McKee Unveils Plan for RI’s Future - the Framework for Spending $1B

McKee Unveils Plan for RI’s Future - the Framework for Spending $1B

In Dan McKee’s biggest policy announcement since ascending to the governorship six months ago, on Friday he has announced the framework of the plan to spend about $1 billion in federal funds and has sketched out the impact of these dollars both in the short term and for the rest of the decade.

"Our Administration launched RI 2030: to craft a vision both for the state’s economic recovery as well as for what we want Rhode Island to look like in the years ahead. … once finalized, [it] will help guide policy priorities, federal spending, strategic collaborations and legislative initiatives,” according to McKee’s plan.

“While RI 2030 is not aimed solely at addressing the federal dollars coming into the state, a key goal of this initiative is to help Rhode Island leverage the State Fiscal Recovery Fund towards achieving the goals set through our RI 2030 process,” it states.

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McKee said this plan is a starting point and will go through vigorous public review and comment, “To build on this momentum, and with this document as a starting point, our Administration will be launching a series of in-person regional community conversations as part of a five-county listening tour. In partnership with the University of Rhode Island, and faculty from other institutions around the state, the planning process will culminate in a 2030 visioning document that can be used to guide future investments.”

 

McKee Said Rhode Islanders Have Raised the Following Issues:

While Rhode Island provided a range of small business supports throughout the COVID crisis and is outperforming many neighboring states, small businesses and impacted industries such as retail, tourism, hospitality, and child care continue to face challenges as they emerge from the global pandemic.
Disparities and barriers persist for small business owners in historically disadvantaged groups and marginalized communities.
Small businesses confront multiple barriers that impede their long-term success—especially in areas like licensing, zoning, regulatory compliance, and access to capital.

Arguably, in recent Rhode Island political history, McKee has been the state's strongest advocate for small business, outlines a major focus.

- Support a full and broad-based recovery for Rhode Island’s small business community and COVID-impacted industries such as retail, tourism, hospitality, and many others.
- Expand the number of small businesses with access to the knowledge, technology, service providers, local vendors, procurement opportunities, and capital they need to operate and grow their businesses.
- Increase the dollar amount of federal and Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) funding for small businesses as well as the number of CDFIs operating in Rhode Island.
- Increase the number, percent, and long-term success of minority-owned businesses in the state.
- Make Rhode Island the premier state in the region for the speed, predictability, and ease of starting or running a business while also increasing Rhode Island’s competitiveness with peer states in terms of the cost of doing business.

The plan goes through each major policy area outlining the feedback and input and outlining short-term and longer-term strategies for education, childcare, housing climate change, and others.

What the plan does not do is provide how the McKee Administration sees the dollars being assigned.

Focus Areas

Each of the topic areas focuses on how to make Rhode Island a more prosperous, equitable and resilient state. The topic areas focused upon in the document released today are:

Supporting Small Business
Investing in our Children, Families, and Early Education 
Strengthening K-12 Education
Enhancing Workforce Development and Post-Secondary Education
Prioritizing Housing
Driving Economic Growth
Enhancing Public Health and Wellness
Addressing Climate Change
Advancing Infrastructure and Transportation
Moving State Government into 2030

Public input sessions will begin on Tuesday, October 26 at 6PM at Harry Kizirian Elementary School.

Additional public input sessions will be held at 5PM on the following dates:

Thursday, October 28, Hope & Main (691 Main Street, Warren)
Tuesday, November 2 at the Community College of Rhode Island (400 East Ave, Warwick)
Thursday, November 4 at Innovate Newport (513 Broadway, Newport)
Tuesday, November 9 at United Theatre (5 Canal Street, Westerly)

Read the full report HERE.