Compared to last year, the $101 million fiscal 2027 shortfall facing state lawmakers as they return to work this month may be cause for some relief but not celebration.
Gov. Daniel J. McKee and the General Assembly last year managed to work through a projected $330 million deficit.
This year’s challenge has not elicited the same dire warnings from legislative leaders but any deficit, after years of pandemic-fueled surplus spending, means cuts are on the table in all areas of the budget.
And as this week’s cover story reports, what’s expected to be a hotly contested gubernatorial race and continued uncertainty over federal spending could raise the budget stakes, as candidates pitch competing spending proposals to woo voters.
Issues lawmakers are sure to tackle include housing and health care. On the former, House Speaker K. Joseph Sheharchi remains a staunch advocate for affordable housing. But the lack of housing remains a crisis despite heavy state investments since 2021.
Lawmakers may look this year toward zoning changes and other housing initiatives that don’t require significant state spending.
Election-year pressures will make it hard for state leaders to ignore persistent calls for health care reform. And the access and affordability crisis will get exponentially worse if a potential buyer for two financially ailing hospitals can’t close the deal by the end of this month, leading to possible closure or even a state takeover.
Giving Rhode Island hospital leaders a seat at the negotiating table would be a good step toward meaningful statewide system reforms.
The present hospital crisis, i.e., the impending closures of St. Joseph and Roger Williams hospitals, is a direct result of “for profit” hospital systems investing not in healthcare, but the (potential) assets of the hospitals. They have “absorbed” the endowments, cut staff, and neglected the infrastructure while only concerned with immediate profits.
The closure of these hospitals would cause immediate harm to the remaining hospitals in the state, leave thousands of health care professionals without jobs, and jeopardize the health of all who utilize these facilities. The governor should declare a health care crisis and facilitate a takeover of these hospitals by Brown and/or Care NE as soon as possible.
Ernest A. Balasco, MSW
Healthcare Consultant