Senate Finance Committee to look at state budget after House approval

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Senate Finance Committee will be discussing the proposed $14.34 billion Rhode Island budget for Fiscal Year 2026 on Wednesday at 6:30.

The budget passed the House in a 66-9 vote Tuesday night, with Republican Marie Hopkins joining every Democrat in voting for it– the rest of the Republican caucus opposed it.

The proposed budget is around half a billion dollars less than the current fiscal year’s budget.

Among the biggest changes to this year’s budget is additional funding to raise the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates in hopes of attracting more primary care providers and the addition of the “Taylor Swift tax,” which is a new tax on second homes worth more than $1 million.

House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi and House Finance Committee Chairman Marvin Abney said that the creation of the budget was a challenge, with Abney saying that uncertainties in the federal government and a slowing economy made FY2026 “one of the most challenging budgets to craft in quite some time.”

Should the Senate Finance Committee approve the budget, it will then go to the full Senate for a vote.