RI gets financial "to do" list

BOSTON (WPRI) - During a presentation at the New England Economic Partnership conference in Boston, Bryant University economist Edinaldo Tebaldi and Edward Mazze, Professor of Business Administration at the University of Rhode Island, laid out a "to do" list to help Rhode Island solve it's financial crisis.

• Invest in infrastructure projects such as highways and bridges, and accelerate construction projects where bonds have already been approved.
• Revise the states tax structure to make it more business- and resident-friendly.
• Reexamine the role of gambling in the state.
• Identify locations in northern Rhode Island and near the Connecticut border where companies can obtain space at highly competitive rents and construction costs.
• Rethink the port at Quonset and the use of newly available space along the Providence River.
• Rethink the education system.
  • In K-12, consider district consolidation
  • In higher education, focus on science and technology.