Growing Opportunity for Rhode Islanders
Rhode Island succeeds when we create opportunity — not when we make it harder for employers and small businesses to invest, expand, and create jobs.
Rhode Island’s business community is united around a clear priority: building a predictable, competitive environment where opportunity grows, small businesses thrive, and the next generation can build their future here at home.
As policymakers consider changes to the personal income tax, it is critical to understand what these proposals mean in practice for Rhode Island employers, job creators, and working communities.
This Is About Growth
Rhode Island’s future depends on growth — not extraction.
Instead of adding new supplemental taxes, we should focus on controlling spending and strengthening the conditions that attract investment, support entrepreneurship, and create good jobs across our state.
A strong economy is built on stability, confidence, and competitiveness.
What a Million Dollars Really Means in Rhode Island
The phrase “millionaire’s tax” is misleading in a small business economy like Rhode Island’s.
A million dollars often reflects business income — not cash sitting on the sidelines. It can represent payroll, growth, and long-term reinvestment.
Policies that raise costs at this level fall first on Main Street employers — not Wall Street.
Rhode Island Is Not Massachusetts
Rhode Island cannot be compared directly to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has scale, population, and economic buffers Rhode Island does not — including larger industries and more immobile revenue streams. Rhode Island’s tax base is smaller, more concentrated, and more mobile.
That means competitiveness here is not optional — it is essential.
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Protecting Small Businesses
This is a business tax in practice.
Most Rhode Island businesses are organized as pass-through entities, meaning business income is reported through the owner’s personal tax return.
That means raising the top personal income tax rate doesn’t just affect individuals — it directly impacts local employers.
For many small businesses, a strong income year is not personal luxury. It is often the year they are reinvesting in:
- Hiring additional staff
- Raising wages
- Purchasing equipment
- Expanding operations
- Keeping jobs and opportunity here in Rhode Island
Tax policy should encourage that kind of investment — not discourage it.
A Future Our Kids Can Come Home To
We want Rhode Island to be a place where our children and grandchildren can build careers, afford homes, start businesses, and stay close to family.
That future requires an economy built on:
- Opportunity
- Affordability
- Competitiveness
- Long-term growth
Opportunity is what keeps families here. Growth is what sustains our future.
Spending Discipline First
Rhode Island does not have a revenue problem — it has a spending discipline problem.
Before increasing taxes on employers and job creators, the state should prioritize fiscal responsibility, predictable policy, and long-term competitiveness.
Rhode Island’s future will not be built on higher taxes.
It will be built on growth, investment, and opportunity for every Rhode Islander.
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Join Us in Supporting a Growth-Focused Rhode Island
Let’s work together to ensure Rhode Island remains a place where businesses can expand, jobs can grow, and opportunity is rising for the next generation.
Help Keep Rhode Island Competitive
Rhode Island’s employers and small businesses have an important voice in this conversation — and policymakers need to hear directly from the people creating jobs in their districts.
We encourage you to take a few minutes to reach out to your elected officials and share a simple message:
Rhode Island must prioritize opportunity, competitiveness, and spending discipline — not new
taxes that fall hardest on small business employers.
#workingbusinesses
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Share Your Voice
Together, we can ensure Rhode Island remains a place where businesses grow, jobs stay here, and the next generation can build their future at home. Download and/or copy the below template and reach out to your Legislator today.