Concerns about how federal cuts will affect Rhode Island’s budget dominated the opening of the General Assembly session on Tuesday.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Val Lawson prefaced their remarks by remembering the two Brown University students killed during a mass shooting last month, Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, and by praising the police and other first responders who reacted to the situation.
Before long, the looming impact of cuts from Washington came into focus.
“Meeting the moment this year will require us to look for ways to mitigate the impact of massive changes at the federal level,” Shekarchi said in his opening day speech. “Approximately one-third of our annual state budget is derived from federal funding. It is abundantly clear that we face great uncertainty in virtually all areas of national policy, from education, environment, to healthcare initiatives.”
Speaking after the session, Shekarchi told Ocean State Media it’s unclear when the level of federal cuts, passed over the summer by congressional Republicans and signed into law by President Trump, will become clear.
“I think it’s evolving, I think it’s changing, it’s being reviewed and interpreted,” he said. “To the best of my knowledge they have not issued a lot of regulations around it yet, so we are waiting for federal guidance.”
In her address to the state Senate, Lawson said she expects Medicaid, federal food assistance and the state’s health insurance exchange to be affected.
Both legislative leaders vowed to press ahead with efforts to address Rhode Island’s healthcare crisis.
“For the well-being of our communities, and the future of our state, it is imperative that we do everything in our power to stabilize our hospitals and strengthen our health system,” Lawson said. “We must ensure care is accessible and affordable for everyone.”
More specifically, she said, the Senate plans to take steps to make pharmacy benefit managers – the companies that manage prescriptions – more transparent and to lower prescription drug costs.
Shekarchi told Ocean State Media that he and state Attorney General Peter Neronha are working on a backup plan for two cash-strapped Rhode Island hospitals.
The Centurion Foundation of Atlanta has struggled for months to put together the money necessary to buy Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital.
Shekarchi declined to outline the plan. But he said he would support using some state money to keep the hospitals afloat.
“We’re not going to throw blanket money at an entity and let them do what they want with it,” he said. “If we’re going to support a healthcare system, we want to make sure we’re supporting programs that are near and dear to the majority of Rhode Islanders and taxpayers.”
Shekarchi said he expects the outlook for the hospitals to become clearer in the next week or so.
Shekarchi told reporters he will decide by the end of March whether to join the Democratic primary for governor.
After the lull of the December holidays, the political calendar of 2026 will shift into higher gear next Tuesday when Gov. Dan McKee delivers his State of the State speech – followed two days later by his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The General Assembly will then conduct months of hearings on the spending plan before unveiling its own plan in June.
The session is sure to be rife with political maneuvering, given that this is an election year for Rhode Island’s top five offices and all 113 state lawmakers.
