Government

Climate Programs Survive Unscathed in Gov. McKee’s Budget Proposal, for Now

Share

PROVIDENCE — Many of the state’s climate and environmental programs are avoiding the chopping block — for now.

That’s the main takeaway from Gov. Dan McKee’s $14.2 billion spending plan released on Thursday. In the months leading up to its release, state budget officials have been keen to stress the years of post-pandemic plenty were over; all of the federal money received as part of the COVID-19 relief bills has been spent or obligated.

Coming into 2025, budget officials estimate the state’s budget deficit to be around $223.2 million, and the chief aim of the governor’s proposal is to present a balanced budget.

“We were trying to offset an over $200 million deficit,” said Jonathan Wormer, director of the state Department of Administration. “It forces us to take a hard look at our recurring expenses in this year and for future years.”

Budget officials said the governor’s proposal closed the deficit while charging no new broad-based taxes, or adding excessive government spending. Agencies like the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the state Coastal Resources Management Council are broadly level-funded, and level-staffed.

Despite the lack of aggressive new spending that’s marked the governor’s budget proposals in recent years, there’s still a couple of key highlights.

The state Office of Energy Resources (OER), which has functioned and lived under the auspices of the Department of Administration, will be spun off into a stand-alone agency. The office, which manages many of the programs and incentives for Rhode Island’s renewable energy transition, will have its staffing cap bumped up to 20, and a total recommended budget of $76.8 million, much of it derived from federal funds.

The new jobs in OER include two spots for administering federal funds, one spot for an agency attorney, and a specified role to run the energy benchmarking program for state facilities.

In the past, OER has administered the electric vehicle infrastructure charging program, which installs charging stations for EVs across the state, leads the state’s lead-by-example programs, and manages a suite of incentives for e-bike, EV and heat pump customers.

The governor is also proposing new taxes for owners of electric vehicles. Reflecting an anticipated drop in the gas tax, whose proceeds are used to fund road construction and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), McKee’s budget would charge battery electric vehicle owners $300 every two years, and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners $150 to “maintain transportation infrastructure and support the Rhode Restore initiative.”

RhodeRestore, a state program launched with federal pandemic dollars during McKee’s tenure as governor, focuses on awarding grants to local municipalities for road and sidewalk repairs. None of the proceeds from the EV taxes are expected to be shared with RIPTA, which has a $32.6 million deficit in McKee’s proposal.

Also included in the governor’s budget is a second pitch at using the old Citizens Bank office building in East Providence for state office space. The 210,000-square-foot building is now proposed to be the new home for the DEM and OER.

For more than 25 years, DEM has made its home at the Foundry on Promenade Street in Providence. The 10-year lease costs the agency $2.6 million annually in order to house its offices and the state Division of Planning.

Instead of borrowing the money for the purchase, like McKee proposed last year, this year’s proposal would come entirely from the state’s capital improvement fund. The proposed $52 million price tag for moving DEM would break even within five years of the sale, and afterwards save the state an estimated $2 million a year, according to the budget plan.

DEM director Terry Gray declined to give an estimate to ecoRI News on how many workers might move to the new location. Gray noted that the department has a handful of far-flung offices around the state, some of which are also in need of updating.

“There’s a lot of moving parts on this,” Gray said. “I really couldn’t say how many employees might be affected.”

The governor’s budget proposal is far from set in stone. Over the next five months, lawmakers in both chambers will have final say over the state’s spending plan. The 2026 fiscal year begins July 1.

Categories

Join the Discussion

View Comments

Recent Comments

  1. I consider moving DEM to a relatively remote location away from other agencies, and not really reachable by transit, a demotion. There is plenty of unused office space in Providence, the city that should still be regarded as the state capital. It seems the move is yet another favor to Citizens Bank seeking to unload their building. Also, the governor’s electric vehicle fee proposal to replace the gas tax is a flat rate, it misses an opportunity to incentivize lighter more efficient EVs that do less damage to the roads and bridges, have less demand on the stressed grid, use less hard to mine materials for their batteries, have less tire pollution, and are less dangerous to other road users. I hope the environment community advocates that the fees be based on weight (easily administered compared to a per-mile fee).

  2. I agree with Barry. Moving DEM away from Providence will make it harder for many people who do not drive to reach it. BAD IDEA. I also support a fee on Electric vehicles, but again agree with Barry that it should be a weighted fee, heavier cars should pay more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your support keeps our reporters on the environmental beat.

Reader support is at the core of our nonprofit news model. Together, we can keep the environment in the headlines.

cookie