Dem Gov Gina Raimondo’s State Of The State Address Doesn’t Match Reality For Rhode Islanders

As expected, Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo tried to paint a pleasant picture of Rhode Island’s affairs in her State of the State address last night, hoping it would bolster her tumbling approval ratings for the 2018 governor’s race. Unfortunately, Raimondo’s words don’t match the reality for the people of the Rhode Island, who have seen firsthand just how damaging her failed leadership has been to their state.

Raimondo falsely asserted that she’s made Rhode Island more “business-friendly,” ignoring the state’s stagnant economic growth and consistent bottom-ten rankings for business since she took office, as well as the loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs from companies like Alexion Pharmaceuticals, which left the state last year. Raimondo also made no mention of and proposed no new action to address the state’s scandalous problems at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, which has been plagued by reports of neglect and worse after she refused to appoint qualified leadership to the agency. Also completely absent from Raimondo’s speech was any mention of Rhode Island’s $260 million budget deficit or any plan to address it, as well as the state’s skyrocketing $5.33 billion unfunded pension liability. To make matters worse, Raimondo appears to have abandoned her signature free tuition proposal, which was gutted by her own party in the state legislature last year to just a “face-saving slice,” as she showed no interest in revisiting the issue.

While Gina Raimondo tries to sell the fiction that her leadership has benefitted the people of Rhode Island, the reality is that her administration has presided over economic stagnation, a severly lagging business climate, and reckless fiscal mismanagement all while showing absolutely no transparency. Rhode Island deserves better.