PROVIDENCE — The troops have begun lining up for the battle that lies ahead over proposed changes to the state’s tax structure.

One day after Governor Carcieri outlined his plan for a sweeping overhaul of the state’s tax laws, witnesses came before the House Finance Committee yesterday to testify on a number of tax-related bills. . .

Peter Asen, associate director of Ocean State Action, a coalition of 15 community and advocacy groups, said that raising the estate-tax threshold and lowering the corporate income tax rate would result in an “irresponsible reduction in revenue.”

The changes also would represent tax cuts for the wealthy and for big business at the expense of “hard-working Rhode Islanders,” Asen told the committee.

One area in which the various witnesses appeared to agree yesterday was on a plan to broaden Rhode Island’s earned income credit, essentially a tax break for the working poor.