Gov. Mckee State of the State Address 1/14/2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Governor Daniel J. McKee’s 2025 State of the State Address

As Prepared for Delivery

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, members of the legislature, General Officers, Chief Justice, members of the Judiciary, municipal leaders, and my cabinet – good evening.

Tonight, I want to speak directly with my fellow Rhode Islanders who share a love of our state, a deep pride in our communities, and a passion for making Rhode Island better every single day.

In 2025, I’m asking for your help to accelerate the progress we’ve made together.

I know I talk a lot about teamwork. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever stood here in this chamber without talking about what it means to be a team, and why that matters to the future of our state.

Here’s what else I know: Rhode Island is a team with a story to tell.

It’s a story that’s full of pride, and it’s one we’re continuing to write together every day.

Last year alone, Rhode Island’s labor force reached its highest level on record, and we had more jobs in our state than ever before.

We continued to lead the nation by launching the largest offshore wind procurement in New England history. 

Rhode Island is a top 10 state for children's health[1], college students[2], and our natural environment[3]. We are the third-best state for women’s health and reproductive care[4], and first in the nation for being a safe, welcoming place for our LGBTQ community[5].

As Governor – no matter what happens in Washington – I’m committed to protecting that progress.

As I stand here tonight, I can say with confidence, that the state of our state is full of progress and promise, and because of the work we’ve done together, we are moving in the right direction.

In the year ahead—as one team—we will protect the progress we’ve made and pursue all the promise that lies ahead. 

I want everyone in this great state of ours to see themselves in Rhode Island’s story. No matter who you are, where you live, what you believe, or who you voted for.

And that last piece is important.

We just had a national election, and next week, a new presidential administration will come into office. As Governor, here’s how I see it:

In my office, I have a big round table where I bring people together to meet about the issues impacting our state. There are 10 chairs around the table. If those chairs were filled with Rhode Islanders based on the results of the presidential election, you’d have about six people at that table who are unhappy with the results and four who are pleased.

As Governor, I need everyone at that table to pull up a chair and work with us to accelerate Rhode Island’s progress. Tonight, I’m asking for your help to make that happen.

To accelerate our progress and pursue the promise that lies ahead for Rhode Island, we’re going to need a plan.

Fortunately, we have one, not just for the year ahead, but a plan that takes us through this decade. It’s called Rhode Island 2030.

This plan isn’t just about a single budget or initiative. It’s a record of projects we put in the pipeline and a guide for how we’ll accelerate our progress in years to come. 

We used feedback directly from Rhode Islanders to create this working document, and it continues to evolve as Rhode Island evolves.

Tonight, we’re releasing the latest update of Rhode Island 2030. This plan has helped move our state in the right direction on strengthening education, creating a healthier Rhode Island—especially for our seniors and veterans—building a Rhode to Prosperity with a focus on housing and our economy, and advancing infrastructure and clean energy.

Everyone in the room tonight has this QR code at their seat for them.

Right now, you can go to RI2030.com to read the plan and share your ideas with us.

Having a long-term plan for our state is important, especially now.

Over the next five years, state revenues are expected to grow 2.5 percent each year, thanks to our strategic investments and strong economy. That’s good news.

During the same time, state spending is expected to increase at 3.7 percent per year. That creates a math problem that must be solved.

As we return to a pre-pandemic fiscal environment, we must take steps to right-size government while preserving programs that improve educational outcomes, raise incomes, and make our residents healthier – three pillars in the Rhode Island 2030 plan.

Later this week, I will submit a budget that achieves this balance. My budget will provide a roadmap to close an approximately $250 million deficit without any broad-based tax increases. 

This is the fifth budget I’ll submit without a single broad-based tax increase, and across these five budgets, we delivered over $200 million in tax relief for Rhode Island families and businesses.



This budget will not just protect Rhode Island’s progress it will protect the taxpayers of our state.

It’s the people in Rhode Island who make our story special. 

Tonight, I want to acknowledge someone who has been a big part of Rhode Island’s story for many years – Adjutant General Chris Callahan.

After nearly a decade of leading the Rhode Island National Guard, General Callahan announced his retirement this past year.

General, your steadfast leadership has helped guide our state through many challenges. But the thing that I will remember most about your leadership is that you are always there for the men and women you lead. We are forever grateful for your service to our nation and to the people of Rhode Island. General, we can truly never thank you enough.

We are fortunate to have many leaders in state government who step up when we need them most.

