
Rhode Island GO bond offering has begun
Rhode Island is poised to offer anyone who invests competitive returns while ensuring that we have the resources necessary to make major investments in education, infrastructure, and environmental projects. These funds will support major public investments in infrastructure, education, clean energy, and housing.
Advertisement
While these bonds have always been popular with institutional investors, they're also open to individuals and I believe more Rhode Islanders should take advantage of them. When residents invest, it sends the message that our state belongs to all of us.
When you buy these bonds, you're not just investing your own financial portfolio, you're investing in the roads you drive on, the schools your children attend, and the climate-resilient projects that will protect our shoreline. You're doing so through a low-risk vehicle that has a track record of delivering steady returns.
The State of Rhode Island's next GO bond offering begins June 9. You can learn more about these bonds, the terms, and more at
James Diossa is the Rhode Island General Treasurer.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Boston Globe
7 days ago
- Boston Globe
A way forward as new federal law slashes aid to Rhode Islanders
Food insecurity will also worsen. More than 144,000 Rhode Islanders rely on SNAP and about 22,000 of them may lose some of their benefits. Congress has also shifted more of the burden of funding Medicaid and SNAP to states. For the first time, our state will be expected to shoulder 15 percent of SNAP benefits, at a cost of $51.8 million per year, plus an additional $15.8 million annually in administrative costs previously covered by federal dollars. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up However, all is not lost. There is a Rhode Forward, if we are willing to act boldly. Advertisement Information is power: We must urgently understand what is in this law and how its provisions will impact health care, food security, education, and our state budget. We need clear, timely analysis and a coordinated statewide response to prepare for the timeline of these cuts. Build a Rhode Island solution together: We need collective, strategic action that includes community leaders, policy experts, philanthropists, state agencies, and lawmakers. We must protect essential services while building an economy that sustains us all. Advance tax justice: The new federal law exposes the injustice in our tax system. While essential services are being cut, tax breaks for the wealthy that began in 2017 have been extended and will continue immediately in 2026. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Rhode Island's top 1 percent will receive $354 million in total tax cuts, an average of $58,840 per filer. That is far more than they would have paid under the Rhode Island's tax policy must counter this by finally creating a fair tax structure. Most Rhode Islanders agree that the wealthy must do their part and pay their Advertisement Call a special fall legislative session: Thanks to the foresight of the Senate and House leadership, the 2025 legislative session remains in recess, which allows for the opportunity of a special fall session. We urge leadership to reconvene to fully review and proactively plan against the harms of the reconciliation law and pass the Top 1 percent bill, which would raise $190 million annually, with $95 million available in FY 2026. We propose allocating this revenue to: Add funds to the Supplemental Rainy Day Fund, moving us closer to 10% or more of General Revenue, like most New England states. Fully fund RIPTA, strengthening our economy and reducing barriers to employment. Provide a cost-of-living increase for Rhode Island Works, the state's cash assistance and workforce development program for the poorest Rhode Islanders. Fund enhanced premium tax credits or alternatively, use contributions from all commercial insurance, including large employer plans. While some of these cuts won't go into effect immediately, we cannot afford to wait until benefits are lost or our state budget is facing worse deficits. Lawmakers must act now. We need to be ahead of the crisis. We must treat this moment with the urgency it deserves and prepare today for what is coming our way. Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies, Esq., is the executive director of the Economic Progress Institute.


