The Economic Progress Institute celebrates 10 wins that promote progress and equity for Rhode Islanders

“I put myself into it to make sure people talked about taxing the rich, and we did. We did it in a big way this year, and we’re not giving up," said Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies. "The year isn’t over yet.”

As the Rhode Island General Assembly concluded its legislative session, the Economic Progress Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to improving the economic wellbeing of low- and modest-income Rhode Islanders, highlighted ten wins at an annual celebration.

10. Protecting Consumers from Medical Debt. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a Protect Our Healthcare Coalition member, championed stronger protections for Rhode Islanders with medical debt. Building upon last year’s victories, legislation was enacted to cap interest on medical debt at 4% and prohibit medical debt from resulting in liens placed on principal residences.

“This is important because medical debt leads to bankruptcy for many people,” noted EPI Executive Director Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies.

9. Staffing & Quality Care Act. The Raise the Bar Coalition, led by SEIU 1199NE, advocated for safer staffing for direct care staff and better care for nursing home patients. The General Assembly allocated $12 million to hire new staff at nursing home facilities that do not yet meet the safe staffing requirement or raise wages and benefits for existing direct-care workers at facilities already in compliance. This ensures that nursing homes have the tools and accountability to deliver safe, dignified care and recruit and retain quality direct care staff.

8. Enhancing healthcare coverage for Rhode Islanders. The General Assembly and the enacted budget together improved healthcare coverage for Rhode Islanders in four distinct ways:

• Removing Prior Authorization Requirements. The Protect Our Healthcare Coalition, co-led by EPI and RIPIN, advocated easing the burden on primary care by removing prior authorization requirements. Enacted legislation established a three-year pilot program prohibiting insurers from requiring prior authorization for services ordered by primary care providers and for in-network outpatient behavioral health services.

• Sustaining Psychiatry Teleconsultation Programs that Support Healthcare Professionals. The Right from the Start Campaign and the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition advocated to maintain funding for the Psychiatry Resource Network (PRN) programs that connect providers with psychiatric consultants to support better patient care. The General Assembly allocated $750,000 of state funds to sustain MomsPRN. PediPRN will also continue through existing federal grant funds. These programs support healthcare professionals through clinical consultations or referral services related to mental health for children and pregnant and postpartum Rhode Islanders.

• Expanding Eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program. The Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island championed expansions to the Medicare Savings Program alongside the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition. The enacted budget adds $7.1 million, including $0.7 million from general revenues, to expand the Medicare Savings Program. This expansion increases eligibility to 125% of the Federal Poverty Level for the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary group and up to 168% for the Qualified Individuals group.

• Increasing Primary Care Reimbursement Rates. The Rhode Island Medical Society championed increasing funding for primary care providers, alongside the Protect Our Healthcare Coalition and the Right from the Start Campaign. The enacted budget includes $8.3 million from general revenue and $26.4 million from all funds to increase Medicaid primary care reimbursement rates to match Medicare rates.

“House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi made a statement when he passed the budget that healthcare was a priority for this General Assembly, and many people worked to ensure Rhode Island becomes a healthier and more vibrant state,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “These wins are a testament to that.”

7. Raising Revenue Equitably to Support Low-Income Housing. The enacted budget established a new property tax on expensive homes, not primary residences. Only the value above $1 million will be taxed, and most owners have their primary residences outside Rhode Island. The revenue will support the development of low-income housing.

“This was important because it will raise revenue to help with low-income housing,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “One of the priorities of EPI is to ensure we had a budget that was raising revenues, and this was one of the revenue-raising proposals Speaker Shekarchi made happen.”

6. RI invests in RIPTA and preserves the Ride Anywhere Program. The Save RIPTA coalition advocated maintaining Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) services with new revenue streams. The enacted budget includes $15 million in new, sustainable funding for RIPTA, $9 million from a 2-cent gas tax increase, and $6 million from the highway maintenance fund. The state has also committed to preserving the Ride Anywhere paratransit pilot.

While these are major wins, RIPTA still faces a $17.6 million budget gар.

“The Save RIPTA coalition advocated for $32.6 million and received $15 million. They were fighting in the Senate until Friday to get that raised,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “Today we’re celebrating, but tomorrow I encourage you to fight to save RIPTA because public transportation is important to our state and workers.”