Leaders like DHS Director Kim Brito, HealthSourceRI Director Lindsay Lang, DOA Director Jonathan Womer, and Chief Digital Officer Brian Tardiff.

Together, this team is helping us navigate the data breach that impacted Rhode Island just about a month ago.

Unfortunately, cyberattacks are becoming more and more common across government and the private sector.

Here in Rhode Island, when faced with this challenge, we came together to help people by offering good customer service and connecting residents to their benefits, and that is what we will continue to do.

As far as the data breach goes, we are going to follow the facts and hold the right people accountable.

I want to thank everyone – the community partners, insurance providers, state agency staff and so many others – who helped us with this work.

Over the past four years, we’ve started writing a new story for Rhode Island, and begun flipping the script on old stories that have been told over and over again.

Our economy no longer consistently lags behind our neighbors. In the third quarter of last year, our state's GDP grew by 3.6 percent, outpacing both New England and the U.S. 

After years of being told we couldn’t, Rhode Island is beginning to close the gap with Massachusetts when it comes to education.

Our flagship education initiative – Learn365RI – is driving progress in and out of the classroom. It’s an initiative that seeks to improve math and reading scores and boost student attendance. It’s all about helping your child reach their fullest potential.

Over the past three years, our team of school leaders, teachers, support professionals, and community partners have helped our students reduce the RICAS English Language Arts gap with Massachusetts by 34 percent. In math, we reduced the gap by 18 percent.

That’s progress, but we must accelerate it.

A few months ago, I was in Jamestown at Melrose Elementary School where I met Principal Beth Roman and students Opal and Paul who are here tonight.

Last year, Opal and Paul’s third-grade class achieved 100 percent proficiency in math on the RICAS test – that’s right, 100 percent.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Melrose also had the lowest chronic absenteeism rate of any school in the state.

Let’s give Opal, Paul, Principal Roman, and everyone at Melrose School a big round of applause.

Learn365RI is having an impact, not just in Jamestown, but statewide. Thanks to our nationally recognized Attendance Matters campaign, in one year, Rhode Island achieved over 244,000 fewer student absences and added approximately 1.3 million hours of student learning time.

We have an example here tonight: Ruth, a 4th grader at Asa Messer Elementary School in Providence with perfect attendance and reading and math scores that exceed expectations. She’s here tonight with her principal Cassandra Henderson.



Asa Messer is the only elementary school in the state to go from being a one-star to a three-star school in 2024. I want to thank the teachers, students, families, and staff for your commitment to accelerating that progress.

Providence also celebrated its first Blue Ribbon elementary school in history, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary.

MLK, along with Garvin Memorial Elementary in Cumberland and Sowams Elementary in Barrington, were three of only 356 schools selected for this esteemed award out of more than 115,000 schools nationwide.

MLK Principal Kristin Lussier is in the gallery tonight with Alexis Lamb, leader of the Providence Parent Advisory Council and mother of an MLK student. I want to thank you both for your commitment to our Providence schools.

It’s clear: better attendance means more learning time and more learning time means better student outcomes, helping us close the achievement gap with Massachusetts.

Each day, I track that progress by checking our online Student Attendance Leaderboard[6]. I’m asking families and parents to use that online dashboard to track the progress at their child’s school.

In every home, every day, learning matters. And to make that idea a reality, we partnered with municipal leaders to build community learning centers for students and families across Rhode Island.

These state-of-the-art centers will deliver crucial education, workforce development, and health and wellness resources for Rhode Islanders of all ages.



We put this project into the pipeline about three years ago, and now we have plans in place for more than 80 percent of Rhode Islanders to live within 15 minutes of a community learning center.

In East Providence, Mayor Bob DaSilva and the Town Council are building a new 8,500-square-foot center to support education, job development, and wellness. Construction is set to begin this spring. Mayor, thank you for stepping up to deliver these resources for all the Townies in your community!

We’re not just building learning centers; we’re building new schools too.

The State is in the midst of a historic investment in 21st-century school facilities that will enhance learning across Rhode Island.

Of the $5.2 billion being invested to build 50 new or improved schools across Rhode Island, the state is contributing more than half – nearly $3 billion – to support our municipalities and local taxpayers in this effort.

The budget I’ll submit later this week will increase state aid to local education agencies by approximately $40 million and provide $2.5 million in grants to support out-of-school learning opportunities for all our students.

