Raimondo makes case for free tuition to legislators

March 30, 2017 6:59 pm

By: News Staff

news@abc6.com

@ABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Gov. Gina Raimondo is asking state legislators to support her plan to provide two years of free tuition to in-state students at Rhode Island’s public colleges.

The Democratic governor is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate finance committee. She testified to the House finance committee earlier this month.

Her plan would cover two years of community college tuition or the final two years at Rhode Island College or the University of Rhode Island.

Top Democrats who control both chambers of the General Assembly have expressed reservations about the cost, estimated at $30 million a year.

It’s rare for Raimondo to testify on bills. She last did so in 2015, making a case for new economic development incentives and highway truck tolls to pay for road and bridge repairs.