When Rhode Islanders head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, they'll be deciding more than who represents them in government.
Voters will also weigh in on five statewide ballot questions that would authorize a combined $600 million in borrowing for projects involving higher education, housing, economic development, arts and culture and clean energy.
But what exactly would that money pay for? And what happens if voters approve or reject each question?
For its 2026 Voter Guide, the Rhode Island Current broke down all five ballot questions, including what each proposal would fund and what a "yes" or "no" vote means.
Explore each question using the tabs below to make an informed decision before casting your ballot.
Bonds to support higher education in the Ocean State have traditionally fared well with voters. This year, the electorate will be asked whether they want to support borrowing up to $275 million for construction and renovations at the state’s three public colleges and universities: the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island.
Voting yes would authorize the state to issue $275 million in general obligation bonds for capital projects at the three higher education institutions. Accounting for a 5% interest rate and a 20-year repayment timeline, the total cost estimate grows to about $441.3 million.
A no vote prevents the bonds’ issuance and the spending.
The bond-funded projects, if approved, would run across slightly different timelines, although each would ideally see completion in the next five or so years. URI anticipates a new Integrated Health Building would be ready for use in 2031. Rhode Island College’s Adams Library would see completed renovations by 2030, while CCRI’s new workforce center would begin construction in 2028 and end by 2030. URI and RIC’s projects would have estimated useful lives of about 50 years, while CCRI’s new building would last about 75 years.
This measure would:
- Provide $165 million to the University of Rhode Island to design and construct a new Integrated Health Building on its Kingston campus, which would be used for health education, clinical training and interdisciplinary work across the school’s numerous health-centric programs and offerings.
- Direct $50 million to Rhode Island College to renovate its Adams Library and add a student success and career readiness center, consolidating academic and career services within the library.
- Use $60 million to build a Workforce Innovation Center at the Knight Campus of the Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick. The center would house classrooms, laboratories and training spaces across a variety of fields such as advanced manufacturing, construction and skilled trades, health care, information technology and cybersecurity, clean energy, transportation and logistics.
Two years ago, Rhode Island voters approved a $120 million housing bond, the largest in state history, to increase the supply of affordable housing.
Question 2 on the 2026 ballot would have the state borrow another $120 million toward that effort, as high construction costs and a lack of affordable housing continue to make it difficult for many Rhode Islanders to find housing.
A yes vote would authorize the state to issue $120 million in general obligation bonds for housing and community development.
A no vote would prevent the state from issuing the $120 million in bonds.
At least $25 million would have to be used to increase the production of housing intended for homeownership. Up to $10 million could be used for a public housing development program.
If approved, housing production and redevelopment projects are expected to begin by 2028 and be completed between 2029 and 2032. The newly constructed or redeveloped housing is expected to have a useful life of at least 30 years.
But recent state borrowing has drawn criticism over how much housing it has produced. The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) found that as of April, $52.2 million from the 2024 bond had financed 200 new rental units, with an average development cost of more than $512,000 per unit.
State housing officials have disputed RIPEC’s assessment, pointing to nearly 3,800 housing permits issued statewide over the last year and argue that the report did not account for the additional costs and challenges associated with subsidized housing projects, including the rehabilitation of long-vacant and other infrastructure improvements.
This measure would:
- Allocate at least $25 million towards increasing production of housing intended for homeownership.
- Use up to $10 million to support a public housing development program.
This $100 million bond question would direct funding into two generously sized buckets of economic development. A little over half the bond would go toward preparing land and infrastructure for development, while just under half of the bond funding would be invested in facilities and infrastructure for several industries expected to enjoy economic growth in Rhode Island.
Voting yes affirms the issuance of $100 million in general obligation bonds. Add in a 5% interest rate and repayment over 20 years, and the total estimated cost is enlarged to about $160.5 million.
A no vote prevents the bonds’ issuance and the spending.
Projects financed through the bond are expected to begin in the latter half of 2027, with many undertaken within the next five years. The bond-funded projects would have an estimated useful life of at least 50 years.
Still, Question 3 does not earmark specific projects which would benefit from the bond money. The underlying legislation instead identifies broad categories for eligibility, such as industrial site preparation at Quonset or the I-195 District, as well as infrastructure enhancements to support the state’s ocean, defense, life sciences and data analytics industries.
A similar but less expensive industrial facilities bond was approved by Rhode Island voters in 2021. That $60 million bond included $40 million for industrial site development and $20 million for the Port of Davisville at Quonset.
This year’s bond is a slightly minimized version of what Gov. Dan McKee proposed in his budget earlier this year. The governor’s initial proposal was priced at $115 million, with $70 million for site development and $45 million for growth-industry infrastructure. Lawmakers on Smith Hill reduced the site-development portion by $15 million, producing the finalized bond question’s $100 million ask.
An April 2026 Overview of the Rhode Island Economy published by the the Executive Office of Commerce describes the proposal in this way: “The funds would be used to create pad-ready locations and facilities, for land acquisition, preparation, and investment, and to invest in infrastructure that supports Rhode Island’s ocean, defense, life sciences, data analytics, and related industries.”
This measure would:
- Provide $55 million for site development, defined as land acquisition, environmental cleanup, utility and infrastructure installation and other work needed to prepare properties, such as large industrial sites, for development. Improvements to Quonset Business Park, as well as acquisition and investment in Providence’s I-195 District, are included in the legislation.