Our work in education extends beyond pre-K-12 – we’re strengthening our state colleges and universities while also helping get adult learners back on track.

In partnership with President Jack Warner, we extended the Hope Scholarship at Rhode Island College, making higher education more accessible and affordable, and it’s working.

Nearly 640 students have benefitted from the Hope Scholarship including Miguel, who is here with us tonight.

Miguel is a junior double majoring in economics and global studies. He’s a RIC ambassador, RA, and class treasurer. Miguel has a lot on his plate!



He qualified for the State’s Hope Scholarship and he says it’s a game-changer.

Now, Miguel is set to graduate this Spring with a lot less debt. Let’s give him and the Hope Scholarship program a round of applause!

By expanding another great program called Rhode Island Reconnect, our Administration has helped over 3,100 Rhode Islanders return to school or get the job training they need.

Stacy is one of those Rhode Islanders, and she’s here tonight with her daughter. Until last year, Stacy hadn’t been back to school since 1999. She always wanted to finish her degree, but she had other things to think about like paying the bills and getting her kids to school.

But Stacy finally decided to enroll at CCRI and get involved with RI Reconnect. A navigator supported her through her educational journey to ensure that this time, she crosses the finish line and earns her degree.

Stacy says RI Reconnect made her feel like she could accomplish her goals. And now, she’s well on her way to doing just that!

As President John F. Kennedy reminded us: “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.” I believe the same is true for Rhode Island.



We know that putting Rhode Islanders like Miguel and Stacy on a path to a better education increases their future earning power. This is especially important, as one of our top three goals is to raise incomes for every family in Rhode Island.

Raising incomes is our best defense against rising costs and our best offense for growing our economy. That’s why, just under a year ago, we launched an initiative called Rhode to Prosperity that seeks to raise incomes in Rhode Island households.

My team and I traveled throughout the state and met with more than 100 industry and labor leaders, and we heard firsthand about Rhode Island’s workforce needs.

That’s why the budget I will submit this week will call for an investment to create 1,000 new work-based learning opportunities in Rhode Island, and it will call for an enhancement of Real Jobs RI to train an additional 500 Rhode Islanders.

I’ll direct funds to protect crucial high school dual enrollment programs where high school students earn transferable college credits that give them a head start, both academically and financially.

I’ll also propose an innovative career and technical education program at CCRI called Ready to Build. Ready to Build will create a pre-apprenticeship pathway to jobs in the building trades.

Dan Bianco from LIUNA is here in the gallery tonight and he’ll tell you firsthand that building pre-apprenticeship capacity is essential to raising incomes for so many Rhode Islanders.

Together, we’re going to continue putting people to work in good-paying jobs on projects that will pay dividends for decades to come.

Dan, I look forward to working with you, DLT, and CCRI to make Ready to Build a reality!

In addition to improving educational outcomes and raising incomes, one of our top three goals is to build a healthier Rhode Island.

Now before I continue, I want to talk about some recent news. As many of you know, Prospect—the company that owns Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the weekend.

We are in conversations with Prospect and the Centurion Foundation, the nonprofit looking to buy the hospitals. It is our hope that Prospect is able to carve out its Rhode Island facilities from its restructuring plans and get this deal done.

We want Rhode Islanders and hospital staff to know that we are committed to ensuring that the hospitals get new ownership. In the meantime, Prospect does not anticipate any interruptions to patient services or care at their facilities, and that’s reassuring news.

Together, we’ve laid a strong foundation of health and wellness initiatives over the last four years.

In October, we launched a network of eight Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. This health care model increases access to services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. This represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve health outcomes and change our state’s behavioral health system.

This past fall, Education Commissioner Infante-Green and I announced a new partnership with Hazel Health to expand access to comprehensive, virtual mental health services for students. Rhode Island is the first state on the East Coast to launch a statewide telehealth initiative like this.

To date, we’ve engaged over 30 school districts in this important work, and in the next few weeks we expect to have expanded mental health supports for nearly 91,500 students statewide.

Later this week, the budget I’ll submit will continue addressing the national shortage of primary care doctors, including pediatricians, that is impacting Rhode Island.

I'll propose a strategic investment to provide further student loan forgiveness for primary care physicians who commit to staying and working in our state.

In this budget, I’ll once again propose that the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner includes primary care providers in the rate review process.

This is an important step in creating a competitive primary care job market here in Rhode Island, and I’m asking for the General Assembly’s partnership to get it done.

