Highlights from Governor Raimondo’s FY16 Budget

Governor Raimondo released her first budget last week. We have highlighted five areas that are important to the fiscal health of the state and its residents. Making work pay The Governor proposes to expand the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit which would allow working families to keep more of their paycheck. And while not a budget item, the Governor supports …

A Summary of the Medicaid Proposals in Governor Raimondo’s FY16 Budget

 March 23, 2015 Governor Raimondo has proposed her budget for Fiscal Year 2016 which totals $8.67 billion, a decrease of just over $200 million (2.4%) from the 2015 Revised Budget.  General revenue expenditures are $3.49 billion, an increase of $3.2 million. The budget includes steep cuts to the Medicaid program, which provides affordable health care to more than one in …

RI Work and Income Supports Among Lowest in New England

Rhode Islanders who work full-time should be able to afford housing, food, and health care. Yet far too many jobs pay wages that are too low for families to meet their most basic needs. Many working families would not be able to get by if not for government funded work and income supports that help close the gap between earnings and expenses. …

2014 Rhode Island Standard of Need

 Our Rhode Island Standard of Need shows what it costs to live and raise a family in Rhode Island and how work supports help families meet basic needs. Rhode Island is a beautiful state with sandy beaches, world class restaurants, and a vibrant arts and culture scene. Yet many workers in our state struggle just to pay for the basics, …

Policy Outcomes 2014

The Institute informed and influenced the debate on a host of policy issues related to affordable child care, workforce development, and tax policy. This brief summary highlights several policy changes that will have an impact on the fiscal health of Rhode Island and its residents. Child care expansions extended Two important expansions made to the Child Care Assistance Program last …

How Child Care Expansions Help R.I. Moms

May 09, 2014 Tonya, Participant in Culinary Arts Training Testimony in Support of Child Care Bills S2486 & H7733  Good evening House Finance Committee members, my name is Tonya, I’m here today in support of this childcare bill. Upon inquiring at the local networkRI one stop center in Woonsocket for assistance in finding a job, my one stop counselor contacted …

Improving access to affordable child care

State investments in child care assistance have dropped by more than 80 percent since 2007, when income limits were rolled back as part of state budget cuts. The Institute has been working with our community partners to expand access to affordable child care so that parents can go to work knowing their child is safe, and children can get a …

Improve Rhode Island’s Earned Income Tax Credit to Help Hard-working Rhode Islanders

March 31, 2014 The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is widely recognized as one of the most effective policies at keeping low-income working families out of poverty by supplementing wages and encouraging work. It is estimated that the federal EITC kept 6.5 million working Americans out of poverty in 2012. Rhode Island is among 25 states and the District of …

Work in Progress: Latinos in the RI Workforce

As the fastest growing ethnic group in Rhode Island, Latinos will play a more prominent role in the future of the state’s workforce and economic growth, according to an infographic released  by the Latino Policy Institute (LPI) at Roger Williams University and The Economic Progress Institute. While the working age Latino population, defined as ages 16 to 64, is expected …

Improving economic security and opportunity for single mother households in Rhode Island

 A new report suggests that a handful of state policy changes could improve the economic circumstances of single-mother households in Rhode Island including, but not limited to: •  Improve the State’s cash assistance program “Rhode Island Works” so it is better able to prepare low-skilled mothers for the workforce; •  Make modest expansions to the State’s child care assistance program to …