McKee Proposes $14.2B Rhode Island State Budget for 2025-26

An ongoing gap between expenditures and revenue spells more red ink

Office of Management and Budget Director Brian Daniels talks about the budget as state Administration Director Jonathan Womer listens.
Office of Management and Budget Director Brian Daniels talks about the budget as state Administration Director Jonathan Womer listens.
Ian Donnis / The Public’s Radio
Share
Office of Management and Budget Director Brian Daniels talks about the budget as state Administration Director Jonathan Womer listens.
Office of Management and Budget Director Brian Daniels talks about the budget as state Administration Director Jonathan Womer listens.
Ian Donnis / The Public’s Radio
McKee Proposes $14.2B Rhode Island State Budget for 2025-26
Copy

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s latest $14.2 billion budget proposal adds about a quarter-billion dollars from the current spending plan, reflecting the challenge of fueling the government in a state where expenditures continue to outpace revenue.

McKee said his budget, which he unveiled Thursday, would close an approximately $250 million deficit without any broad-based tax increases.“It will not just protect Rhode Island’s progress, it will protect the taxpayers of our state,” McKee said.

The proposal banks on $10 million in revenue from the eventual restart of the RhodeWorks truck-tolling program, following a recent court decision, and predicts that amount will grow to $40 million in fiscal 2026-27.

The spending plan includes investments meant to spark economic growth, increases in education aid, and a proposed ban on new sales of semiautomatic rifles sometimes called assault weapons.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

USDA says it will not send out food stamp money in November due to the federal shutdown. Now, Rhode Islanders are grappling with how to make ends meet
Federal cuts to Medicaid could leave up to 50,000 Rhode Islanders without health insurance, straining the state’s already limited primary care system and putting communities like Central Falls - where half the population relies on Medicaid - at particular risk, according to Dr. Michael Fine
Gov. Dan McKee says the state will shift $6 million from other federal programs to help feed Rhode Islanders as SNAP benefits run out — while Attorney General Peter Neronha joins a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration to restore funding
The R/V Endeavor, which spent the last 49 years operating out of URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus, was retired last month. Possibly took a tour of the vessel before it’s decommissioned
New protections for federal workers, credits for low-income customers on the way