Even in hard times, we can move forward
10. Protecting Consumers from Medical Debt. The Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society, a Protect
Our Healthcare Coalition member, championed stronger protections
for Rhode Islanders with medical debt. Building upon last year’s victories,
legislation was enacted to cap interest on medical debt at 4% and prohibit
medical debt from resulting in liens placed on principal residences.
“This is important because medical debt leads to bankruptcy
for many people,” noted EPI Executive Director Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies.
9. Staffing & Quality Care Act. The Raise the Bar Coalition, led by SEIU
1199NE, advocated for safer staffing for direct care staff and better care
for nursing home patients. The General Assembly allocated $12 million to hire
new staff at nursing home facilities that do not yet meet the safe staffing
requirement or raise wages and benefits for existing direct-care workers at
facilities already in compliance. This ensures that nursing homes have the
tools and accountability to deliver safe, dignified care and recruit and retain
quality direct care staff.
8. Enhancing healthcare coverage for Rhode Islanders. The
General Assembly and the enacted budget together improved healthcare coverage
for Rhode Islanders in four distinct ways:
- Removing
Prior Authorization Requirements. The Protect Our Healthcare
Coalition, co-led by EPI and RIPIN,
advocated easing the burden on primary care by removing prior
authorization requirements. Enacted legislation established a three-year
pilot program prohibiting insurers from requiring prior authorization for
services ordered by primary care providers and for in-network outpatient
behavioral health services.
- Sustaining
Psychiatry Teleconsultation Programs that Support Healthcare
Professionals. The Right from the Start Campaign and
the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition advocated to maintain funding for
the Psychiatry Resource Network (PRN) programs
that connect providers with psychiatric consultants to support better
patient care. The General Assembly allocated $750,000 of state funds to
sustain MomsPRN. PediPRN will
also continue through existing federal grant funds. These programs support
healthcare professionals through clinical consultations or referral
services related to mental health for children and pregnant and postpartum
Rhode Islanders.
- Expanding
Eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program. The Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island championed
expansions to the Medicare
Savings Program alongside the Protect Our Healthcare
Coalition. The enacted budget adds $7.1 million, including $0.7 million
from general revenues, to expand the Medicare Savings Program. This
expansion increases eligibility to 125% of the Federal Poverty
Level for the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary group and up to 168%
for the Qualified Individuals group.
- Increasing
Primary Care Reimbursement Rates. The Rhode Island Medical Society championed
increasing funding for primary care providers, alongside the Protect Our
Healthcare Coalition and the Right from the Start Campaign. The enacted
budget includes $8.3 million from general revenue and $26.4 million from
all funds to increase Medicaid primary care reimbursement rates to match
Medicare rates.
“House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi made a
statement when he passed the budget that healthcare was a priority for this
General Assembly, and many people worked to ensure Rhode Island becomes a
healthier and more vibrant state,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies.
“These wins are a testament to that.”
7. Raising Revenue Equitably to Support Low-Income Housing. The enacted budget established a new property tax on expensive homes, not primary residences. Only the value above $1 million will be taxed, and most owners have their primary residences outside Rhode Island. The revenue will support the development of low-income housing.
“This was important because it will raise revenue to help
with low-income housing,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “One of the
priorities of EPI is to ensure we had a budget that was raising revenues, and
this was one of the revenue-raising proposals Speaker Shekarchi made happen.”
6. RI invests in RIPTA and preserves the Ride Anywhere
Program. The Save RIPTA coalition advocated
maintaining Rhode Island Public
Transit Authority (RIPTA) services with new revenue
streams. The enacted budget includes $15 million in new, sustainable funding
for RIPTA, $9 million from a 2-cent gas tax increase, and $6 million from the
highway maintenance fund. The state has also committed to preserving the Ride Anywhere paratransit pilot.
While these are major wins, RIPTA still faces a $17.6
million budget gар.
“The Save RIPTA coalition advocated for $32.6 million and
received $15 million. They were fighting in the Senate until Friday to get that
raised,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “Today we’re celebrating, but
tomorrow I encourage you to fight to save RIPTA because public transportation
is important to our state and workers.”
5. Supporting Child Care Providers and Working Families. The
Right from the Start Campaign advocated advancing state policies for Rhode
Island’s young children and their families. The General Assembly passed
significant wins for families and the child care workforce: a 20% increase in
infant reimbursement for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and a
three-year extension of the Child
Care for Child Care Educators pilot, providing free child care for
eligible providers through July 2028.