Cathy Schultz, the first Executive Director of my Overdose Task Force, is here in the gallery tonight.

A former outreach worker, certified peer recovery specialist, and statewide Narcan trainer, Cathy has dedicated her life to this work, and like Cathy, I know that even one life lost to an opioid overdose is one too many. 

Our hearts break for each and every person who has lost a loved one to this epidemic. We owe it to Rhode Islanders to do everything possible to prevent additional overdose deaths.

And when it comes to that commitment, Rhode Island is moving in the right direction.

For the first time in five years, Rhode Island saw a decrease in overdose deaths, a decrease of over 7 percent in 2023.

And in the first half of 2024, we saw an 11 percent decrease, compared to the first six months of the prior year. 

I want to take this moment to thank—from the bottom of my heart—the community partners, health care workers and counselors who do this important work every single day.

Thanks to their partnership, we’re making strides in reducing overdose deaths, with a whole-of-government approach that employs strategies like licensing the nation’s first state-authorized harm reduction center that will also provide on-site recovery services, and increasing investments in our behavioral health workforce.

Substance abuse, the shortage of available housing, the need for more job skills training, and mental health issues—these are just some of the contributing factors to Rhode Island’s growing homelessness problem.

Serving Rhode Island’s homeless population and reducing the root causes of homelessness are critical efforts, and we need everyone to pull up a chair and participate: the State, cities and towns, nonprofits, providers, and faith-based organizations across all 39 cities towns.

And I want Rhode Islanders to know that there are so many good people doing this work, a few of them are here tonight:

Michelle, the President and CEO of Crossroads is here in the gallery. Yesterday, I was with Michelle to see the progress at 94 Summer Street, which will be the site of 176 permanent supportive apartments for formerly homeless Rhode Islanders later this year. 

Laura, the Executive Director of House of Hope, is here in the gallery as well. House of Hope is the State’s partner on the pallet shelter pilot program. Last week I was on site with Laura and the general contractor discussing the remaining steps to getting these units open which will add 45 shelter beds to the state’s system year-round.

Like you, I have been frustrated with the length of time it has taken to get the village operational, but we are going to get this project over the finish line without compromising on safety.

We’re also joined today by Russ, the Executive Director of the Warm Center in Westerly. I’ve visited this shelter and seen firsthand the remarkable work Russ and his team do. When a cold snap hits, the Warm Center expands its capacity, serving as a pop-up hub in partnership with the State.

Let’s give a round of applause to them and the work they all represent.

This year, we’re approaching 1,300 shelter beds financed by the state. This is a 60 percent increase from the start of my Administration which is encouraging, especially since there are additional beds run by churches or local nonprofits that we do not finance.

Our Department of Housing will be launching a public dashboard to track the number of available shelter beds across the state. That utilization information will help us make smart decisions about funding in the future.

That’s important because the pandemic-era funding that allowed my Administration to invest more than $75 million into this area is ending.

Everyone in this room knows that the State needs a recurring funding stream for homelessness.

In my budget proposal last year, I tried to get ahead of this problem, but the solution I put forth was not passed.

So just as I did last year, I will once again propose a dedicated funding stream for homelessness in my budget, and, I’ll be proposing a second recurring funding stream to directly support this work.

Together, these two funding streams will bring in an additional $4.4 million in FY26 and $8 million in FY27.    

I am asking the General Assembly to work with my Administration to get these two crucial measures passed. Together, I know that we can address this issue.

Rhode Island is finally making progress on a housing crisis that has been mounting in our state for decades.

Since 2021, we've worked with the General Assembly to make historic investments to boost housing production.

Nearly 6,500 housing units have been completed, preserved, or in the pipeline thanks to support from state programs and federal resources. This number represents just one piece of the housing production activity happening in Rhode Island.

A few months ago, I was in Portsmouth, attending the groundbreaking for a 54-unit affordable housing development for residents age 55 and up.

The Town of Portsmouth provided the land for this project at no cost to the developer through a 99-year lease. This strategic partnership helped significantly lower costs.

I want to recognize Portsmouth Town Administrator Richard Rainer and developer Christian Belden from the Church Community Housing Corporation—both of whom are here tonight—for this innovative partnership that the state was proud to invest in.

Now just imagine if all 39 communities across our state started to replicate what’s happening in Portsmouth.

In Pawtucket, another innovative development is underway. Mayor Grebien is here tonight along with Lee Peyser, the developer behind Dexter Street Commons.

