Dear Neighbors:
At slightly before 11:00 Thursday morning at Providence City Hall, I cast my early vote in the Democratic primary, making me the 90th person to vote in our City. While we wish the COVID pandemic had never occurred, I believe its dreadful legacy included three benefits, namely (1) Operation Warp Speed, (2) the greater use of virtual platforms (such as Zoom) and (3) expanded early voting. In this week I discuss three of my voting choices: Keith Hoffmann for Attorney General, Brett Smiley for Mayor and Helena Buonanno Foulkes for Governor.
A. Keith Hoffmann
I explained my decision to vote for Keith Hoffmann in this Letter to voters in February.
B. Brett Smiley
I explained my decision to vote for Brett Smiley to return as Providence Mayor in this Letter to voters earlier this month.
C. Helena Buonanno Foulkes
I believe Helena Buonanno Foulkes has valuable executive skills and experience that our State will need in the challenging circumstances we will face in coming years. I also believe that Rhode Island needs a change from the practices of the current administration, including in the areas of budgeting and transparency. We consider each in turn.
1. Budgeting
a. The Attack On RIPTA
Over the past six years, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) budget increased from $607 million to $1.14 billion. Despite this growth, the Governor’s RIPTA budget for fiscal 2025 included a funding gap of $8.1 million, while his RIPTA budget for fiscal 2026 had a funding gap of $32 million. While the General Assembly budget provided partial relief, the Governor’s RIPTA budgets amounted to a declaration of war upon a public service that is a vital part of the lives of thousands of Rhode Islanders every day.
b. The Wasteful, Inefficient RIDOT Highway and Bridge Program
While starving RIPTA, the Governor’s budget provided generous funding to RIDOT’s highway and bridge program which, as documented in a WPRI Report, is close to the worst in the country both in terms of high cost and poor quality. As noted in RIDOT’s forensic audit report, RIDOT’s poor road and bridge maintenance practices contributed to the failure of the Washington Bridge.
2. Transparency
The current administration also failed to be transparent with the public in its financial practices, including these three examples:
a. The ILO contract
As documented in the Attorney General’s report, the Governor’s office violated state procurement rules and regulations in awarding a $5.2 million contract to the ILO Group to assist schools in COVID-related programming. This winner of this contract was essentially decided before bids were accepted in what was supposed to be an fair and open process. The Attorney General concluded that the conduct, while improper, did not amount to a crime.
b. The Investigation Of The Washington Bridge Failure
As documented in detail in my November 16, 2025 letter, the Governor withheld from the General Assembly (and the public) both the April 5, 2024 “forensic audit report” and a February 19, 2024 metallurgical analysis report related to the Washington Bridge failure when both were requested by the General Assembly Joint Oversight Committee at a February, 2024 hearing, as well as in RIDOT’s March 26, 2024 answers to questions.
c. Quietly Undermining The Act On Climate
As documented in detail in my April 19, 2026 letter, the month of December, 2025 was a critical time in the implementation of the Act on Climate’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At that time, the Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4) was finishing its Climate Action Strategy to implement the Act, which legislation the Governor proudly signed in 2021. A central pillar of that strategy was (and remains) the conversion to renewable electricity generation by 2033. Unbeknownst to EC4, the Governor was at that time developing a budget that would push the renewable energy conversion date back to 2048, effectively knocking down the Act on Climate’s central pillar. The Governor did not inform the EC4 of this development, nor did his budget (which was released in January, 2025) have any acknowledgment or analysis of the budget’s impact on the Act on Climate. Fortunately, the General Assembly’s budget restored the 2033 renewable energy standard that the Governor’s budget would have undermined.
3. Conclusion
For his first five years in office, Governor McKee had the benefit of $1.1 billion of federal funding through the State Fiscal Recovery Fund of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Less than $150 million of ARPA was spent on public health, while several hundred million dollars of the balance was available to spend on State priorities outside of the COVID pandemic. These were relatively easy budgets to balance.
The budget picture for the next several years will be the polar opposite of the federally subsidized budgets from 2021-25. Last year, the State of Rhode Island issued Reports describing the budgetary challenges the State will face in the next few years due to draconian cuts in federal aid resulting from the Congressional passage of HR-1 in 2025. In these tough times, I believe Helena Buonanno Foulkes is in a better position to find solutions to manage Rhode Island’s budget fairly and efficiently, while providing Rhode Islanders with an open and transparent government.
P.S. If you are a registered voter in Senate District 3 and choose to participate in the Democratic primary, I will be grateful for your vote.