“If you work in the childcare industry, you deserve to have
childcare provided so you can help us take care of our children,” said
Executive Director Nelson-Davies.
4. Raising the Minimum Wage. The Rhode Island Workforce Alliance,
co-led by EPI and United Way of
Rhode Island, advocated for a living wage for all Rhode Islanders.
Rhode Island’s minimum wage, currently $15 per hour, will increase to $16 per
hour in 2026 and $17 per hour in 2027. While still below the living wage
needed to meet basic needs, this step helps keep working families
from falling further behind.
“That’s a huge win for families because right now, people
need all the income they can get,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies.
3. Further Expansions to Temporary Disability Insurance
and Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TDI/TCI). The Rhode Island Paid Family Leave Coalition advocated
for strengthening Rhode
Island’s TCI program. To better meet the needs of the state’s working
families, the General Assembly voted to increase the wage replacement rate to
75% by 2028, expand the taxable wage base to $100,000, and expand the family
definition of eligible caregivers to include siblings.
“People may not know Rhode Island was one of the first
states to pass a paid leave program, and for over 10 years, we were stuck on
six weeks, and people could only get 6% of their salary when they took leave,”
said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “Last year, for the first time in those
10 years, paid leave was extended from six to eight weeks, and this year we
went back to fight for wages, saying that people needed more of their salary to
care for their families. And we got it this year.”
2. Building Wealth with Baby Bonds. Following
Treasurer James Diossa’s lead, the Raising Rhode Island Coalition, co-led by
EPI and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT,
advocated for establishing baby bonds for children born into deep poverty. The
General Assembly created a legal framework to provide every child born on
the RI
Works Program with a $3,000 investment. At age 18, each child will
have access to approximately $12,000 to invest in education, retirement
savings, homeownership, or starting a business in Rhode Island.
“This baby bond proposal was about dreaming for what is
possible,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “It was about building
generational wealth and saying, even if you’re born in poverty, that does not
have to be your destiny.”
1. Ending Predatory Payday Lending. After a
15-year campaign on the part of many advocates, including the Rhode
Island Coalition for Predatory Lending Reform, co-led by EPI
and Margaux Morriseau, the General Assembly repealed the special
carve-out that allowed payday lenders to charge up to 260% APR. Starting in
2027, storefront payday lenders will no longer be exempt from the rules
governing other lenders, which will protect vulnerable Rhode Islanders from
falling into cycles of debt.
“It took 15 years to make this happen,” said Executive
Director Nelson-Davies.
Bonus win:
Building Strong Momentum to Raise Revenue and for a
Fairer Tax Code. The campaign to establish a 3% tax on income above the Top
1% threshold gained serious traction this year, propelled by the Revenue for Rhode Islanders Coalition.
Though not included in the current enacted budget, the proposal sparked fierce
opposition from those protecting wealthy interests and put tax fairness at the
forefront as a crucial policy priority. With looming federal cuts to food and
Medicaid assistance and the need to prevent cuts in funding critical services
like public transit, child care, cash assistance, and more, this change to our
state tax code remains a critical tool to raise revenue. The Revenue for Rhode
Islanders Coalition will be ready if the General Assembly reconvenes in the
fall.
“This bonus win is special for me,” said Executive Director
Nelson-Davies. “I put myself into it to make sure people talked about taxing
the rich, and we did. We did it in a big way this year, and we’re not giving
up. The year isn’t over yet.”
Executive Director Nelson-Davies continued:
“We introduce this bill every year, but this year we started
in January and said, ‘We’re going to bring the fire.’ We went hard this year
because it was important to push back on misinformation.
“One of the things that bothered me was that we needed to do
right by all Rhode Islanders, and we needed to say the truth about our work.
Sometimes we don’t win because people don’t show up. We have good people who
care about these issues, but we don’t show up. Our goal this year was to show
up, explain why this is important, talk about our fears, talk about why we need
more money in our state, and invest that in the right way.
“RIPTA was one of our big things - we need public
transportation in our state. We need to invest in childcare. We need to invest
in our elderly population, and we need to do that by making sure our tax code
is fair and equitable.”
RIFuture.news is a reader-supported publication. To receive
new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
