Rhode Island is “full of progress and promise,” Gov. Dan McKee said during his State of the State address Tuesday night, arguing that New England’s longtime economic laggard is flipping the script on old narratives while stepping into the future.
Whether Rhode Islanders agree will be decided next year when McKee, a 73-year-old Democrat, plans to seek re-election.
During an hour-long speech in the House of Representatives’ chamber at the Statehouse, the governor waxed optimistic, and he previewed a budget proposal with no broad-based tax increases and an envisioned ban on new sales of semiautomatic rifles.
While a mid-year poll last year showed Rhode Islanders in a pessimistic state, McKee said the state is moving in the right direction, pointing to various details: an all-time peak in the labor force last year; an eastern championship for Rhode Island FC, the state’s new soccer team, in its first season; a pioneering role in the offshore wind industry; a 12-spot improvement in a national infrastructure ranking, and so on.
As part of his refrain that Rhode Island is “flipping the script” from less favorable narratives in the past, the governor cited bright spots such as Regent Craft, a Quonset-based maker of electric ocean gliders, which is adding more than 300 jobs.
“Rhode Island is a top 10 state for children’s health, college students, and our natural environment,” the governor said in prepared remarks. “We are the third-best state for women’s health and reproductive care, and first in the nation for being a safe, welcoming place for our LGBTQ community. As governor – no matter what happens in Washington – I’m committed to protecting that progress.”
In the GOP response, however, Senate Republican Leader Jessica de la Cruz (R-North Smithfield) said that despite McKee’s good intentions, his administration has been marked by failure, including the loss of millions of dollars in the hospitality business due to the response on the Washington Bridge and the recent cyber-breach of the state’s online portal for health and human services.
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
