I understand where you’re coming from. I want to again say I think it’s great that you are putting yourself out there to find information in such a chaotic time.

Let’s focus on taxes. I’m going to share how I find information and give you some links. They may not be exactly what you are looking for but hopefully it will be a solid ground for you to start from. Maybe someone on this thread can give a simplistic breakdown of the numbers, that’s just not my strength. Basically what you are looking for is the state’s budget. There’s so much information out there and most people break things down with a bias. It’s not always intentional, it’s a part of human nature. I find the best resource for state information is the official RI website. Here is the link to the Rhode Island office of management and budget. It explains what that part of our government does. Here is the link for this current year’s operating budget. Now there is a lot of information to unpack in these links. And it can be overwhelming. Don’t feel like you need to understand it all now. Everyone learns differently, so maybe just scan through and see what jumps out at you. Take that small bit of information and do some more online exploring about that specific thing.

Remember, our state politicians are paid public servants. The taxpayers of Rhode Island pay their salaries. They are our employees. The only reason their jobs exists is to make our lives COLLECTIVELY better. You have to remember the chances of their being one candidate who you completely agree with is unlikely. There’s about 1.1 million residents of Rhode Island, let’s say 600,000 are tax payers. All those people are not going to prioritize the same things. And yet one person has the job of speaking for the needs of 1.1 million people and answerable to approximately 600,000 bosses. I think, right now, it might help to get clear what YOUR top 3-5 priorities are for a happy life living in this state. You can have more, but prioritize them. The great thing about this is; You alone get to decide these. You are unique and so are your needs for a happy life. Once you are clear on your top priorities, start looking at which candidate meets all (if not most) of these. If there isn’t a candidate that does, this is when you start to affect change. There are many ways to go about this and that is for another time. And I’ve already rambled quite a bit here. Just remember, you are young and this world is for you and your peers to create however you see fit to live in.

*editing to add:

I don’t think you are alone in your frustration with the challenges of easily accessing information from the state. Is that something you’re interested in changing? I’m happy to help you find the current channels to go through to make changes in that area.