Although the McKee Administration claims it will close an estimated $223.3 million deficit in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget without any cuts to critical services, as of Feb. 5, it’s hard if not impossible to know if the proposed budget accomplishes this.
Among the points that EPI Director of Research & Fiscal Policy Alan Krinsky made in today’s Revenue Roundtable discussion, three loom large.
First, making cuts to Medicaid, the Department of Human Services, and other programs that help low-income Rhode Islanders might save money in the short run but will not help grow the economy. Second, austerity spending creates a cycle that dampens economic activity. (Recall that pandemic investments, including the expanded federal child tax credit, helped stave off recession.) And third, raising new revenue could narrow the budget gap and increase tax fairness (see slide 30).
Download Alan’s slides for much more detail.