A $14 billion budget for 2023-24 that steers more money to housing and education while offering tax relief to most Rhode Island businesses sailed through the House Finance Committee on a 13-to-3 vote Friday night.
“This is a budget that meets the needs of Rhode Islanders,” House Speaker Joe Shekarchi said during a briefing ahead of the vote. “It’s balanced and we take advantage of every federal dollar available to the state. I’m proud of the budget, I’m proud of what’s in it.”
The Finance Committee approved the spending plan — the state’s largest — for the fiscal year beginning July 1 during a characteristically brief meeting, with the three Republicans on the panel voting in opposition.
The budget, representing $300 million more in spending than what Gov. Dan McKee proposed in January, is slated for a lengthy floor debate in the House of Representatives next Friday.
The budget includes the priorities of the state’s three top officials: expanded out of school learning backed by McKee, a life-sciences hub championed by Shekarchi, and an expanded tangible property tax exemption that Senate President Dominick Ruggerio predicted will produce savings for 75% of businesses in the state.
Vast amounts of federal COVID aid and higher than expected state revenues fueled an unusual occurrence in Rhode Island, consecutive budget surpluses. But shrinking revenue cut the surplus by about $60 million, to $540 million, and the future fiscal forecast is more challenging.
The spending plan includes $20 million more than McKee proposed for education, and it funds a $29 million housing amendment made by the governor with an additional $10 million.
Pension cost of living adjustments for retired state workers, which have been granted every four years, will now be divided into smaller annual payments. Amid anger from some retirees, the budget also calls for State Treasurer James Diossa to conduct a review of the pension overhaul championed by then-Treasurer Gina Raimondo, now U.S. Commerce secretary, in 2011.
No funds are appropriated for a number of high-profile projects, including the Superman Building renovation, the Pawtucket soccer stadium, the envisioned reuse of the Cranston Armory, the South Quay project in East Providence, and a 160-unit apartment proposal in East Providence known as the Taunton Avenue Collaborative.
But Shekarchi said the budget includes money for a $31 million discretionary housing fund to be managed by Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor, with an emphasis on supporting shovel-ready projects — “projects that can make a difference very soon or soon as possible, because I really feel very strongly that the crisis is very severe. Money that we’re using, we need to use it in a very prudent and fast way.”
The spending plan also includes enough staff to more than double the size of the Housing Department led by Pryor.
The governor, speaker and Senate president staged a mid-afternoon news conference to discuss the budget.
Later, Shekarchi praised Pryor, saying he has done more in a few months as housing secretary than his predecessor did in a year, and that he will now have more funds and new tools, including a low-income housing tax credit, to spark the development of more housing.
A controversial proposal to give Pryor the power of eminent domain was not included in the budget.
The spending plan adds 15 positions in the department of attorney general, including for a new cold case unit.
Another area unaddressed by the budget is the fiscal cliff facing RIPTA, the state’s public transit agency, due to shrinking revenue. Resolving that will require what Shekarchi called “long-range planning.”
Although the budget attracted GOP opposition in the Finance Committee, House Republican Leader Mike Chippendale of Foster called the spending plan the least offensive of his 13 years in the General Assembly.
As he gets more time to review the budget, Chippendale said he will look for things harmful to businesses or rural communities, but “I’’m not finding those things and from the beginning of the process, the speaker and I have met regularly, He has kept me abreast of considerations. Everything that we’ve spoken about appears to be represented in this budget.”
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org
