country on their single-payer health-care plans.

"Democrat candidates running for governor are embracing a 'Medicare for all' healthcare system that would require trillions in new spending and historic tax hikes," the RGA said in a news release, which highlighted Brown's state plan and Raimondo's support nearly a year ago for a federal single-payer system.

Asked whether she supports either a state "Medicare for all" plan or federal single-payer, Samsel would say only that the "Affordable Care Act is working in Rhode Island."

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