“Rhode Island Rebounds” begins using federal funds for needs that can’t wait

Governor McKee held a morning press conference on Monday where he announced spending initiatives he referred to as a “down payment” from the millions headed for Rhode Island from the federal government. McKee announced “Rhode Island Rebounds”, an initiative to invest in RI small businesses and people.

He announced approximately $38.5 M for children – $32M for small business – $29M for affordable housing – $13M for hard hit tourism/hospitality/event industries, as well as an additional $6M for growing childcare needs.

Some of the specifics detailed by the Governor:

Homelessness – $5M in funding for emergency shelters – continuing emergency shelter program until spring – $31M for 23 new housing projects in 13 cities/towns for 600 units of affordable housing. RentReliefRI – $40M. We have a team now working to shelter RI families with additional news in the near future. These challenges were inherited before the pandemic and before Gov. took over. We plan to “overbuild” for emergency housing as we get to permanent housing. New Deputy Director of Housing will be named next week. Please GA is on edge of approving upgrade in staffing to address this issue. $5M is out in the community now and available for use. We are going to overbuild so we do not face these issues again.

Home & Community Based Providers – $57.4M in federal medical funding for workforce investment for 45 providers who will allocate 85% to hiring incentives, training, retention, etc.

Early Intervention for children – $3.64M for early intervention funding is on top of $5.5M previously announced. Recruiting and retaining workers are key to providing services to children, etc. Hiring is struggling, and the funds will help to stabilize the sector.

Speaker Shekarchi then spoke, crediting the collaborative atmosphere in working with both the Senate and Governor’s office – “A lot of hard work that got us here today”. He said that FMAP funds are available right now and can be used, retroactively for expenses back to Nov. 1^st. More actions coming in early January. $3M of CARES Act money for Early Intervention, which is a critical need with children on wait lists.

Senator Ruggerio then spoke and noted this is an unprecedented amount of federal funds being invested. He also noted the stabilization of early intervention services as a critical need. $6M for childcare will be added. He noted that Rhode Island can’t get people back to work without affordable childcare. Next step will be budget hearings next week – first week of January for more funding action.

Q.A From various media:

Why has this taken so long?

Gov: I’m not going to focus on that. We all had to do our jobs with our processes. We were committed to work together as partners. Sometimes it takes time to get it right. Speaker: Hasn’t taken long – this is public money, there has to be hearings, and an open transparent process. It’s been timely, and we worked very expeditiously.

Is there anymore detail on childcare program?

It will be answered next week on actual spending process.

Are these one-time awards?

They can be spent over 3 years – and we should be eligible for bonuses after that if we do it right.

We’ve all been working very hard during the summer and fall.

We needed to get $65M out in rental/housing assistance, and we got $70M out so no money was given back.

Response from protestors’ spokesperson, Sen. Cynthia Mendes, who is staging a sleep-in at the RI State House to the new funding for those individuals who are homeless:

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Later in the day, the Governor’s office sent out a press release: Governor Announces Millions in Additional Funding to Support Critical Human Services Needs

Governor Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio today announced the legislature’s commitment to act on the Governor’s RI Rebounds proposal, an initial investment of 10 percent of the State’s $1.13 billion American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds to make a down payment on Rhode Island’s recovery. The Governor also announced tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding to support home- and community-based services and the state’s Early Intervention program for children with developmental needs.

“Today, we are making a crucial investment in Rhode Island’s recovery,” said Governor McKee. “Our Administration is committed to delivering support for home- and community-based direct care workers and ensuring that children with developmental needs receive the services they need. I also thank the Speaker and the Senate President for their partnership and their commitment to act on our RI Rebounds plan which will provide much-needed relief for children, families, housing, and small businesses. This is an important step – we must keep going.”

“I want to thank Governor Dan McKee, Speaker Shekarchi and Senate President Ruggerio for moving Rhode Island’s recovery forward by acting on the RI Rebounds Proposal,” said Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos. “This investment is essential to addressing the needs of our unhoused residents, the creation of much needed affordable housing, providing crucial resources for small businesses, child care for our working families, long term care and strengthening our workforce. I look forward to working together to build a stronger Rhode Island.”

Acting on RI Rebounds and Protecting Rhode Island’s Recovery

The Speaker and Senate President announced the legislature’s commitment to act on the Governor’s RI Rebounds Proposal, bringing it to a vote in the finance committees next week.

The Governor’s original RI Rebounds proposal, submitted to the legislature for approval in October, invests $113 million to jumpstart Rhode Island’s recovery. The proposal includes $38.5 million to support children, families, and social supports; $32 million to assist small businesses impacted by COVID-19; $29.5 million to promote affordable housing, housing stability supports and broadband; and $13 million for hard-hit tourism, hospitality and event industries.

The Governor, Speaker and Senate President also pledged to add an additional $6 million to address growing child care needs.

“The House has been collaboratively working with the Senate and Governor McKee for several months to ensure that the ARPA funding is spent wisely and invested in a long-term sustainable manner,” House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said. “After several hearings, our House Finance Committee will soon consider an initial investment of $119 million for affordable housing, children’s and family services, child care, and assistance for small businesses and the tourism and hospitality industries. In addition, after listening closely to the members of our House Democratic Caucus, we successfully came to an agreement with the Governor to immediately invest more than $3 million in CARES Act dollars to support critical Early Intervention services. I am also pleased to join in the announcement of $57.4 million of federal medical assistance funding to support thousands of home and community-based direct care workers.”

Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio said, “I want to thank Governor Daniel McKee and Speaker Joseph Shekarchi for working collaboratively with the Senate throughout this process. I am very grateful to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ryan Pearson and the dedicated members of the Finance Committee, who met for more than 28 hours over the course of the fall to review federal relief spending plans. Child care is a top priority for the Senate, and the revised ARPA plan will add $6 million on top of the $13 million the Governor had proposed. Leader McCaffrey and I are among those who have attended roundtable discussions with child care providers across the state this fall. This is critically important. The industry is in crisis, and we can’t get people back to work if they can’t get child care.”

Investing in Home and Community Based Services

The Governor announced that he will direct $57.4 million in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding for workforce related investments which will provide support to nearly 4,500 home- and community-based services direct care workers. These funds are the result of a 10 percentage point federal match FMAP increase for all state spending on home- and community-based services that was included in the American Rescue Plan.
Providers will allocate 85 percent of funding to direct care workers in the form of hiring bonuses, increased hourly wages, enhanced benefits, shift differentials, wrap around benefits and training or support.
Long Term Services and Supports Recruitment and Retention Temporary Rate Program ($33.9 million): Eligible providers include Home Health agencies, Adult Day Care Centers, HabGroup Homes, PACE workers, Independent Provider and Personal Choice PCAs.

Behavioral Health Recruitment and Retention Program ($22.4 million): Eligible providers include Community Mental Health Centers, Certified Peer Navigator Agencies, Substance Use Disorder Rehab programs and Opioid Treatment programs and Children’s HBTS/PASS providers. $1 million will be allocated to support administrative needs including program design, rate setting, reporting and compliance.

Making Critical Investments in Early Intervention

The Governor announced $3.64 million in CARES Act funds to support Early Intervention which provides essential early childhood development services that support healthy outcomes for children across Rhode Island. This investment is in addition to the $5.5 million for Early Intervention that the Governor included in his RI Rebounds plan. Funds will be used to assist Early Intervention providers in mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic, recruiting and retaining workers, avoiding further closures, and providing continued services to children with developmental needs.

Due to the pandemic, Early Intervention providers faced significant losses because of the current rates, and today are struggling to hire and retain the staff needed to provide services to all children needing Early Intervention programming.

“Today marks a crucial step towards equity,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Womazetta Jones. “Our health and human service workers care for Rhode Island’s most vulnerable – and deserve to be compensated for the amazing work they do each and every day. The industry has been underfunded – since well before the pandemic – and these investments towards our children, families, and social supports will go a long way as we recover. I am grateful for our Governor’s leadership and for the General Assembly’s support of these proposals.”

“Ours is the strongest economic recovery in the nation, according to Moody’s Analytics. However, as is true across the country, it’s an uneven recovery. Funding from this package will offer additional assistance to our state’s small businesses, too many of which are still struggling as we emerge from the COVID crisis,” said Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. “Importantly, this package will also provide additional resources to address the issues of housing and homelessness. We thank Governor McKee, Speaker Shekarchi, and Senate President Ruggerio for turning this down payment proposal into a reality.”

Statement from Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos:

Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos is pleased with today’s announcement that the RI Legislature will act on the RI Rebounds proposal for initial American Rescue Plan spending bringing it to a vote in the finance committees next week. This initial investment will allow our State to begin Rhode Island’s recovery by approving the use of $1.13 billion American Rescue Plan State Fiscal Recovery Funds.

“I want to thank Governor Dan McKee, Speaker Shekarchi and Senate President Ruggerio for moving Rhode Island’s recovery forward by acting on the RI Rebounds Proposal,” said Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos. “This investment is essential to addressing the needs of our unhoused residents, the creation of much needed affordable housing, providing crucial resources for small businesses, childcare for our working families, long term care and strengthening our workforce. I look forward to working together to build a stronger Rhode Island.”

Statement from R.I. House Republicans – Call for Fiscal Discipline and Strategic Investment of American Rescue Plan Funds

In response to the “RI Rebounds Plan” advanced by Governor McKee, House Speaker Shekarchi and Senate President Ruggerio, House Republicans issued the following statement: 

“House Republicans applaud the proposed expenditures in our healthcare workforce and the targeted support for our most vulnerable, especially in early childhood interventions. The infusion of support for small businesses, greatly impacted by COVID-19, is also essential and a proper use of these federal funds. We must caution however, that the RI Rebounds plan initiates significant expenditures of one-time federal monies. Once the federal monies are gone, the State will likely have to fund these programs in perpetuity.

Rhode Island taxpayers struggle with higher inflation that exacerbates our already high costs of living. Government must set the stage for long-lasting economic growth through investment in core government functions and strategic tax policy, and exercise extreme caution with plans that expand government and create commitments that will saddle future generations.”