EPI statement on the Rhode Island state amended budget proposal
"Please send a letter to your Representative and Senator to urge them to protect Rhode Islanders now by making the top 1% pay their fair share in taxes!"
The FY 2026 amended state budget has passed out of the House Finance Committee and is headed to the House floor for consideration. Speaker Joseph Shekarchi, along with his leadership team and the House Finance Committee, released and presented the amended budget proposal last week.
The Economic Progress Institute (EPI) applauds the many praiseworthy initiatives in the amended budget proposal, which include:
Increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care providers to address the shortage of primary care providers.
Strengthening hospital and nursing home reimbursement rates.
Extending the Child Care for Child Care Educators program to address childcare shortages.
Providing a 20% rate increase for infants of families participating in the Child Care Assistance Program.
Expanding eligibility for Medicare Savings Programs, which benefits seniors and people with disabilities.
Providing RIPTA with $15 million of the $32 million needed via a 2-cents-per-gallon increase to the gas tax.
Establishing a tax on non-owner occupied second homes (vacation homes) valued at more than one million dollars.
Increasing funding for local governments, including distressed communities.
Despite these laudable initiatives, the amended budget could and should do more to increase tax fairness, help Rhode Island’s low- and moderate-income residents, and better prepare the state for the proposed drastic cuts in federal funding for Medicaid and SNAP. We believe the budget proposal should be amended to include:
Establishing a 3% surtax on the top 1% of tax filers, which will generate an estimated $190 million a year in much-needed new revenue, does not touch the first $625,000 in taxable income and will only affect an estimated 5,700 tax filers.
Fully funding RIPTA with $32 million to prevent service cuts and layoffs.
Strengthening the Rhode Island Works cash assistance benefits to better support children living in deep poverty and restore eligibility for Legal Permanent Residents.
Increasing the state Earned Income Tax Credit and creating a state Child Tax Credit to help working families, reduce child poverty, and be more competitive with Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Increasing funding for multilingual learners and teachers in K-12 schools.
Allocating $1.6 million to prevent ongoing theft of SNAP benefits by converting EBT cards to cards with chip and tap technology that prevent skimming theft.
Allocating funds to replace the more than $750,000 in SNAP benefits that were stolen from Rhode Island beneficiaries since March 2025.
The time to protect Rhode Island by making the top 1% pay their fair share is now. If the federal reconciliation bill is passed this summer, hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding cuts to SNAP and Medicaid programs will be implemented, upon which hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders collectively rely. The proposal to tax the top 1% of tax filers will take two years to fully take effect, with only half the revenue available in the first year. And waiting until the fall to tax the top 1% will further delay implementation, as the Division of Taxation needs time to develop new forms and processes. RI needs to act now, before it is too late.
Although the amended budget is heading to the House floor, there are still opportunities to advocate for a budget that is more equitable and more reflective of Rhode Island’s values of hope, freedom, family, and opportunity for all. Amendments can be presented on the House floor, and even after that, when the budget moves to the Senate.
EPI urges the Rhode Island General Assembly to further amend the budget proposal to include a tax on the top 1% that would raise more than $190 million in much-needed annual revenue. We urge Rhode Islanders to continue making their voices heard.
Send a Letter to Your Legislator!
Let’s keep up the pressure. Please send a letter to your Representative and Senator to urge them to protect Rhode Islanders now by making the top 1% pay their fair share in taxes! Here are the main points:
The Top 1% of Rhode Island tax filers pay only 8.6% of their incomes in state and local taxes, whereas the lowest 20% pay 13.3% of theirs. That’s not only upside down, it’s also wrong.
Why should we continue to prioritize the interests of a few thousand tax filers over the well-being of everyone else, including one million Rhode Islanders?
EPI envisions and fights for a Rhode Island where concrete and consistent investments are made in people. A state where we all have healthcare when we’re sick, a safe place to live, childcare that doesn’t break the bank, nutritious food to eat, and access to opportunity regardless of race, gender, disability, age, or zip code. To learn more about us, visit www.economicprogressri.org.