For Gov. Daniel J. McKee, it’s game day.
Expect at least a few sports metaphors in McKee’s 2026 State of the State address, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Rhode Island Statehouse. The annual event sets the tone for the policy and funding debates that will play out over the rest of the six-month legislative session.
When Your Period Is Disrupting Your Life, It’s Time to Talk About It
For many women, heavy or irregular menstrual cycles are often brushed off as “normal”—something to…
Learn More
For McKee, this year is all about affordability, with an emphasis on proposals that “put money back in Rhode Islanders’ pockets,” Laura Hart, a spokesperson for McKee, said in an email Monday.
Keep an ear out for tax relief and measures to lower energy bills and health insurance costs, per Hart. A lineup of not-yet-announced special guests will help give human examples of the necessity of McKee’s priorities.
But the broad brush outline won’t delve into the weeds; despite signaling the likelihood of a new tax on top earners in a Boston Globe interview, for example, McKee’s speech is not expected to mention a millionaire’s tax by name or in description, Hart said.
Those details will come Thursday, when the governor unveils a proposed fiscal 2027 budget. Also awaiting clarification: how McKee plans to make up the funding loss from a proposed end to income taxes on Social Security benefits, keep the beleaguered R.I. Public Transit Authority afloat, and make good on promises to address rising winter electric bills.
Until then, it’s McKee’s moment to take a lap. His speech in the House of Representatives chamber will highlight state investments in the economy, housing, life sciences and marine defense, Hart said.
Like last year, protestors are scheduled to gather a floor below McKee for a “People’s State of the State” rally. And this time, there will be almost-full public access, except for a small area near the stairway to the chambers where McKee will deliver his speech. That plan came from an agreement in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island after access issues during McKee’s 2025 State of the State.
Demonstrators arriving at the Statehouse for a scheduled event before the Jan. 14, 2025, speech were unexpectedly blocked from accessing the State House rotunda, which had been reserved by the administration even though it was not where McKee’s speech was taking place.
Another source of 2025 criticism: the administration’s decision not to let TV camera crews into the chamber where McKee delivered his speech. The seemingly unprecedented media restriction of 2025 has been reversed. This year, there is a collective arrangement among TV networks for WPRI-TV 12 to record and supply live video to all, Hart said. The event will also be televised and livestreamed on Capitol TV.
While it appears McKee has fought off another round of access issues this year, he’s still facing scrutiny, including from his 2026 Democratic gubernatorial primary opponent, Helena Buonanno Foulkes. Even when praising McKee’s vague announcement to restore funding for RIPTA, which is facing a projected $14 million deficit in fiscal 2027, Foulkes took a jab.
“Last budget, Governor McKee made the choice to cut RIPTA’s funding – a decision that led to routes being eliminated and unreliable service for Rhode Islanders who rely on public transportation in their daily lives,” Foulkes said in a Jan. 9 statement. “Now, as he faces dismal approval ratings and election season, the Governor is claiming to ‘restore’ the very cuts he made only months ago. I’m relieved that the Governor has finally recognized the value of investing in public transportation and is doing the right thing by reversing a bad policy decision.”
Foulkes, meanwhile, has been promoting her own 2026 priority agenda, including accountability in the Washington Bridge crisis, returning Providence and Central Falls Public Schools to local control, and ending “pay-to-play politics.” On Monday, she offered more detail on the final of those points, calling for a state policy change that prevents lobbyists from donating to state general officers and lawmakers during the legislative session.
McKee’s office did not immediately return requests for comment on Foulkes’ statements Monday.
House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale , a Foster Republican, will deliver a response on behalf of Rhode Island Republicans immediately following McKee’s address. His response will also be televised and livestreamed on Capitol TV.
Nancy Lavin is a senior staff writer for the Rhode Island Current.
