The 2026 General Assembly session is fast drawing to a close, so get ready to sing along with the theme song of the season.Thanks for stopping by. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK
In time-honored tradition, members of Rhode Island’s House Finance Committee will get copies of the revised legislative budget – still warm from the printer – at around 11 p.m. tonight (Friday) and quickly sign off on $15 billion or so in spending for the next fiscal year. If you ask GOP members of the panel, they will decry the breakneck pace of the process. Democrats will defend the committee vote, which follows months of hearings. More to the point, this isn’t just any budget year. Some version of the millionaires’ tax appears likely to make it into the spending plan, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to find Speaker Chris Blazejewski’s inspector general proposal in there, too. It was way back in 2010 when the then-Gov. Don Carcieri signed off on a cut in the top marginal tax rate paid by Rhode Islanders. Legislative leaders have been unwilling ever since to reverse that direction…until now. Both Gov. Dan McKee and challenger Helena Foulkes support an upper-bracket surtax, and the Trump administration’s posture offers more political cover amid ongoing concerns about widening economic inequality. In 2022, Massachusetts residents voted in a 4% surtax on income over $1 million, and it has generated more than $3.1 billion this fiscal year. Opponents continue to warn that wealthy people will flee Rhode Island in the face of higher taxes, while supporters call such talk overblown. In terms of the inspector general concept, putting it in the budget will virtually ensure passage, and despite gripes about how it leaves out scrutiny of the legislature, it would still be a quick accomplishment for the start of Blazejewski’s time as speaker. Looking ahead, the House of Representatives is expected to pass the budget next Friday, June 5, followed by a marathon week of passing hundreds of bills, before lawmakers return to the hustings.
2. KEY POLITICAL DATES TO WATCH
Barring an unexpected snag, the General Assembly is expected to wrap up its 2026 session by June 12….The RI Democratic Party is set to hold its endorsement meeting on the morning of June 20. Chairwoman Liz Beretta-Perik tells me the executive committee will meet on June 4 to discuss and approve the convention procedures….If you’ve ever wanted to run for public office in Rhode Island, the three-day filing period for candidates ends with the close of business on June 24.
3. THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR
Gov. McKee’s campaign fired the first TV ad salvo this week in his primary fight with Helena Foulkes – and her first spot goes up this weekend.
Not surprisingly, given McKee’s persistent trailing status in the polls, his commercial aimed squarely at raising Foulkes’ negatives. According to the governor’s campaign, “The 30-second spot highlights key decisions Foulkes made as CEO of CVS Health – including the company’s merger with insurance giant Aetna, which kicked hundreds of thousands of people off of health care that same year and increased premiums across the board. The ad also draws on Foulkes’ recording of pushing to cut Rhode Island’s Medicaid program by $90 million, and raising the price of insulin while at CVS.” Foulkes’ strategist Eric Hyers called the ad an instance of McKee “lying to save his political career.” He said the spot is “a direct attack on CVS – not Helena Foulkes – deliberately conflating her with company decisions that were either not under her purview or happened after she left the company. Dan McKee knows this. This is nothing more than a cynical attempt to smear Helena because after more than five years in office he has nothing positive to run on.”
Foulkes’ initial ad takes a different tack, describing her as a positive force for change. It avoids naming McKee, while also describing the need to “avoid another Washington Bridge fiasco.” Foulkes has almost three times as much campaign money as McKee, so she retains the ability to saturate the airwaves in the countdown until Sept. 9, although McKee is not without some allies and an incumbent’s ability to stay in the news.
4. THE HOUSING CRISIS:
What does Rhode Island have to show for the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in housing over the last five years? Not nearly enough, according to a new report by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council. RIPEC points to the high cost of new construction and the costly subsidies that accompany it. “Rhode Island authorized over $644 million toward housing since 2021, including substantial new and increased taxes, yet we are struggling to convert this record investment into the production volume needed to meaningfully close our affordable housing gap,” RIPEC President/CEO Michael DiBiase said in releasing the report. Of course, RIPEC’s findings do not include the private sector, considered the most important source of housing growth. And for all the money invested by the state, an ongoing X factor is the fierce opposition to additional housing in some communities.
5. THE HEALTH CARE CRISIS
The forthcoming legislative budget will likely include more money for health care, another of Rhode Island’s stiff challenges. As with housing, making progress requires a lot of additional effort. The symptoms of the problem are all around. Care New England this week announced the elimination “of more than 30 leadership and non-clinical positions across the system.” In a news release, CNE said, “This difficult decision comes as hospitals across the state face unprecedented economic challenges driven by inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates, rising labor and supply costs, and the increasing need to provide uncompensated care.” In related news, UnitedHealthcare revealed that Brown University Health doctors will be out of network for most Medicare Advantage Plans. Meanwhile, statewide health care spending grew 9.1% in 2024, exceeding the 5.1% target, according to the state Office of Health Insurance Commissioner.
