Carcieri appears on Newsmakers taping

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Rhode Island is sinking in 350 million dollars worth of debt and the Governor's plan means, cities and towns may have to do more with less.

On Thursday Governor Carcieri appeared on a taping of Newsmakers to discuss his budget crisis plan.

Target 12 Investigator, Tim White spoke with several mayors Thursday morning to get their take on Governor Carcieri's plan to eliminate, potentially, 74 million in state aid to city and towns.

The reaction was universal, they say don't create 39 bad budgets to fix the states.

A guest on Newsmakers this week, Governor Carcieri says city leaders need to take a hard look at labor contracts.

"What I'm saying is the first thing I would be doing do is sit down with all the unions and say new game, new game," says Governor Carcieri.

The governor pointed to the teacher turmoil in East Providence. Governor Carcieri says, "We've got a major confrontation because whoever negotiated the last contract alright, there is no co-share on the part of teachers."

The governor admits this is a long-term solution: Up to 3 years. Meanwhile, if the governor's plan is approved by the legislature, cities and towns would need to stop the bleeding in just six months.

As far as savings, surpluses, if any, vary town to town. The governor says they found collectively, there is a total of 150 million to be tapped.

Newsmakers airs this Sunday, but you can watch it right now on our website, wpri.com