Ray Sullivan

April 27, 2006
Sullivan co-sponsors bill encouraging R.I. biotech industry
Legislation paves the way for job growth throughout field, linked to 450 new jobs at West Greenwich’s Amgen

STATE HOUSE – Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan is co-sponsoring legislation aimed at boosting Rhode Island’s competitiveness as a location for biotechnology and biomanufacturing companies.
The Biotechnology Jobs Growth Act of 2006 will focus on economic incentives that – coupled with physical infrastructure investments and the availability of skilled labor – are viewed as critical to attracting biotech and biomanufacturing investment.
In connection with the submission of the legislation, Amgen announced this week plans to expand and create 450 new jobs this year at its West Greenwich manufacturing plant.
“This legislation will help the growth and development of an industry that is on the rise and represents great opportunities for Rhode Island. Biotechnology jobs pay well and encourage the growth of opportunities for education. That means better lives for more Rhode Islanders and their families,” said Representative Sullivan (D-Dist. 29), whose district in Coventry and West Greenwich includes the Amgen plant.
One area of focus for the Biotechnology Jobs Growth Act (2006-H 8402), whose primary sponsor is House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino (D-Dist. 8) of Providence, will be making Rhode Island tax policy competitive with that of its New England and Northeast neighbors.
A tax credit program for biotechnology firms already exists in Rhode Island, but under it, companies have only seven years to take any tax credits they have earned. Because it typically takes several years of research and development before biotechnology products start returning profit, companies are often not able to use all the credits they earn under the program.
The Biotechnology Jobs Growth Act extends the biotechnology tax credits period from seven to 15 years, making Rhode Island tax policy competitive with that of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
However, it also establishes minimum performance standards that companies must meet to claim the credits. For instance, companies would be required to provide compensation that is at least 25 percent higher than average for full-time employees in Rhode Island, maintain existing jobs, and increase the number of jobs by at least 9.5 percent after four years.
Identical legislation (2006-S 3063) has been introduced in the Senate by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Stephen D. Alves (D-Dist. 9) of West Warwick.
Leaders from many companies that are part of Rhode Island’s biotechnology sector offered their support to the legislation at a State House event to announce its introduction this week. They said the extension of the tax credit period will help Rhode Island maintain and develop its biotechnology industry.
“We’re fortunate that we already have a biotechnology industry here, and this legislation will help it develop into a more powerful part of our state’s economy, providing high-skill, high-wage jobs to Rhode Islanders,” said Representative Sullivan.


March 7, 2006

Commission studying KCWA seeks customer input at local meeting

STATE HOUSE – A special legislative commission that is working to address issues involving the Kent County Water Authority will travel to Warwick on March 15 to listen to local water users’ thoughts on their water service.
The meeting, which is scheduled Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at Warwick City Hall, 3275 Post Road, is the last of three community meetings that the commission has held throughout Kent County to collect water users’ comments. This meeting is scheduled locally for the convenience of customers in East Greenwich, North Kingstown and Warwick, although anyone from any community served by the Kent County Water Authority is welcome at any of the commission’s community meetings. Other meetings have been held in Coventry and West Warwick.
The commission, which is co-chaired by Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. (D-Dist. 29, Coventry, West Greenwich) and Sen. J. Michael Lenihan (D-Dist. 35, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Warwick), is investigating all aspects of the utility in an effort to address the concerns and criticism of the water authority that have been raised by municipal officials, developers and consumers.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity to collect firsthand accounts from water customers about their experiences with the water authority. They are the ratepayers for the utility, so they ought to have a say in how the utility is run and the quality of service they receive,” said Representative Sullivan.


February 22, 2006 
Commission studying KCWA seeks customer input at local meeting

STATE HOUSE – A special legislative commission that is working to address issues involving the Kent County Water Authority will travel to West Warwick on March 1 to listen to local water users’ thoughts on their water service.
The meeting, which is scheduled Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the West Warwick High School auditorium, is the second of three community meetings that the commission will hold throughout Kent County to collect water users’ comments. This meeting is scheduled locally for the convenience of customers in West Warwick and Cranston, although anyone from any community served by the Kent County Water Authority is welcome at any of the commission’s community meetings.
The final meeting will be held March 15 at 7 p.m. at Warwick City Hall, mainly for those from East Greenwich, North Kingstown and Warwick. The first meeting was held in Coventry on February 8.
The commission, which is co-chaired by Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. (D-Dist. 29, Coventry, West Greenwich) and Sen. J. Michael Lenihan (D-Dist. 35, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, Warwick), is investigating all aspects of the utility in an effort to address the concerns and criticism of the water authority that have been raised by municipal officials, developers and consumers.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity to collect firsthand accounts from water customers about their experiences with the water authority. They are the ratepayers for the utility, so they ought to have a say in how the utility is run and the quality of service they receive,” said Representative Sullivan.

