Proposals Important to the Fiscal Health of the State and Its Residents
This analysis summarizes policy proposals and spending recommendations of particular relevance to low-income and modest-income Rhode Islanders and the advancement of their economic opportunity and included in the Governor’s proposed FY2025 budget. Until the Governor and the General Assembly negotiate a final budget, Rhode Islanders will have opportunities to provide testimony and other input into the shaping of the annual budget, which becomes, in effect, a statement of our priorities as a state.
Overview
On January 18, 2024, Governor Daniel McKee released his proposed $13.68 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2025, which begins on July 1, 2024, as well as his proposed revised budget for Fiscal Year 2024, which began on July 1, 2023 and ends on June 30, 2024. The FY2025 budget (see Table 1) is funded through four sources: $5.50 billion in General Revenue; $4.93 billion in Federal Funds, including the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money; $450.9 million from Restricted Receipts, revenue targeted and limited to specific uses, such as transportation; and $2.80 billion from Other Funds, including lottery revenue. Any reference to “All Funds” means total funding from all four sources.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget uses the remaining $33.1 million of the $1.13 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery Funds (SFRF). The Fiscal Year 2024 budget uses $698.2 million of the total, the rest having been expended in Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023. For any funds that do not get spent for the designated projects, the budget includes a proposal to redirect such funds to the Unemployment Trust Fund, which already received $100 million of the SFRF. In this document, we have highlighted, for several areas, FY2025 budget proposals important to the fiscal health of the state and its residents.