Boston Globe
01-07-2025
- Boston Globe
URI's historic Alton Jones campus to reopen to the public
Since 1962, when Jones' wife, Nettie Marie Jones, donated the property to the university after her husband's death, the forest has been an asset for the university's research and education efforts. Advertisement Now, a new chapter is being written: URI will reopen the campus to the public for the first time since 2020, under an agreement with the Department of Environmental Management that allows the state agency to use the site for educational opportunities, programs, camps, and other activities. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The university's Board of Trustees approved the plan on Friday, after reaching the 10-year agreement with DEM, according to a Gray on Monday acknowledged the arrangement is atypical for the state agency, and there's a reason for that: 'It's a really unique piece of property,' he said. 'You could probably hear in my voice, I'm super excited about this,' Gray said in an interview. 'It's a huge opportunity.' Advertisement Under the agreement, DEM will invest in important infrastructure and handle day-to-day maintenance, and will protect natural resources on the campus, including forest and dam management. In return, DEM may use the property for 'administrative functions, educational programming, programs and camps, agricultural activities, veterinary care and animal rehabilitation, wildlife and ecological research, and expanded public access,' URI said. The university, meanwhile, will still use the campus for education and research. The Whispering Pines Conference Center is not part of the agreement, as it is 'reserved for use by URI or a third party,' university officials said. 'The W. Alton Jones Campus is a vital natural resource that holds significant value not just for URI, but for our state and for communities across Rhode Island,' URI President Marc Parlange said in a statement. 'This partnership reflects our dedication to revitalizing the campus, while preserving its ecological and educational value for all Rhode Islanders.' In an email to the Globe, Dawn Bergantino, a university spokesperson, wrote the campus will reopen to the public 'as soon as feasible,' noting that 'to ensure safe public access, RIDEM will first complete necessary maintenance and forest management work.' According to Gray, DEM has to modernize space on the campus for its staff, and complete some plumbing and electrical work. The agency also has to complete a forest management plan, which will range from forest fire prevention and preparedness to identifying critical habitat areas on the property, he said. Rhode Islanders will have a chance to return beginning sometime this fall, he said. Public access to the campus came to a halt five years ago amid significant costs of forest- and natural-resource management and facility maintenance, although URI faculty and students have continued to conduct research there, according to school officials. The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated financial challenges. Advertisement Abby Benson, vice president for administration and finance at URI, said in a statement the university always intended to reopen the site to the public. 'It was important to us to find a financially viable solution to restore public access to the property in a manner that supports our mission as a land-grant institution and preserves ongoing research and educational uses,' Benson said. In November, URI initiated a request for information to find potential future uses for the space, including seeking partners who could 'manage and revitalize the property,' while still allowing for continued research and education there. The campus is primarily wooded, but has three developed areas, which include the Environmental Education Center, Whispering Pines Conference Center, and a farm, according to Gray. DEM has several visions for what it will eventually offer the public at the site, from courses to hiking and fishing, he said. The department, for instance, already provides training for hunting and fishing, but those programs haven't been offered in 'really ideal locations,' he said. 'This is a much… more accessible place,' Gray said. 'It's a huge upgrade in terms of our delivery of those courses and it'll allow us to work with a lot of the other entities in Rhode Island that also offer environmental camps and education programs for youth.' DEM will also probably put out a request for proposals to find a farmer to once again manage the farm on the campus, he said. 'The other thing is, part of DEM's operation is we have the state veterinarian. So every once in a while, we have an opportunity or an obligation to house animals, and it might be a rescue situation, it might be a quarantine situation – that kind of thing,' Gray said. 'And right now we don't have any place to do that, so this would give us a place to do that.' Advertisement The department may also partner with wildlife rehabilitators as it moves forward with its plans for the site, Gray said. 'It's a perfect place for it,' he said. Christopher Gavin can be reached at


Boston Globe
26-06-2025
- Boston Globe
R.I. Governor McKee's uphill battle criticizing the Assembly's $14.3b budget
My colleagues Ed Fitzpatrick and Steph Machado did a great job It's a reasonable gripe from McKee, and it's probably shared by a lot of Rhode Islanders. McKee wrote in a letter that if he had a line-item veto, he'd have reversed increases in the gas tax and the real estate conveyance tax, along with a new sales tax on parking and increases in traffic fines. He also fears that a new fee on health insurers will be passed on to families. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The trouble is that McKee isn't offering a real solution. Advertisement Not signing the budget but letting it pass is the political equivalent of calling into talk radio to rant about taxes: loud, cathartic, and ultimately powerless. It comes across more like a campaign stunt than a credible complaint, especially since House Speaker Joe Shekarchi continues to Then again, McKee had few options in this fight. If he vetoed the budget, there were more than enough votes in the General Assembly to override the veto – which would have reinforced the idea that McKee isn't the one running the show when it comes to the budget. Advertisement If Shekarchi called his bluff and allowed the veto to stand, McKee would have faced criticism from many labor unions he still needs to support him in his reelection bid next year, and he'd be blamed for causing further stress to Rhode Island's fragile health care system. The bigger picture: McKee has a broader problem as he heads into his reelection year in a field that will definitely include Helena Foulkes, and possibly Shekarchi: He can't win a jump ball with anyone on almost any issue. He's had a poor relationship with most of the media since taking office, Mike Raia, who was communications director under former governor Gina Raimondo and now runs the public relations firm Half Street Group, said the key for any governor in managing a fight with the speaker is to 'focus on running government and leveraging the power of having a statewide constituency and a 12-month-a-year job.' Raia has been a vocal critic of McKee, but he helped craft Raimondo's communications strategy when she was butting heads with former speaker Nicholas Mattiello. 'Governors can win public battles with the General Assembly by presenting themselves as an outsider and building a calendar of public events that extends beyond the State House, RIDOT, and Patrick's Pub triangle,' Raia said. Advertisement This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, . Dan McGowan can be reached at