February 15, 2006 
Sullivan bill aims to stop sales tax double-dip
on returned or exchanged items

STATE HOUSE – After an experience with Wal-Mart left one of his constituents paying sales tax twice on an item she didn’t even get to keep, Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. is submitting legislation to stop retailers from charging customers sales tax on items they’ve exchanged.
About a week and a half ago, Coventry resident Elaine Hunt left the Wal-Mart in her town with a new file cabinet. Last week, when she went back to the store with what turned out to be damaged merchandise, the manager agreed to exchange the file cabinet, but told her she would have to pay the sales tax on the undamaged one.
The reason: she didn’t have a receipt, and the manager at Wal-Mart claimed state law required her to pay the sales tax on the new file cabinet.
Under the state law, customers are entitled to a refund of sales tax on any item they return within 120 days. However, without a receipt, Hunt couldn’t prove that she bought the file cabinet within that time. While she wasn’t buying anything – she was asking for an even exchange – the manager said the law applied to her.
To make matters worse, as she was leaving the store, Hunt noticed that the new file cabinet wasn’t the same model as the one she returned. When she went back into the store to get the right one, Wal-Mart didn’t have it. So instead the store issued her a store credit, but for an amount that didn’t include the sales tax. So Hunt left Wal-Mart with no file cabinet, but having paid the sales tax for two of them.
Hunt contacted her legislators, and Representative Sullivan – who spent a frustrating morning being shuffled between Wal-Mart’s national and regional headquarters in search of answers in the situation – is submitting legislation clarifying the sales tax laws so customers are not forced to pay sales tax on returned or exchanged items.
“Once an item is returned, there’s essentially been no sale, so there’s absolutely no justification for making the customer pay sales tax on it. I’m sure the existing sales tax refund law was meant to protect consumers, but Wal-Mart has found a loophole in it,” said Representative Sullivan, a Democrat who represents District 29 in Coventry and West Greenwich. “This situation needs to be addressed because I’m sure the sales tax law was never meant to be applied this way.”
While Hunt says she contacted other retailers who told her that they would not have charged her sales tax on such an exchange, the Division of Taxation has previously stated that without a receipt, a retailer can charge sales tax on the second item in an even exchange. Without the receipt, the retailer doesn’t have the same documentation to show that the sales tax was paid on the original purchase, which potentially could affect the state’s decision to credit the store for the refund of the sales tax.
Representative Sullivan’s bill would expand the section of state law that says that customers who return an item within 120 days are entitled to a refund of their sales tax. It would specify that no additional sales tax would be charged for an even exchange of merchandise, and that the refund of sales tax be honored when the retailer knows that the sales tax on the item being returned was paid.
“If a store is accepting an item for return or exchange, it is acknowledging that it sold the item in the first place. Obviously, the store charged sales tax when it sold the item. This change is meant to protect consumers who don’t have a receipt from getting stuck with the sales tax on an item they’re returning,” said Representative Sullivan. “In Elaine Hunt’s case, we are talking about only a few dollars. But it’s the principal of the matter. The state doesn’t intend to charge sales tax on items that customers aren’t getting, and I don’t think the state intends stores to interpret the law the way Wal-Mart does.”
Representative Sullivan intends to file the bill this week, and Rep. J. Patrick O’Neill is co-sponsoring the measure.
“This is definitely a matter of common sense and fairness,” said Representative O’Neill, a Democrat who represents District 59 in Pawtucket. “Taxing people twice or keeping their sales tax after they’ve returned something is not in the spirit of the law, and I’m sure we don’t need retailers to do that to customers in the name of the state.”


February 14, 2006 
Sullivan opposes governor’s plan to close DMV branches

STATE HOUSE – Rep. Raymond J. Sullivan Jr. said today he is adamantly opposed to the governor’s proposal to close all satellite offices of the Division of Motor Vehicles, saying it would put an unnecessary burden on residents of his district and the whole state.
“Even going to a satellite office can involve waiting in line for hours. Combining all those branches into one statewide office, as the governor is proposing, would make doing business with the registry an absolute nightmare for Rhode Islanders. Some people would have to drive 45 minutes to the registry headquarters in Pawtucket, and who knows how long they’d have to wait in line when they got there,” said Representative Sullivan, a Democrat who represents District 29 in Coventry and West Greenwich. “This would make going to the registry something that would involve taking a day out of work for many people. I don’t think the savings is worth the headache to the average Rhode Islander.”
Representative Sullivan said he is particularly concerned about the closing of the Arctic satellite office in West Warwick, because that is likely the one that most of his constituents use. That office handled 79,279 transactions in the last fiscal year, according to Department of Administration figures. Representative Sullivan said the plan depends too heavily on making people use the registry Web site – whose users were recently subjected to a security lapse that allowed hackers access to their credit card numbers – and on AAA branch offices, which provide some registry services, but only to club members.
“This proposal would make going to the registry almost impossible for some Rhode Islanders. I’m going to fight as hard as I can to make sure it doesn’t become a reality,” said Representative Sullivan.