5. Supporting Child Care Providers and Working Families. The Right from the Start Campaign advocated advancing state policies for Rhode Island’s young children and their families. The General Assembly passed significant wins for families and the child care workforce: a 20% increase in infant reimbursement for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) and a three-year extension of the Child Care for Child Care Educators pilot, providing free child care for eligible providers through July 2028.

“If you work in the childcare industry, you deserve to have childcare provided so you can help us take care of our children,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies.

4. Raising the Minimum Wage. The Rhode Island Workforce Alliance, co-led by EPI and United Way of Rhode Island, advocated for a living wage for all Rhode Islanders. Rhode Island’s minimum wage, currently $15 per hour, will increase to $16 per hour in 2026 and $17 per hour in 2027. While still below the living wage needed to meet basic needs, this step helps keep working families from falling further behind.

“That’s a huge win for families because right now, people need all the income they can get,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies.

3. Further Expansions to Temporary Disability Insurance and Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TDI/TCI). The Rhode Island Paid Family Leave Coalition advocated for strengthening Rhode Island’s TCI program. To better meet the needs of the state’s working families, the General Assembly voted to increase the wage replacement rate to 75% by 2028, expand the taxable wage base to $100,000, and expand the family definition of eligible caregivers to include siblings.

“People may not know Rhode Island was one of the first states to pass a paid leave program, and for over 10 years, we were stuck on six weeks, and people could only get 6% of their salary when they took leave,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “Last year, for the first time in those 10 years, paid leave was extended from six to eight weeks, and this year we went back to fight for wages, saying that people needed more of their salary to care for their families. And we got it this year.”

2. Building Wealth with Baby Bonds. Following Treasurer James Diossa’s lead, the Raising Rhode Island Coalition, co-led by EPI and Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, advocated for establishing baby bonds for children born into deep poverty. The General Assembly created a legal framework to provide every child born on the RI Works Program with a $3,000 investment. At age 18, each child will have access to approximately $12,000 to invest in education, retirement savings, homeownership, or starting a business in Rhode Island.

“This baby bond proposal was about dreaming for what is possible,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “It was about building generational wealth and saying, even if you’re born in poverty, that does not have to be your destiny.”

1. Ending Predatory Payday Lending. After a 15-year campaign on the part of many advocates, including the Rhode Island Coalition for Predatory Lending Reform, co-led by EPI and Margaux Morriseau, the General Assembly repealed the special carve-out that allowed payday lenders to charge up to 260% APR. Starting in 2027, storefront payday lenders will no longer be exempt from the rules governing other lenders, which will protect vulnerable Rhode Islanders from falling into cycles of debt.

“It took 15 years to make this happen,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies.

Bonus win:

Building Strong Momentum to Raise Revenue and for a Fairer Tax Code. The campaign to establish a 3% tax on income above the Top 1% threshold gained serious traction this year, propelled by the Revenue for Rhode Islanders Coalition. Though not included in the current enacted budget, the proposal sparked fierce opposition from those protecting wealthy interests and put tax fairness at the forefront as a crucial policy priority. With looming federal cuts to food and Medicaid assistance and the need to prevent cuts in funding critical services like public transit, child care, cash assistance, and more, this change to our state tax code remains a critical tool to raise revenue. The Revenue for Rhode Islanders Coalition will be ready if the General Assembly reconvenes in the fall.

“This bonus win is special for me,” said Executive Director Nelson-Davies. “I put myself into it to make sure people talked about taxing the rich, and we did. We did it in a big way this year, and we’re not giving up. The year isn’t over yet.”

Executive Director Nelson-Davies continued:

“We introduce this bill every year, but this year we started in January and said, ‘We’re going to bring the fire.’ We went hard this year because it was important to push back on misinformation.

“One of the things that bothered me was that we needed to do right by all Rhode Islanders, and we needed to say the truth about our work. Sometimes we don’t win because people don’t show up. We have good people who care about these issues, but we don’t show up. Our goal this year was to show up, explain why this is important, talk about our fears, talk about why we need more money in our state, and invest that in the right way.

“RIPTA was one of our big things - we need public transportation in our state. We need to invest in childcare. We need to invest in our elderly population, and we need to do that by making sure our tax code is fair and equitable.”