2024 Election Tool Kit

Question 2: Higher Education Facilities – $160.5 Million 

Approval of this question would allow the issuance of $160.5 million in general obligation bonds for capital improvements to the following two higher education facilities: $87.5 million for the construction of biomedical sciences building at the University of Rhode Island and $73 million for renovations and improvements to support the Institute for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies at Rhode Island College. 

Question 4: Green Economy Bonds – $53 Million 

This bond issue would fund nine programs and projects for environmental and recreational purposes. These include:

• $15 million for infrastructure at the Port of Davisville (Quonset Point), including the construction of roads to allow offshore wind and other large project cargo to be more easily transported; 
• $2 million to pay for a climate resiliency matching grant program to strengthen coastal habitats and river and stream floodplains from storm surges and other effects of climate change; 
• $5 million for the state brownfields remediation program through which thousands of contaminated industrial sites have been cleaned up, redeveloped, and returned to productive use as the locations for schools, affordable housing, retail complexes, and playgrounds; 
• $5 million for local recreation grants covering the development of sports fields, tennis courts, splash pads, and playgrounds; 
• $10 million to provide matching grants to municipalities for up to 75% of project costs to fortify infrastructure such as wastewater treatment plants from sea level rise, intense storms, and other effects of climate change; 
• $3 million to help restore and improve the resilience of the Newport Cliff Walk, which is one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions; 
• $5 million to protect the state’s working farms and set aside money to purchase additional farmland, if it should become available, to ensure that it remains working farmland and is not developed commercially; 
• $3 million for the state open space program, through which Rhode Island has preserved and protected more than 20,000 acres (an area bigger than Manhattan) of open space, farmland, and watershed since 1985; and 
• $5 million to fund efforts to manage and protect state forestland and wildlife habitat. 

Millionaires Tax 

Background: In Rhode Island, low-wage workers pay more of their incomes in state and local taxes than do millionaires. This year there was a proposal to create a millionaires tax that would tax income over $1 million. It would only affect 2,100 tax filers but raise an estimated $126 million to be invested in public education, childcare, public transportation, and roads and bridges.  

Question: Do you support a millionaires tax to raise revenue and ensure everyone pays their fair share?

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) 

Background: The state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a tool that puts money back into the pockets of working families. The EITC is proven to reduce poverty. In Rhode Island, the EITC is 16% of the federal EITC, whereas Connecticut and Massachusetts have EITCS that are 40% of the federal EITC. 

Question: Do you support raising the state EITC? 

Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) 

Background: Rhode Islanders use Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) as paid family leave to care for new babies or family members who are very ill. Under current law, some family members (like grandchildren and siblings) and people with no qualifying family are not eligible to benefit from the program, despite paying into it. 

Question: Do you support expanding the definition of “family” so more Rhode Islanders can use TCI to care for their families? 

Background: TCI is completely paid for by RI workers, but worker salaries are only taxed on the first $87,000 in earnings. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and three other states tax salaries up to the Social Security contribution base, which is $168,600.1  

Question: To expand paid family leave, do you support taxing worker salaries up to $168,600 like MA and CT? 

Background: Rhode Island workers get only 60% of their average paycheck when using TCI, the state paid family leave program. This makes it very hard for low-wage workers to use the paid family leave they are entitled to. Massachusetts and Connecticut pay low-wage workers 80% and 95% of their weekly wage when using paid family leave.  

Question: Do you support increasing the wage replacement rate for TCI in Rhode Island? 

Child Care for Child Care Educators 

Background: Through the Child Care for Child Care Educators pilot program, qualified frontline childcare providers, most of whom are low-wage earners, can receive free childcare services for their own children. This innovative program has begun to reduce the childcare staffing crisis in Rhode Island. 

Question: Do you support making this pilot program permanent? 

Medicare Savings Program (MSP) 

Background: Average healthcare costs have increased in recent years, and more than half of Rhode Islanders struggle to afford their basic needs. The Medicare Savings Program (MSP) helps low-income seniors and disabled Rhode Islanders afford medical care, but its income eligibility limits are so low that they exclude many people who need help with medical costs. 

Question: Do you support increasing the income eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program? 

RI Works 

Background: RI Works is a program, paid for with federal funds, that provides cash assistance for poor families — 70% of the recipients are children. However, families getting cash assistance are still living in deep poverty, which is defined as when a household’s total income falls below 50% of the Federal Poverty Limit (FPL). 

Question: Do you support increasing RI Works benefits so RI families will not have to live in deep poverty? 

Equity Impact Statements 

Background: An equity impact statement is a tool to help measure whether a bill, if it became law, would make Rhode Island fairer and more equitable, or less so.  

Question: Do you support legislation to require equity impact assessments (like fiscal notes) of the state budget and proposed legislation? 

The Reinvestment of Proceeds Generated by the Legalization of Marijuana 

Background: When marijuana possession was illegal, Black and Latino Americans were arrested and jailed for marijuana crimes at much higher rates than White Americans, even though they had similar rates of marijuana use. This unequal punishment caused great financial and emotional harm to Black and Latino communities.  

Question: Do you support legislation to direct some of the money generated by marijuana legalization to be reinvested in communities that were disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs?