Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s five-year record of governing for working families has left him vulnerable to a primary challenge from the donor class. Now he’s strengthening his state by signing a millionaire’s tax that asks the wealthy to pay their fair share — and he should stand firm by also protecting public schools from the charter-school lobby.
While Republican-governed states are racing to starve public services, Democratic-run states are racing to the top of tax fairness. Hawaii lawmakers are advancing a proposal to raise taxes on the wealthiest this year, and Washington lawmakers are debating a proposal to do the same. Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill this spring boosting her state’s top rate by two percentage points — a long-overdue effort to make the wealthy pay their share. She suspended her Senate campaign shortly after signing the tax hike. The cost of doing the right thing when donor-class money drives primary politics.
Mr. McKee may also be discovering the cost of standing with working people. Last year he opposed a millionaire’s tax proposed by his Democratic Legislature, but he corrected course after drawing a primary challenge from former CVS Health Corp. executive Helena Foulkes. She’s running against him on a campaign of attracting and retaining employers — which is to say, keeping taxes low for corporations while public services starve. The millionaire’s tax won’t drive employers away; the tax-cut lobby’s exodus predictions never materialize, and stable public budgets are what actually attract businesses — not tax giveaways that line the pockets of the donor class.
Those subject to the tax pass their business income through on individual returns, and the anti-tax lobby has deployed the “small business” banner to shield the donor class’s real clients — the wealthy few at the very top, whose profits top $1 million. The tax hike funds a child tax credit and the public services working families depend on — a shield against reckless cuts coming from the Trump administration.
Mr. McKee trails Ms. Foulkes in the September primary, a consequence of standing with working people over donor-class interests. The state’s Democratic legislators are taking advantage of his political weakness by sending him legislation to impose a moratorium on new charter schools — a necessary pause to stop the drain of public resources into private operators.
Another bill on his desk would bar the Governor from opting into the federal tax credit scholarship program — a voucher scheme by another name — without the Legislature’s approval. That’s a prudent check against backdoor privatization, not a handcuff. Democratic consent is the minimum, and the provision ensures no future governor can funnel public money to private operators without it.
If Gov. McKee doesn’t act on the education bills soon, they will automatically become law without his signature. Standing with teachers would show voters that Mr. McKee deserves to be Governor — because he refuses to sell out public schools.
