Governor-elect Helena Foulkes signaled Wednesday that she heard a message from voters on Election Day: They want their government to take immediate actions to help Rhode Islanders with the cost of living.
“Everything is on the table,” Foulkes told reporters during a scrum outside L’Artisan Cafe in Wayland Square in Providence. “The first thing I’ll be looking at is Rhode Island Energy, which is a monopoly, owned by a Pennsylvania-based company.”
She cited tenants’ rights as another area where quick action may be possible following her Jan. 5 inauguration.
“There are far too many people who were kicked out of their apartments last winter because there was a small but powerful number of landlords that were not doing the right thing,” Foulkes said.
Foulkes spoke a day after she beat her nearest rival, independent Ken Block, by 30 points. The victory came as fellow Democrats swept races across the country, winning control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, and with affordability a top concern among voters nationwide.
“I went home last night and watched returns from all across the country,” she said. “What a great night for Democrats and what a great night for the people of this country, in the sense that cruelty has ruled our country for the last couple of years, and I think people (now) feel a real sense of freedom. And in this state, change is here. I’m so excited to serve, I’m humbled and I feel a deep sense of responsibility.”
Foulkes said Trump administration policies “really woke people up to how important politics are and made people understand this is not who we are as a country.” At the same time, the governor-elect said she has a lot of work to do in overcoming Rhode Islanders’ growing cynicism about the effectiveness of state government.
Foulkes took a stronger stance on funding public transportation than she did during the campaign. She said she’s confident the state can find $15 million to restore past cuts at RIPTA, and that she considers public transit a priority.
“If you imagine our state in the next 20 to 30 years, public transportation will be a more important part of how people get around,” Foulkes said. “Not only buses, but trains and bikes. And that is the future.”
The governor-elect said she will have news to share about her transition in the next few days.
When it comes to the workforce in state government, “I expect there are some really good people who are serving and will continue to serve,” she said. “I want them to stay if they’re doing a great job. But I will be looking at every single senior position and asking if this is the right person for the future.”
Making short-term progress on key goals like housing, healthcare and jobs involves hiring good talent, she stated, repeating her vow to do a national search to find a new head for the state Department of Transportation.
“When it comes to housing,” she said, “I think there are many things we can do. For example, have a day where we invite modular companies to come talk about how they could set up shop inside the state. And I have an aspiration that by next summer, we have many, many modular homes for sale at a price that Rhode Islanders can really afford.”
On healthcare, “we potentially have a real crisis coming, with doctors and nurses not being able to practice in this state, with two hospitals (Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima in North Providence) that are really vulnerable,” Foulkes said. “So I am starting to do outreach with experts to say, ‘What would one do in this situation?’”
On jobs, Foulkes pointed to U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s expected return as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“I’m really excited about what’s already happening in the ocean economy,” she said, “and I think about what more we can do as a little state of Rhode Island with a very unique set of assets – meaning Narragansett Bay, URI and its School of Oceanography, the Naval War College, the (NOAA facility in Middletown) and all the existing companies here that we can build on.”
Foulkes, a Providence resident, said she voted against Question 7, which can be seen as a thinly veiled effort to take the city’s investments out of businesses that are involved with Israel. “It’s a real financial issue for the city and I felt that many members of the Jewish community felt it reflected a sense of anti-Semitism. But it passed in an overwhelming sense, and the voters have spoken.”