Dexter Street Commons will be a mixed-use development in Pawtucket that will deliver 150 energy-efficient housing units and over 6,000 square feet of vibrant commercial space, all within walking distance of our new commuter rail station and bus hub.

Housing is being built in every corner of our state. Thanks to the voters passing our historic $120 million housing bond last year, we will continue to address this issue with courageous impatience.



And with $20 million of that bond dedicated to homeownership, we’ll continue to invest in housing to help families across Rhode Island build generational wealth.

Because we know that, on average, the median homeowner has a net worth of around $400,000, compared to just $10,000 for the median renter[7]. That’s why home ownership is still the American Dream. We want to make that dream reachable for more Rhode Islanders, with a focus on first time homebuyers.

There’s no question that housing is directly linked to economic wellbeing.

Rhode Island is also beginning to flip the script on the strength of our economy. After years of being the underdog, our state is now becoming a place of innovation and opportunity—and this is a point we’re emphasizing in our ongoing talks with Hasbro.

Rhode Island is attracting and fostering the expansion of companies in emerging industries like the blue economy, life science, and artificial intelligence.

Take Regent Craft for example. Located in Quonset, Regent manufactures all-electric, passenger vehicles that glide above the ocean, a new approach to coastal transportation.

Billy, the company’s founder, is here tonight and he has a great story to tell.

When I first learned about Regent, I did a little research into why they wanted to make Rhode Island their home. I’m going to borrow their words for this one.

They said: “The state offers best-in-nation coastal testing environments, maritime composites expertise, and access to top talent. Rhode Island has the potential to become the epicenter of the blue economy.”

Billy, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

And in 2024, Regent announced that they’re expanding their manufacturing right here in Rhode Island, creating over 300 jobs.

And Regent isn’t the only economic success story to tell.

Joe Brito is here tonight. Joe is a Bristol resident who took on the major task of transforming a rundown, abandoned mill into an economic driver for his community.

Thanks to Joe, Rhode Island Commerce and Bristol Town Administrator Steve Contente, Unity Park is now a vibrant community space that has restaurants, shops and a growing hub for blue economy businesses.

A $8.9 million project will soon transform over 45,000 square feet at Unity Park into a manufacturing, office, and warehouse space specifically to support the growth of blue economy companies.

I like Joe’s story because it reminds me of all the people who take great pride in our state and do everything they can to make it better.

The cornerstone tenant of the new blue economy hub at Unity Park will be Saab, a company in Cranston that manufactures self-driving undersea vehicles.

Saab recently announced their expansion, which will create nearly 50 new jobs with competitive salaries in Bristol. Erik, the President and CEO of Saab, is here with us tonight. Erik is a Roger Williams grad, by the way. I want to thank Erik and Joe for their commitment to Rhode Island. 

These stories underscore Rhode Island’s commitment to fostering innovation and creating good-paying jobs.

Rhode Island is also positioning ourselves as a national leader in life sciences, thanks to the progress of our Rhode Island Life Science Hub, a project we put into the pipeline about two years ago.

Our Life Science Hub just celebrated a major success story when it finalized an historic agreement to launch Ocean State Labs, a cutting-edge biotech incubator. Ocean State Labs will be one of the tenants in our new 200,000-square-foot life science complex along with Brown University and our new State Health Lab.

Ocean State Labs and all the work happening at our Life Science Hub will spark innovation, promote economic growth, and build on Rhode Island’s progress in this emerging sector.

You’ll never hear me talk about Rhode Island’s economy without talking about our airport—it's ranked one of the best in the world[8].

This past year, Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport had its own significant success story.

Breeze Airways announced a big expansion in our state, making Rhode Island their largest base of operations. They’ll be growing to 35 routes, creating 400 jobs, and supporting nearly 1 million passengers every year.

Rhode Island is also proud of the progress being we’ve made through our signature Minority Business Accelerator Program.

We’ve supported over 1,000 businesses with accounting and bookkeeping, marketing and communications, IT, and legal services.

In a short time, we’ve certified more than 50 new minority- and women-owned businesses to qualify for state contracts, and we’re distributing $2 million in direct grants to further support these local businesses. 

Earlier I mentioned our Rhode Island 2030 plan and all the projects we’ve put in the pipeline over the last four years to propel our state into the next decade.

One of those projects is RhodeRestore, our state’s first program dedicated to helping cities and towns repair and repave local roads.

