EDITORIAL

A light shining through the void

Posted 12/10/20

Although this year has been filled with reasons to despair, we're thankful to be able to report this week that there is some good news along one major front when it comes to the state budget. Soon-to-be Speaker of the House K. Joseph Shekarchi has

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EDITORIAL

A light shining through the void

Posted

Although this year has been filled with reasons to despair, we’re thankful to be able to report this week that there is some good news along one major front when it comes to the state budget.

Soon-to-be Speaker of the House K. Joseph Shekarchi has announced a tentative agreement on a balanced state budget that includes three crucial components. One, state aid to cities and towns will not be affected. Two, the phase-out of the car tax will go ahead as scheduled. And perhaps most unbelievably, lastly, there will be no new tax increases levied on citizens to make this happen.

We won’t know the full details of how this seemingly impossible feat has been accomplished until the budget is deliberated and passed, but we don’t believe Shekarchi would begin his speakership by announcing something that doesn’t have a firm backbone. It is hard to imagine that there won’t be some aspect of painful cuts felt somewhere else in order to balance the books and keep the state running, but that has been the reality of this past year – nothing good comes without sacrifice and compromise.

If indeed a budget is passed that doesn’t further burden the bank accounts of Rhode Islanders, it will be a monumentally important, albeit a temporary victory. We will still need to be buoyed by additional money from Washington in the form of stimulus dollars to fund more relief programs that will grant new loans and forgive existing loans given out to businesses and individuals – who have relied on such infusions to stay afloat while businesses and our normal ways of life have been utterly upended during the past nine months.

While we may have a fair amount of confidence in our own State House, led by Shekarchi, in being able to come together and work out a deal that saves us from further financial despair, we wish we could be as optimistic about those in Congress being able to do the same. Political divisiveness and bad blood has already stymied any such efforts for numerous months where that support would have been critical to keep more people in work and businesses from closing.

It is hard to fathom how – amid the worst spike of COVID seen yet, where Rhode Island this past week emerged as the per capita leader in positive cases – that political bickering could take precedent over the good of the people these lawmakers represent. But that’s where we are in 2020, unfortunately. Not even the impetus to save lives and prevent spread of a deadly illness has enabled an attitude of compromise or collaboration.

More good news comes in the form of viable vaccines. In Britain, the first individuals have officially received the Pfizer-manufactured vaccine, which is right on the cusp of being granted FDA approval. Those who are most at risk of death from the virus and frontline healthcare workers should begin receiving a vaccine in short order, followed by widespread immunization in the months to come.

To achieve such a remarkable scientific feat in such a short time is a testament to the indefatigable work of many incredible minds at work throughout the world, and another reason to be proud of humanity at a time where most things seem bleak. It shines an even harsher light on those in Washington who are unable to strike a deal when their people are at their most desperate. Truly, we should demand better.

Although there’s a long while to go in this dark tunnel yet, the first glimmers of light appear to be shining from somewhere deep in the void. We must continue to do the right things and make the sacrifices necessary to prevent further unnecessary loss of life. We owe it to those in science labs and in hospitals who have sacrificed everything to grant us the hope we have now.

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