by Victoria Miele ’28 on January 22, 2026
News
On Tuesday, Jan. 13, Rhode Island Governor Daniel J. McKee gave a State of the State address, expressing hopeful ideas to make life in Rhode Island more comfortable.
Governor McKee began his address by recognizing the shooting at Brown University which took two students’ lives last month. He expressed his regrets and informed everyone of the action being taken to keep the multitude of colleges and universities in the state safe. McKee’s administration has “convened leaders from all Rhode Island colleges and universities to review security protocols” and he has begun the process of coordinating mental health counselors and professionals to help any students throughout the state who may need their services.
Throughout the speech, McKee addressed economic problems that continue to make it difficult for Rhode Islanders to live comfortably. McKee made it clear that economics were a top priority by addressing, “the costs that keep Rhode Islanders up at night, the costs we must lower to keep our state competitive and growing.”
Some of the most significant acts Governor McKee has made to help cut costs and support families in Rhode Island have been through a child tax rebate which “put $40 million directly back into families’ pockets,” as well as ensuring that no drivers in Rhode Island are subject to a car tax, and cutting $35 million from electric and gas bills as a result of suspending an energy tax.
Moving forward, McKee has laid out a new plan called the Affordability for All agenda, which would keep $215 million in the pockets of Rhode Islanders just in the first year and is projected to keep $1.4 billion in those pockets over the next five years. The plan promotes creating a permanent child tax credit, lowering the gas tax, reducing charges on electrical bills, lowering health care costs, and eliminating the tax on Social Security. As Rhode Island is one of the eight states that taxes Social Security, this plan would be helpful in keeping Rhode Island competitive with other states. It will also prevent retired citizens from moving out of Rhode Island, and therefore help the state’s overall economy.
For young families struggling to pay for their lives with children, the plan implements an expanded dependent deductible making $325 available per child.
Additionally, Rhode Island suffers from having the fourth-highest residential electricity rates across the whole nation. These high rates are very challenging for many families, but the Affordability for All agenda is planning to provide $21 million in cuts just this year and over $1 billion over the next five years.
McKee made it very clear that he believes that “the cost of health care is too high” in Rhode Island, which has been met with much agreement among his constituents. His plan is to invest $9.5 million to establish a Marketplace Affordability program which will support the 20,000 Rhode Islanders who are at risk of losing their HealthSourceRI coverage.
Additionally, his budget for the year includes $10 million in state and federal funds that will be directed towards supporting hospitals as they must prepare to have more patients who no longer have health insurance. Recently, the Trump Administration implemented new standards for qualifying for Medicaid and Rhode Island is planning to invest $20 million to ensure the state remains in compliance with these new regulations and help Medicaid recipients stay insured.
Over the course of McKee’s administration, over 36,000 private sector jobs have been added in the state of Rhode Island. His belief is that “at the heart of opportunity is… jobs,” and he spoke in his address about continuing to create more jobs and opportunities for the people of Rhode Island.
In the proposed budget, $215 million has been set aside to help modernize the campuses of the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College, and the Community College of Rhode Island. In addition to this 21 Community Learning Centers have opened up across Rhode Island to give younger students the opportunity to learn as well. Rhode Island has suffered for years from students’ chronic absenteeism, but this year 3.7 million hours of student learning were added through the Attendance Matters initiative.
In addition to providing for higher education, McKee proposed a bond that would offer $50 million to build and upgrade Career and Technical Education classrooms all across the state. This would provide “students the space, equipment, and resources they need to succeed in high-demand careers and good-paying jobs.”
Affordable housing has been a crisis across the nation and it is no different in Rhode Island. McKee has proposed that his budget will advocate for a $120 million housing bond with $25 million specifically dedicated to increasing homeownership.
McKee closed his State of the State address with the final remark, “Rhode Island’s future is one worth fighting for.”