Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council

• RIPEC President & CEO Michael DiBiase spoke to WPRI 12 about the numerous tax and fee increases included in Rhode Island’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 enacted budget. Observing that state spending has grown at over twice the rate of inflation in the last two years, he pointed out that “there’s not a lot of austerity in this budget, despite the fact that state revenues are slowing down and we’ve got uncertainty in Washington.”

• RIPEC’s March report analyzing a major shift in Rhode Island’s state and local tax mix was highlighted in a Providence Journal article discussing the four municipalities that were authorized by the General Assembly to exceed the state’s four percent property tax levy cap for FY 2026. The article noted that most of the communities, including Woonsocket, were trying to raise revenues to support their schools. RIPEC’s report found that local aid increases to schools have significantly lagged state increases, with Woonsocket seeing the lowest local aid growth of any city or town in the state between FY 2019 and FY 2023.

• In an interview with the Rhode Island Current, Michael DiBiase noted that many of the governor’s priorities were not included in the FY 2026 enacted budget. “Part of the solution [to the budget deficit] was not doing the expenditures that the governor wanted … that’s how they reached balance,” he said.  

• RIPEC Public Policy Analyst Jeffrey Hamill spoke to the Providence Journal about the challenges Narragansett is facing with affordable housing, noting that while communities across Rhode Island are experiencing similar challenges, including a shortage of housing stock and restrictive land use and zoning regulations, Narragansett faces additional pressures from seasonal and short-term rentals and student housing.  

Inside Insights

• President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4th. The bill includes several major personal income tax changes and substantial revisions to both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. RIPEC is preparing an analysis of the law’s impact on Rhode Island’s state budget.

• Rhode Island’s FY 2026 enacted budget included sweeping reforms to state housing governance, adopting the governor’s recommendation that the Department of Housing assume all programming and policy responsibilities from the Housing Resources Commission. RIPEC published a policy brief identifying the need for these reforms in May. The budget also revised the membership of the RIHousing Board of Commissioners, naming the Secretary of Housing as chair and adding a new public member to join the three existing public members, all of whom are currently serving expired terms.

• Pew Charitable Trusts published an article on how states are responding to slowing revenues and the resulting increased fiscal risks, finding that states are increasingly adopting long-term budget assessments and stress tests to ensure sound budgeting and to inform policymakers.

• Rhode Island ranked fourth best in the country in The Commonwealth Fund’s 2025 Scorecard on State Health System Performance. Massachusetts and Connecticut ranked first and third best, respectively. The ranking was based on measures of health care access and affordability, prevention and treatment, avoidable hospital use and costs, health outcomes and healthy behaviors, income disparity, and equity.

What to Look for in July

• RIPEC will publish a report analyzing Rhode Island’s FY 2026 enacted budget.