State officials in Rhode Island hope the life-sciences will propel new economic growth in the state. But there are challenges along the way. The Public’s Radio political reporter Ian Donnis met with Gov. Dan McKee on Tuesday to discuss that and other economic and political questions. They spoke at the new state Health Lab, which is under construction in Providence.
Ian Donnis: Governor, we just toured the new State Health Lab. You pointed out, down the street on Richmond Street in Providence, construction workers working on the new Life Sciences lab for Brown University. You described that as a positive sign for the economy, but there’s uncertainty about funding for entities like the Life Sciences Lab due to the Trump administration. How do you see the outlook?
Gov. Dan McKee: Well, it’s all concerning. I had a conversation with President Paxton right after the announcement was made, that Brown may be impacted with some of the cuts. They’re moving ahead and that’s what we need to do. We need to continue to move ahead and as things become more clear, we can address them. But at this point in time, I’m happy to see that Brown is continuing their construction on that space. Putting people to work, which is really important. And we just toured the state health lab that you talked about, that you just mentioned. That’s going to be really important to the state’s health. But also we’re building things, Ian and putting people to work right now is a great you know, remedy for any potential recessionary type of impact.
Donnis: As part of your economic program, you’ve talked about a goal of raising the income of Rhode Islanders. What needs to happen to make more progress on that?
Gov. McKee: Exactly what’s happening here. We are putting people to work, whether it’s on an infrastructure project like this or a bridge project like the Washington Bridge or the other bridges that are going to be built with the help and assistance of our congressional delegation and the federal money. And also continue to work, what we did at the soccer stadium, that we’re going to build a pedestrian bridge over the water. We’re going to build hundreds of housing units. Continually, Quonset is exploding with construction and jobs. There were, I think there are about a little over 15,000 jobs now. I think we added a thousand jobs. And according to director Matt Weldon. So the key is putting, keeping people working, building things that will have benefits for decades to come.
Donnis: Speaking of financial issues, are you going to sign the budget passed by the general assembly a couple days ago?
Update: On Wednesday, McKee told reporters he would let the state budget become law without his signature – he does not plan to sign the bill, but also does not plan to veto it.
Gov. McKee: Yeah, so the budget works this way: I present a balanced budget, which I have, and then I get back a budget from the General Assembly. There are some things in there that clearly concern me. It’s going to cost more for health care. For a family, on their budget, it’s going to cost more to own a car, registering, gas tax. It’s going to cost more to sell a home. These are all things that work against our effort to contain or lower the cost of living as we increase income. So I’ve got my options open. We’re going to continue reviewing it. I expect to get another update on the actual impact of the budget sometime this afternoon.
Donnis: What’s the timeline for your decision on what to do with the budget?
Gov. McKee: By Friday
Donnis: On another issue, when do you expect to sign the ban on so-called assault weapon sales passed by the general assembly?
Gov. McKee: So we’ll sign it within the timeframe that we have and then hopefully we’ll be able to put all the parties together that really advocated in support of that, our General Assembly members, the advocates.
I look at it as a real step forward. Certainly progress over and above what we had at the beginning of the session. And I’m looking, that’s why I put it in my budget.
Donnis: We were talking about the budget a minute ago. There’s been a little bit of back and forth between you and Speaker Joe Shekarchi. You know, you’ve been a little critical of some elements of the budget. He’s been a little critical of the budget that you presented in January. Are you concerned at all about the potential of facing Joe Shekarchi in a Democratic primary for governor next year?
Gov. McKee: Well the decisions we’re making on budget have nothing to do with whether the speaker makes a decision to run against me or not, but I’m running. I know that. And we’re going to continue to manage the state in a way where we’re continuing to create progress as we saw here today at the State Health Lab.
Donnis: Any concerns on facing Speaker Shekarchi as a potential rival?
Gov. McKee: I’ve had many, many elections, many campaigns, so we will deal with whoever runs against us. If there is anybody that’s going to run against us, but I’ll run on a record that’s pretty strong, right? We’re raising incomes, we’re closing gaps with Massachusetts on education. We’re building things, putting people to work in a way that, quite frankly, Rhode Island has never seen before.
Donnis: I’ll close on a lighter note. We’re in summer now. It’s the greatest season in Rhode Island. What are you doing for fun this summer?
Gov. McKee: Well, I’m hoping to play a little golf and play that with my son, Matt. Father-son golfing is always a pleasure.
Donnis: Thank you for speaking with us, Governor.
Gov. McKee: Well, Ian, thank you for coming out on site and doing it.
This story has been updated with McKee’s Wednesday announcement that he would not sign the budget bill, but would also not veto it, allowing it to become law.