6. THE BUSINESS (AND JOY) OF BASEBALL
In 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that baseball was exempt from federal antitrust laws – and for many decades after, team owners could more or less do what they wanted. The old order cracked with the emergence of Marvin Miller and free agency in the 1970s. Players’ salaries soared into the stratosphere. To bring things into the present, the overarching obsession with money can be seen in the ads for FanDuel and similar outfits filling the innings between broadcasts of Sox games. Now with MLB riding high, with a faster pace of play and better revenue, the Players Union and Owners remain on a collision course over a proposed salary cap. That was one of many topics I discussed on One on One with NESN analyst Lenny DiNardo, a member of the 2004 Red Sox, this week. DiNardo is an adopted Rhode Islander, a font of baseball knowledge and a super nice guy. It was fun to toss the ball around with him at the Broad Rock Athletic Fields in South Kingstown and talk about our favorite game.
7. LEGISLATIVE COUNTDOWN
As usual, hundreds of bills remain in limbo as the General Assembly races to conclude its session. One example is the effort to push back to 1973 the ability to sue large organizations for the sexual abuse of children. Rep. Carol McEntee (D-Narragansett) and her sister, Ann Hagan Webb, have championed the measure. McEntee believes the bill has the support to clear the Senate floor. Senate Judiciary Chair Matthew LaMountain (D-Warwick) cites how similar measures have been overturned in some states, and how the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 1996 barred “the retroactive application” of current law. That’s why he’s backing an effort to get a SCORI opinion on the constitutionality of the measure, a step that could also delay action.
8. RI POLI SHORT TAKES
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is among 143 DC lawmakers filing an amicus brief seeking to stop construction of President Trump’s ballroom …. Two candidates emerged this week for the RI House seat being vacated by former Speaker Joe Shekarchi: Ward 6 Warwick Councilor William Muto and former Councilor Tim Howe …. State Rep. Edith Ajello (D-Providence), one of two remaining reps from the Class of 1992 (the other is Rep. Charlene Lima, a Cranston Democrat), appears to be girding for a primary fight with young progressive challenger Michael Garman; she has a fundraiser at the Hot Club set for June 8 …. Happy birthday weekend to the estimable Ted Nesi …. As the national Democratic Party seeks the way forward, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner is teaming up for a June 14 “rural Democrats summer BBQ” with state Rep. Megan Cotter (D-Exeter), a proven winner in a conservative-leaning district …. U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo is among those citing constitutional concerns over an executive order by President Trump involving mail ballots …. Rebecca L. Aitchinson, a former public defender at the state and federal level, has been selected as a federal magistrate judge in Providence ….. Gov. McKee has nominated Michelle Reddish to chair the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission. She was the first administrator of the office.
9. SUPER SPEEDERS
Helena Foulkes and I were on North Main Street in Providence recently, as part of my reporting for an upcoming story, when she noticed the intense speed with which cars were passing us by. Foulkes said being there gave her a heightened appreciation for Sue AnderBois’ attempts to improve pedestrian safety in the area. On a related note, the Providence Streets Coalition pointed in a recent email to the hazard posed by “super speeders”: “Speeding is one of the leading causes of preventable traffic deaths in the U.S., with nearly 12,000 lives lost in 2023 alone. Repeat offenders – ‘super speeders’ – pose the greatest danger, and traditional penalties often fail to stop them. In 2019, 63% of all deaths in crashes were speed-related, placing Rhode Island as the state with the highest percentage of speed-related fatalities in the nation. Following successful wins in Virginia, Washington, District of Columbia, and most recently Illinois, Rhode Island has the opportunity to pass its first-ever ‘Stop Super Speeders’ legislation, aimed at targeting the worst offenders with the use of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology. Learn more about Stop Super Speeders here.”
10. TECH BACKLASH
Who among us has not fumbled with their smartphone to capture a moment at a ballgame or somewhere else, only to focus less on what was happening in the moment than on trying to manipulate our technology? As Russell Contreras writes for Axios, “We are missing opportunities to load up our minds with shared events and images that can’t be deleted or repeated. Our brains have more space than we use — and don’t charge a storage fee.”
11. WEEKEND 401
Our staff recommends five ways to get outside this weekend.
12. KICKER
For generations of New Bedford residents, a neon sign featuring Paul Revere making his famous ride was a key landmark. Revere has an actual connection to the sign through a copper mill he founded after the Revolutionary War. The company expanded over time, with offices in Chicago, Detroit and elsewhere. During WWII, Revere Copper and Brass employed more than 1,200 workers just in New Bedford. But now, as Ben Berke explains in a fine yarn (with video), the neon Revere sign is a city icon in exile.
