Changes to Medicaid starting Thursday, Oct. 1, will affect eligibility for some noncitizens as well as coverage of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss for Rhode Islanders enrolled in the joint federal-state health insurance program for people with low incomes and older adults and people with disabilities. Federal enrollment data from June show 250,294 Rhode Islanders […]

Compared with the insult-laced, tense exchanges in both parties’ gubernatorial primaries, the first head-to-head between general election candidates Helena Buonanno Foulkes and Ken Block proved mild, even congenial. Despite their different labels — Foulkes, a Democrat, and Block, an independent — there was little daylight between the competitors on many of the questions posed by […]

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley lost the Democratic Primary for the city’s mayorship earlier this month to challenger and state Rep. David Morales. And now the capital city has lost its status as the host of the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2027 annual meeting. Providence’s hosting of the conference, first announced in 2024, would have run […]

Rhode Island spent billions of dollars over the last several years to repair the state’s highways and bridges, once ranked among the worst in the nation. They’re better, just not good.  A new analysis by the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) found overall infrastructure improvements were largely from bridges moving out of the poor […]

The deadline to update your voter record or register to vote before Rhode Island’s general election on Nov. 3 is fast approaching. Rhode Islanders must be registered to vote 30 days before an election to participate. That means eligible Rhode Island residents have until 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, to act in time to participate […]

A colossal software overhaul of the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) administrative and payroll systems on track to launch next fall may need to change course after state officials asked university officials to possibly take over a big responsibility it previously told them not to pursue. URI began its transition to a more modern infrastructure […]

A Rhode Island federal judge on Tuesday struck down the Trump administration’s attempts to  restrict federal grants for organizations serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to adequately explain its decision to condition grants on restrictions involving immigration […]

Monthly health insurance costs are set to rise by double-digit percentages for the second consecutive year, though the sticker shock won’t be quite as sharp as last year. Commercial insurance rates for 2027, unveiled by Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King on Tuesday, are also lower than what insurers wanted, with King’s office cutting […]

A favorable diesel price lock that helped the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) narrow last year’s budget gap ended three months ago. But the financial woes facing the statewide bus agency from skyrocketing fuel prices is just beginning with the cost of diesel now over two and a half times what was budgeted for […]

University of Rhode Island (URI) trustees on Friday unanimously approved a request seeking a $20.3 million increase in the university’s 2028 budget amid projections of an $8.1 million shortfall this fiscal year. Rising inflation and missed enrollment targets were among the reasons cited for the school’s request of $139.8 million in state support next year, […]

Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office has rejected a turnaround plan by the new owners of Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, determining it was insufficient to keep them afloat.  “The runway, if they don’t get it turned around quickly, it’s not extensive,” Neronha said in an interview Monday morning. “I think […]

The students in Danielle Trial Lucini’s concert band class were charging through the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” during first period on a Thursday morning at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence. Lucini let them finish before offering her review: It was enthusiastic, but too fast. “I need to hear the space between the notes,” […]

He committed a nonviolent felony 15 years ago: a bad check, a possession charge, a stolen car he was dumb enough to ride in at 22. He served his sentence. He paid his fines. He hasn’t been arrested since. He did exactly what we told him to do. Now he’s 40, and every time he […]

Charge your phones and tablets, stay away from the water, and use extra caution if you must be on the roads. That’s Gov. Dan McKee’s advice as the state prepares for an early season nor’easter expected to bring strong winds, heavy rain, potential power outages and flooding to Rhode Island between Friday night and Sunday. […]

One of the least powerful state offices could end up being the headline of Rhode Island’s general election: Democrat Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos is neck-and-neck with her Republican challenger, John Loughlin, according to a University of New Hampshire poll published Thursday. The poll of 598 likely general election voters, conducted online from Sept. 17 to […]

The director of investigations for the Palm Beach County, Florida’s inspector general’s office, the top watchdog for the U.S. Capitol Police and his investigations chief made Gov. Dan McKee’s list of potential nominees to become Rhode Island’s first inspector general. Over the course of three hours Thursday, the Inspector General Independent Advisory Commission interviewed the […]

The seasonal spike in electricity bills won’t burn as big a hole as usual in Rhode Island Energy customers’ wallets. At least, not this year. The Oct. 1 start date for the six-month period of higher electricity pricing coincides with the beginning of a separate set of company-issued refunds, mandated under the 2022 sale of […]

The federal government infused $50 billion into rural healthcare last July when President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. How Rhode Island will spend its $156.17 million share of the nationwide Rural Health Transformation Program awards is now taking shape ahead of the federal Oct. […]

In politics, having connections can sometimes be the easiest way to get something done. But the Republican nominee for general treasurer, Micholas Credle, says you shouldn’t have to “know a guy” to get answers about how Rhode Island manages its money. Credle, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary, stood in the State House rotunda […]

Ralph Mollis is no stranger to Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act. As North Kingstown town manager, he receives up to 10 requests a week from residents, media outlets and private companies looking for information they believe is protected by the state’s public records law.  But Mollis seldom makes a request from another public […]

This article first appeared on CT Mirror and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Here’s something on which Americans of nearly every political persuasion appear able to agree: Congress is not working. Were Congress an employee sitting down for its annual performance evaluation, the meeting would be brief. Public confidence […]

The last time former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Rhode Island, he spoke to a gathering of U.S. governors to advocate for free trade amid tensions between the two North American neighbors. Nearly a decade later, Trudeau returned to Providence where he said the relationship has moved beyond ordinary trade disputes to what […]

Each month, approximately 60,000 benefits decision notices travel through Rhode Island’s mail. When the notices land in residents’ mailboxes, they tell people when their Medicaid coverage and other public benefits have been approved, denied, or changed. This month, the state gave the notices a makeover in hopes that the often complex decisions they relay will […]

The panel tasked with selecting Rhode Island’s judges on Tuesday will consider whether its members must disclose campaign contributions to judicial applicants and recuse themselves from considering those candidates. That question before the Judicial Nominating Commission comes from a petition filed Aug. 21 by H. Philip West Jr., the former executive director of Common Cause […]

More than a year after federal regulators abruptly canceled a $7 billion solar energy grant program — with funds already distributed and even partially spent — a Rhode Island federal judge has ordered them to revive the program. But it’s too early for the group of union laborers, solar panel installation companies, homeowners and nonprofit […]