- Direct $45 million toward infrastructure for growth industries, which would cover industrial sectors involving the ocean, defense, life sciences and data analytics and cybersecurity. Projects could include water-based test ranges, onshore ocean- or defense-related research and production facilities, and investments supporting life sciences businesses.
Voters will decide if a new state history center — a longstanding wish of Secretary of State Gregg Amore — should be erected in Providence with $45 million in bond funding. An additional $5 million would go for a state grant program to preserve historic and cultural properties.
Voting yes would authorize the $50 million for the two initiatives. The total cost arrives at $80.2 million, once you factor in a 5% interest rate and 20-year repayment schedule.
A no vote prevents the bonds’ issuance and the spending.
If approved and funded, the Rhode Island State History Center would have an expected opening date of fall 2030, and an estimated useful life of 50 years. It would also see the realization of Amore’s yearslong effort to replace, or at least improve and make more public, the state archives’ many historied holdings. Amore has long suggested the archive’s current home, located in rented office space 33 Broad St. in Providence, is an ill-suited one, especially given Rhode Island’s role in U.S. history.
Amore unsuccessfully sought funding for a larger, more costly State Archives and History Center in 2024. Gov. Dan McKee backed the project in his budget that year with a $60 million proposed bond — still much less than the $102 million estimated for Amore’s original vision. But voters never judged the measure directly in 2024 because state lawmakers did not include it in their version of the budget or that year’s bond package.
The next year, Amore returned with a scaled-down proposal in his office’s budget request that called for a $45 million history center near the State House, plus around $15 million to migrate the bulk of the State Archives to the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus. McKee revived the $45 million history center request in his own fiscal year 2027 budget, and it survived the legislative session to make it onto the 2026 ballot.
The preservation grants, meanwhile, would be ready starting in 2027, and awarded in the next three to five years. Properties which would receive these grant monies would need to be open to the public for at least 20 years and would be expected to remain in good condition.
Rhode Island voters previously approved bonds for the State Preservation Grants Program in 2002, 2004, 2014 and 2021. In the most recent round of voter approval, the approximate $1.18 million in grant funding went to 18 projects in 12 communities, including Providence’s John Brown House, Newport’s Fort Adams, and Cogswell Tower in Central Falls. That round of grants was also buoyed by leftover money from the 2014 bond.
This measure would:
- Provide $45 million to construct a State History Center within the state government complex on Smith Hill in Providence. The building would house and exhibit historic state documents and also store valuable documents, objects and other material history held by the State Archives. There would also be a multipurpose space devoted to educational programming.
- Provide $5 million for the State Preservation Grants Program, administered by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. Municipalities and nonprofits could apply for and receive these matching grants meant to preserve, renovate and improve historic sites, museums and cultural centers in historic structures, and heritage museums
Rhode Island voters have historically been fond of green economy bonds to preserve open space, improving recreational facilities, and clean up lands and waters. The outdoor recreation industry is an increasingly important part of the state’s economy, contributing an estimated $3.3 billion annually and supporting 36,000 jobs, state leaders say.
Question 5 packages funding for land preservation and outdoor recreation with investments to help the state’s cities and towns prepare for rising seas and more frequent storms.
A yes vote on Question 5 would authorize Rhode Island to borrow $55 million for environmental and recreational projects, including flood resilience, state park improvements, watershed restoration, farmland preservation and open-space conservation.
A no vote would prevent the state from issuing the $55 million in bonds.
The largest share — $25 million — would go toward the new Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund, managed by the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank to protect the state from the impacts of climate change. The fund will provide matching grants of up to 75% to municipalities to combat the increasing impacts of climate change and reduce vulnerability to flooding and coastal hazards.
Another $12 million would fund improvements at facilities in state parks, beaches and campgrounds. About $7 million would go toward matching grants to public and private entities for projects to protect Narragansett Bay and its watersheds. Projects could include those to improve stormwater management, reduce runoff pollution, restore natural habitats and control invasive aquatic plants.
An additional $3 million would provide matching grants to clean up former industrial sites or “brownfields” and turn them into productive community spaces, such as new schools, businesses, affordable housing developments or recreational spaces.
There would be $3 million each for farmland preservation and open-space conservation and $1 million for local recreation projects, like creating new community parks and improving existing ones, and $1 million for public marine infrastructure such as boat launches and docks.
Most projects are expected to be completed within five years. Their useful lives are generally expected to range from 25 to 50 years, while conserved open space and farmland would have a permanent useful life.
The state estimates the $55 million bond would cost about $33.3 million in interest over 20 years, assuming a 5% interest rate, for total principal and interest costs of about $88.3 million.
The measure would:
- Provide $25 million for the Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund to help fund municipal projects to reduce risks from flooding, coastal hazards and other climate impacts.
- Use $12 million to fund improvements at facilities in state parks, beaches and campgrounds.
- Provide $7 million for projects to restore and protect Narragansett Bay and other watersheds.
- Add $3 million for cleaning up contaminated former industrial and commercial sites.
- Spend $3 million each for farmland preservation and open-space conservation.
- Spend $1 million for local recreation projects to create new community parks and improve existing ones.
- Use $1 million for public marine infrastructure such as boat launches and docks.
