TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for Jan 30, 2026

Looks like Snow miser is winning the battle for the time being. Thanks for stopping by for my weekly column. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.

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The killing in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti by federal agents looms as an inflection point with consequences for politics and immigration enforcement. More about that later. For now, let’s trace the rhyme of history. Last weekend’s big snowstorm came almost exactly 14 years after the death of former Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy. Garrahy is widely remembered for the flannel shirt he wore as the state dug out from the Blizzard of ‘78. He also championed the Greenhouse Compact, the 1984 effort to strengthen Rhode Island’s economy by seeding the high-wage jobs of the future. Voters rejected a proposed public investment of $250 million, sensing their government was not up to the task of using the money wisely. That’s why when Garrahy died in 2012, a local observer called his passing “a blunt reminder of Rhode Island’s long-running struggle for economic relevance.” To bring things into the present, Gov. Dan McKee contends he has a good economic story to tell as he battles for re-election. “I think in my State of the State address, we talked about 36,000 new private sector jobs [that] have been added since I’ve been governor,” McKee said during a recent interview. And yes, the governor’s tenure has coincided with a high point for Rhode Island-based jobs going back to 1992, although the St. Louis Fed reports that the percentage of working Rhode Islanders still lags most of the last four decades. Regardless of whether you think the economic glass is half-full or half-empty, there’s a clear bifurcation in how Rhode Islanders view the state – it’s a lot easier to love this funny weird little state if you have a decent-paying job, and a lot more frustrating if you don’t. The sense of falling behind due to the expense of housing, energy, child care, food and so on is an animating force in our politics. Just ask Donald Trump, whose signature mantra is based on fostering a belief that things used to be better. So what is the way forward in Rhode Island? That brings us to our next item.

As venture capitalist-turned-Governor Gina Raimondo wrapped up her time leading the state, there were some accomplishments, but also a nagging sense of unfinished business. “We don’t really have well-defined engines of growth,” URI economics professor Leonard Lardaro told me in 2021. One year later, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi put his support behind an effort to build biotech and the life sciences in Rhode Island. The state has poured tens of millions of dollars into the effort. There’s the new state health lab and life science incubator in the 195 District. During an interview on One on One this week, RI Life Science Hub President/CEO Dr. Mark Turco declined to project how many jobs the sector may add over the next five years, although he said things are moving in a positive direction. “We have brought in pretty close to 250 jobs to the region,” Turco said. “That’s a significant number of jobs. We announced that six companies will be moving into Ocean State Labs, which will officially open up and be science-ready come Feb. 2.” At the same time, challenges abound, ranging from the uncertain outlook for federal research funding to the massive state support for life sciences in China.

A few related economic notes:

***A report by economist Ed Tebaldi found that Quonset Business Park now supports 5.8% of jobs in Rhode Island, roughly one of every 17 jobs in the state. According to the report, the business park generates $7 billion in annual economic output.

***RIPEC gives Gov. McKee a mixed review for his $14.9 billion budget proposal. Thumbs up for restraining the rate of spending growth, and a Bronx cheer for the millionaires’ tax.

***A Rhode Island Senate study commission this week put its support behind creating a state medical school at URI. The first class is projected for 2029. Helping to alleviate Rhode Island’s worsening shortage of primary care doctors is the underlying concept, although the school is also seen as a generator, with a consultant predicting, fwiw, almost $200 million in additional annual economic activity.

***With U.S. population growth slowing, it’s worth considering the role played by immigrants in the economy (not to mention helping Rhode Island to preserve, at least for now, two seats in the U.S. House). Dr. Pablo Rodriguez wrote in a previous guest item for this column that prosperity depends on more immigrants: “Our fertility rate has fallen below replacement level, and without an influx of young people, we will not be able to keep up with the needs of an aging population. According to FWD.us projections, the U.S. should double immigration levels to remain competitive and keep fiscal programs like Social Security strong. International migrants were the sole source of growth in the U.S. working-age population in 2021 and 2022.”

As the death of Alex Pretti dominated news coverage this week, leading to a significant change in tone and course by the Trump administration, fallout from the story extended far beyond Minnesota.

State Sen. Meghan Kallman (D-Pawtucket) was one of many state legislators, from different states, who felt a need to travel to Minneapolis. “The fact that there is a retaliatory and race-based invasion of an American city – right? – that is an everyone problem,” Kallman told my colleague Joe Tasca. “That’s coming for Rhode Island, whether we are first or last on the list.” Elsewhere, Gov. Dan McKee joined calls for the resignation of Kristi Noem, and Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos supported the abolition of ICE. U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner appeared on MS Now and CNN to discuss government funding disputes involving DHS and their connection to ICE and Border Patrol. While concerns about the southern border fueled President Trump’s 2024 victory, aided by a too-late response by Democrats, the administration is now reaping the whirlwind of its own approach.

A new two track scheme emerged this week for trying to nudge forward the stalled sale of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital. One track involves giving the Centurion Foundation, which has struggled to complete its financing, until the end of February to close the deal. Legislation has been filed in the General Assembly to create an $18 million reserve fund to help secure the transaction. At the same time, since Centurion has missed a series of deadlines since winning state approval in 2024 to buy the hospitals, other prospective buyers can make an offer by Feb. 17. Time will tell whether Yale New Haven, one of Rhode Island’s two big hospital groups, or some other entity makes a pitch. Regardless, stabilizing the hospitals after years of losses will take considerable effort. During a hearing Thursday, federal bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan underscored the importance of local healthcare, saying she was reminded of health care in Rhode Island by coverage of the Brown University shooting in December. “It just made me hurt extra, thinking, what if they need these hospitals?” Jernigan said. (The victims were treated at Rhode Island Hospital.)

