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How do you think that the Rhode Island General Assembly would react if future federal aid was linked to state and local tax policies determined in Washington and not in the Rhode Island State House?
The question of the relations of the states to the federal government, wrote Woodrow Wilson in 1908, “is the cardinal question of our constitutional system”. Matters of state and federal fiscal responsibility have been vexing to presidents, members of Congress, the courts, and state and local governing authorities since the founding of the nation.
The words Wilson spoke 113 years ago are particularly relevant today because the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) -the $1.9 trillion federal COVID-19 relief program includes a provision that states and municipalities cannot use ARP funds to “directly or indirectly offset” tax reductions. At this point, it is unclear how this law will be applied. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a Senate Committee, “We will have to define what it means to use money from this act as an offset for tax cuts, and given the fungibility of money, it’s a hard question to answer.”GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST