Gov. Dan McKee will give his 2025 State of the State address on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Rhode Island State House. (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)
With the 2025 legislative session officially begun, the focus turns to Gov. Dan McKee and his scheduled State of the State address next week. Don’t expect any dollar-figure details yet; the nitty gritty of agency-level funding and programming will be unveiled when McKee releases his proposed fiscal 2026 budget a few days later.
But the Jan. 14 address offers a preview of what the governor intends to push for this legislative session, along with potential cuts anticipated in light of a projected $330 million deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Aside from what will likely be a hefty dose of sports analogies from “Coach McKee,” here’s what to look for from McKee’s first moment in the spotlight for 2025.
Gun safety advocates attend a Rhode Island House of Representatives debate on legislation to strengthen rules for how guns must be stored on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
1. All in against assault weapons
Gun safety advocates lined the hallways outside both legislative chambers during the first day of session Tuesday, eager to reiterate to lawmakers their insistence on a state ban against assault-style weapons. While legislation to that effect has failed to advance out of committee in recent history, one of the key obstacles — Senate President Dominick Ruggerio — has indicated new openness to considering the legislation this year. Ruggerio’s change of heart comes months after McKee pledged to make a ban on military-style rifles a part of his fiscal 2026 budget. That’s still the plan, Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, confirmed in an email on Tuesday. Expect at least a mention of this in McKee’s State of the State, though details of the proposal, including exactly how he defines “assault weapons” are likely yet to come.
A projected $330 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1 looms large for lawmakers. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
2. Less money, more problems
Economists and state budget-crunchers have warned for years that the record-level spending Rhode Island enjoyed during and after the pandemic — thanks largely to a $1.1 billion boost in federal relief — were not permanent. This year, reality will hit home, with the cutoff of American Rescue Plan Act funds and a slowdown in revenue relative to state spending leaving a projected $330 million hole for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Well-aware of the looming deficit, the state budget office required government agencies to submit alternative, “constrained” budgets, representing 7.5% less than existing funding. But some of the proposed cuts have raised alarm among advocates, who fear drastic consequences from suggestions to strip state Medicaid support, eliminate the state’s Child Advocate position, cancel the already-funded Rhode Island State Police training academy for fiscal 2025, and funnel the state health department’s blood lead testing program entirely to private laboratories. McKee hasn’t said much about specific agency proposals, but may offer a few hints Tuesday at how he plans to curtail spending to balance the budget.
The headquarters of Hasbro, Inc., an American multinational conglomerate holding company creating toys and games, is on Newport Avenue in Pawtucket. This photo was taken on Nov. 10, 2023. (Getty image)
3. Preserving Mr. Potato Head
The fate of Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc. remains a key source of concern for Rhode Island lawmakers and business leaders, with the toy and gaming giant expected to announce its decision on its potential move across state lines sometime in the first quarter of the year. The news of a cross-border betrayal, first documented last fall, seemed to catch Rhode Island officials by surprise, forcing them into a game of catchup to see what incentives might persuade the company to stay loyal to the Ocean State, even if not in Pawtucket. Legislative leaders have remained quiet on the topic, with House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi deferring to the governor’s office and Rhode Island Commerce Corp. to take the lead. So what have they been up to? DaRocha said in an email that the governor’s office has had “regular meetings” with Hasbro executives, though she did not respond to follow-up questions about when the governor last met with company leaders. She referred to a pitch deck presented by Commerce in November when asked about details of their conversations and potential state incentives. What more McKee will say — or not mention — about the latest on Hasbro in his State of the State will be telling, either way.
A screen capture from Brain Cipher’s blog shows a breach labeled as data belonging to Deloitte U.K., which compromised Rhode Islanders’ data through the RIBridges public benefit platform, managed by Deloitte. (Screenshot)
4. Connecting the dots on RIBridges
The cyberattack on the state public benefits program rocked Rhode Island, exposing hundreds of thousands of residents’ personal information on the dark web as well as holes in the security practices of program vendor, Deloitte. Unlike in the immediate aftermath of the Washington Bridge debacle a year earlier, McKee has been out in front since the news of the security breach broke in December, hosting a series of press conferences, including over the holidays. But question marks remain: How many of the estimated 650,000 Rhode Islanders whose data was housed on RIBridges actually had personal information released on the dark web? Did Deloitte ever pay any of the ransom money the hackers demanded? And most importantly, what will the state do to shore up its benefits program, including potentially firing Deloitte ahead of the end of its contract in June 2026? The decade-long relationship with the vendor has been marred by controversy, including its role in the rocky rollout of RIBridges, originally known as the Unified Health Infrastructure Project, in 2016. Answers to any or all of these questions may not be available by Tuesday, but McKee will at least give a nod to his administration’s response to the cyber crisis.
Gov. Dan McKee’s 2024 State of the State included a pledge to raise per capita income by $20,000 by 2030 by bolstering education and workforce development programs. (Getty Images)
5. What about that personal income goal?
Last year, McKee’s State of the State featured a headline-making announcement: He pledged to raise per-person income in the Ocean State by $20,000 by the end of the decade. But the hype fizzled fast due to lack of concrete details about turning the promise into a plan. A three-page memo released quietly on the state’s long-term planning website in April offered a little more information, proposing a series of summer outreach sessions with business and education leaders. Since then, silence. But there may be a revival; DaRocha said in an email that the governor’s fiscal 2026 budget will include “workforce development priorities and investments” that reflect the feedback of the many listening sessions and presentations with industry groups on the income goal.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, left, and Helena Bounanno Foulkes, right, appear to be heading for a rematch in the 2026 Democratic primary for governor. (Left photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current; right photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Bonus: Governor watch 2026
Less than two years out from the next gubernatorial election, a potential rematch between McKee and his closest 2022 Democratic rival, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, has kicked off. Neither has expressly declared their intent to run for the governor’s seat in 2026. But McKee’s campaign was quick to seize on a recently released federal lawsuit accusing CVS Health of worsening the opioid crisis, linking the 97-page complaint to Foulkes, who served as president of CVS Pharmacy during four years of the decade of offenses detailed in the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit. Foulkes fired back by turning the focus on McKee’s problems: the ongoing delays and rising price for the Washington Bridge rebuild, plus the RIBridges cyberattack. Foulkes again tried to take the spotlight Tuesday, issuing a statement urging the governor to declare a public health emergency to open up emergency shelter locations ahead of plummeting temperatures. McKee’s administration announced the opening of two additional shelters later that day, adding 75 beds to the existing state roster of 1,252 beds.
The governor will deliver his State of the State at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Rhode Island State House. The address will also be streamed online through Capitol TV.