As a former Mayor, I know all too well that 80 percent of the roads in our state are maintained not at the state level, but at the local level. Yet for far too long, cities and towns didn’t have enough support from the State to maintain them.

Two years ago, we flipped the script on that.

Through RhodeRestore, my Administration and this General Assembly are supporting 1,000 projects, improving 686 lane miles of road and 25 miles of sidewalk, and with municipalities matching every dollar the state invests in this program with two dollars of their own, we’ve created a collaborative approach to improving local infrastructure that has resulted in over $100 million in local upgrades so far.

Right now, you can go online to our RhodeRestore dashboard[9] to see this work happening in your community.

In Woonsocket, Mayor Beauchamp is upgrading Highland Corporate Park to attract new businesses.

In Warwick, Mayor Picozzi completely repaved Jefferson Boulevard, the City’s longest local road.

And in East Greenwich, Town Manager Andy Note-uh repaved the well-traveled Middle Road.

Each year, this program has resulted in critical road improvements across all 39 cities and towns.

Now, let’s protect that progress. The budget I’ll submit this week will continue RhodeRestore next year, and provide a sustainable funding source to make this program permanent

While we’re talking about infrastructure and the progress Rhode Island has made, I want to take a moment to talk to you about the Washington Bridge.

As Governor, I inherited a bridge that was in the midst of being repaired – even though it turned out that it was not repairable. That’s frustrating for all of us.

Since March 14 when I determined the bridge must be rebuilt, we've made progress toward ensuring Rhode Islanders will have a new bridge that has a state-of-the-art design and improved traffic flow. And it will be a bridge that outlasts our lifetimes and keep people safe.

There’s a lot of good news happening on that front. We’ve worked with our congressional delegation to secure over $220 million in federal grants as part of a proactive funding strategy. Demolition of the old bridge’s superstructure is on track and nearing 75 percent completion.

Two nationally renowned construction companies are competing for the contract to rebuild the bridge, and we’ve initiated a lawsuit to pursue accountability on behalf of Rhode Island taxpayers.

Now, there have certainly been challenges along the way. I thank Rhode Islanders for your patience and your resilience as we worked through those challenges.

But today, I can say with confidence that we are now on the right path to deliver a new bridge for our state, and there’s more good infrastructure news from all corners of the state.

Last year, the Department of Transportation secured a $251-million federal grant to take on the largest bridge project in Rhode Island history. These 15 bridges run between Providence and Warwick on I-95 – a critical corridor that carries nearly 185,000 vehicles daily.

More good news: we repaved 295 for the first time in about 20 years, and we did a major repaving of Route 4 and Route 2. 

We will soon begin building ramps between I-95 and Route 4 to create direct freeway access and better serve the Quonset Business Park.

And as a result of this work, Rhode Island has advanced 12 spots in a national infrastructure ranking last year. If we stay committed to this work, our progress will accelerate.

And speaking of flipping the script, I think we all remember hearing the story of how professional soccer would never work in Rhode Island. No one cares about soccer, they said. It will never be a success, they said.

Well, we are making professional soccer work in Rhode Island. In fact, we’re making it “All That."

Tonight, we’re joined by Rhode Island Football Club Coach Khano Smith, who led the team to win the Eastern Conference Championship. They are the only team in the league to ever make it to the championship in their first season[10]. That’s a big deal. 

Coach, I can tell you it was pretty powerful to see Rhode Island playing in a nationally televised game. Thank you for making us all proud.

Tidewater Stadium is a project that we officially put into the pipeline about three years ago. Now the seats are installed, the turf has been laid, and we’re gearing up for the first game at the new stadium on May 3. I hope to see you all there to support Rhode Island’s team.

Rhode Island Football Club and Tidewater are about more than sports. They are about investing in the City of Pawtucket, building community, and sparking economic activity in a city with unlimited potential.

We had some other big sports wins last year.

University of Rhode Island football coach Jim Fleming is here tonight. Coach Fleming led the Rams to win the most games in a single season in the history of URI football[11], and they made the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

And by the way, it’s pretty great that URI—our flagship state University—was ranked the best in New England by the Wall Street Journal. A big shoutout to President Marc Parlange and the URI board for driving that progress!

And we have members of the Cranston Western Little League softball team here. They represented Rhode Island in the Little League Softball World Series last season. The coach is here tonight with a couple of his players, his daughter Isabella, and her teammate Laila. Congratulations to the entire team. Rhode Island is proud of you. 