During my first lengthy interview with Buddy Cianci way back in 1999, he tried to gaslight me, insisting that I had only told him about one topic, not two, for discussion. We went back and forth debating that for a few rounds. Hizzoner finally pounded his imposing desk at City Hall and shouted, “I’m the one who sets the rules here, not you!” I didn’t just jump off the turnip truck, so I played along. Cianci answered all my questions on topic 1. He gamely segued into asking what I wanted to know about topic 2. Suddenly it seemed like we were old pals. He answered all my queries on the second story and spun a few hair-raising tales about his early years in office. No wonder that U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres likened to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while sentencing the Bud-I in 2002. A dozen years later, Providence’s rascal king still held a certain spell over voters, although his second comeback attempt, in 2014, fell short. “He’s smart – very smart, good politician,” Mario Santomassimo of North Providence told me during a 2014 interview in the heart of Federal Hill. “He knows how to work the system, get the system going.” In Buddy’s world, getting the system going was not always a positive thing. His razzle-dazzle often overshadowed many adverse aspects of his reign. Cianci died 10 years ago this month – and he would love how he remains part of the conversation.

Former RI Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey of Warwick was among the judicial nominations approved this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Dawn Euer (D-Newport) cast the only vote against McCaffrey. Euer was a core member of the team that pressed the legislature to approve same-sex marriage in 2013 – a vote foreshadowed by Laura Pisaturo’s close challenge to McCaffrey in 2012. In a statement, Euer described some of the arguments about McCaffrey’s record in the Senate as an attempt to rewrite history. “Facts matter and to twist recent history to try to place him at the center of why some historic legislation such as marriage equality or the reproductive privacy rights act passed is not only incorrect, it’s offensive” Euer said. As Katie Mulvaney reported in the ProJo, “McCaffrey assured the (Judiciary) committee on Jan. 28 that he would listen, act fairly and apply the law in every case to come before him. ‘I have always treated everybody with respect, dignity,’ McCaffrey said.” The former senator is up for a District Court appointment.

Allyn Meyers of Tiverton won election Thursday as the new chairman of the Rhode Island GOP, edging Ken Naylor Jr. on an 85-74 vote. “In Rhode Island, we win when we win together,” Meyers said in a statement distributed by the GOP. “The party cannot afford division. Victory comes from unifying behind our shared platform and supporting the nominees who emerge from fair, hard-fought primaries.” The new chairman has his work cut out. Republicans hold just 14 seats in the 113-seat General Assembly, the party last won an election for governor in 2006, and the GOP is locked out of Rhode Island’s state and federal offices. In his own statement after the election, Naylor said in part, “I pray that Allyn succeeds, because if Allyn succeeds, the RIGOP succeeds, and if the RIGOP succeeds, the state of Rhode Island as a whole will succeed.”

The closing of Plant City in Providence is all things to all people. For owner Kim Anderson, it’s a chance to blow her own horn and blame the Washington Bridge. (Caveat emptor since she’s a max donor to Helena Foulkes.) For critics of how Anderson fiercely opposed bicycle lanes on South Water Street, it’s an opportunity to dish.

Mayor Brett Smiley announced the city will release on Feb. 9 responses to public records requests about the Brown University shooting. That likely includes requests for the city to release video and/or body camera footage. In a statement, he said, “It is incredibly important to me that the City of Providence remains fully transparent, accountable and compliant with the State’s Access to Public Records Act. We also know that the footage and audio we are required to release will likely be harmful and traumatizing for the victims, families and neighbors who are still trying to heal and recover from this incident. In order to strike that appropriate balance of transparency to maintain the trust we have built in our community, while also avoiding any unnecessary harm to those impacted, the City is redacting moments of graphic violence and has been in close communication with the families of the victims of this tragedy. At the formal request of the families, the City will be pausing the release of these public records until Monday, February 9, following the Memorial Service the University is holding for the campus community on February 7.”

Anusha Venkataraman is the new Rhode Island director for the Working Families Party, which is a force in legislative elections. She was most recently the managing director of Central Providence Unidos …. Steven Maurano plans to retire June 30 as associate VP for public affairs, government and community relations at Providence College …. Middletown native Stephen DeLeo is moving up as deputy comms director for U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Must be Aquidneck Island week in that office, since Jamestown native Moira Flath has been promoted to deputy press secretary, and Eoin Egan of Newport, who worked comms for Xay Khamsyvoravong a few years back as a college prodigy is the new press and digital assistant …. Speaking of prodigies, Matt Rauschenbach, who did previous work with Gabe Amo and Nirva LaFortune, is deputy press secretary on housing for NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani (h/t Dan McGowan) …. Rep. Cherie Cruz (D-Pawtucket) and Sen. Lammis Vargas (D-Cranston), along with yours truly, are on a Common Cause of RI panel tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 31.

With Mr. Potato Head emerging as potato non grata due to Hasbro’s decision to leave Rhode Island, PETA has a suggestion for a different commemorative license plate. “In a letter sent today to Representatives Brian C. Newberry and Thomas E. Noret, PETA proposes that the new charity plate feature the state bird and the words ‘Love Chickens, Don’t Eat Them’ – in other words put the chicken on the license plate, not the dinner plate – driving home the point that Rhode Island’s state bird is a chicken with thoughts, feelings, and the desire to live. PETA also proposes that proceeds from sales of the new plate go to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, where fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and many shelf-stable foods are naturally vegan and widely used.”

With Newberry’s support, the concept may, uh, take wing.