There are some great URI success stories. American Power Conversion was brought to this state and built into what it is by a man who is Rhode Island’s most successful industrialist of our time. His father was a professor at URI. Without URI, there would be no APC. Or how about URI graduate Tom Ryan. Without Tom Ryan, would CVS be what it is? Would it be headquartered here?
Measured by inflation-adjusted dollars, the state appropriation to URI has gone down from $105 million in 2002 to just $55 million in the current fiscal year. That’s a drop of 48%. In the last three years alone, state funding has been cut by over 30%. Does that make sense to you? Are you satisfied that’s the best use of your tax dollar?
Well, I’m not satisfied. I believe the time has come to reverse the trend of disinvesting in the very economic engine that has driven our economy. Send me to Providence as your Representative, and I will carry your message. One by one, I will make sure the other legislators know these stories. One by one, I will make sure they understand the connection between investing in URI and the future prosperity of this state. It’s your children’s future. They deserve nothing less.
- Spencer
originally published 9/2/2010 in the South County Independent