Also in the house tonight are the First Lady and our daughter Kara. Hi Susan! Hi Kara!

As a former reading teacher and someone who has a lot of pride in our beautiful state, Susan has made litter and literacy her top priorities as First Lady.

Through her signature initiative, Litter-Free Rhode Island, nearly 1 million gallons of litter have been removed from state roads since 2024 thanks to the dedicated team at the Department of Transportation.

Tonight, we’re joined in the gallery by a couple of members of that team: Kevin and Heidi. They’re part of our enhanced groundskeeping crew.

You can track the crew’s progress on our official online Trashboard[12] which shows how much litter we’ve taken off the streets.

In partnership with DEM, we’ve also given out over $60,000 in micro-grants to jumpstart community cleanups across our state. These local cleanups are done entirely by volunteers and have resulted in an additional 6,600 bags of trash picked up.



And even our DMV has been part of the litter-free effort!

So help us all out! Visit LitterFree.RI.Gov to take our Litter-Free Rhode Island pledge.

I want to close on a very important topic.

Nearly 50,000 lives lost to gun violence in America each year [13]. Gun safety is a crucial public health issue impacting every single state.

Over the last four years, Rhode Island made important progress in addressing this issue head on.

We’re grateful for the partnership of organizations like Moms Demand Action, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, and Everytown. Some of them are here in the gallery with us tonight.

Together with the gun safety champions in this General Assembly, we passed the safe storage law, banned high-capacity magazines, raised the age to buy guns to 21, and prohibited the open carry of rifles and shotguns. That’s real progress, but it is not enough.

Year after year, I’ve stood here and asked the General Assembly to send an assault weapons ban to my desk.

This year, I’m sending a budget to the General Assembly that—for the first time—will include a ban on assault weapons. Let’s finally get this done!

Rhode Island is a team with a story to tell. Everyone in this room and everyone watching at home, you’re all part of this story.

Tonight, I am asking everyone who loves our state and who shares a deep sense of pride in Rhode Island to pull up a chair and work with me to help accelerate the progress we’ve made in the last four years.

If you do, I know that the chapter we’re writing together now will be Rhode Island’s best one yet.



Let’s get to work. Thank you!

[1] McCann, Adam. “Best & Worst States for Children’s Health Care (2025).” WalletHub, n.d. https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-child-health/34455.

[2] Powers, Luke. “Best States for College Students in 2025.” SmileHub, n.d. https://smilehub.org/blog/best-states-for-college-students/222.

[3] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/natural-environment

[4] Collins, Sara R., David C. Radley, Shreya Roy, Laurie C. Zephyrin, and Arnav Shah. “2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care.” commonwealthfund.org, July 18, 2024. Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/scorecard/2024/jul/2024-state-scorecard-womens-health-and-reproductive-care.

[5] Gabriele, Rob. “2024 LGBTQ+ State Safety Report Cards.” SafeHome.org, November 20, 2024. https://www.safehome.org/data-lgbtq-state-safety-rankings/.

[6] https://www3.ride.ri.gov/attendance/public

[7] Delouya, Samantha. “The Median Renter in America Has a Net Worth of $10,400. The Median Homeowner’s Net Worth Is $400,000.” CNN, December 16, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/economy/renter-homeowner-net-worth-gap/index.html.

[8] Waldek, Stefanie. “These Are the Best U.S. Airports in 2024, According to T+L Readers.” Travel + Leisure, July 9, 2024. https://www.travelandleisure.com/wba-2024-united-states-airports-8659765.

[9] https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/19c5827935ec4fbaa5afbfeeff34c323

[10] Murray, Nicholas - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com. “Rhode Island Earns Eastern Conference Title With Win in Charleston.” USL Championship, November 17, 2024. https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1323963.

[11] University of Rhode Island. “CHAMPIONS! Rhode Island Wins CAA Football Title.” University of Rhode Island, November 24, 2024. https://gorhody.com/news/2024/11/23/champions-rhode-island-wins-caa-football-title.aspx.

[12] https://litterfree.ri.gov/trashboard

[13] Center for Gun Violence Solutions. “Continuing Trends: Five Key Takeaways From 2023 CDC Provisional Gun Violence Data,” September 12, 2024. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-gun-violence-solutions/2024/continuing-trends-five-key-takeaways-from-2023-cdc-provisional-gun-violence-data#:~:text=1.,violence%20in%20a%20single%20year.