Victories…

● Permanent funding for free bus passes for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. About 18,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities rely on the no-fare bus pass to meet basic transportation needs, including access to grocery stores, food banks, shelters, community programs, religious services, recovery meetings, volunteer opportunities, libraries, support groups and much more. Without consistent access to transportation, low-income seniors and people with disabilities were deprived connection and community, as well as much needed services. After the program was taken away in July 2016, strong public outcry forced restoration of this program on a temporary basis. The Governor’s budget allocated $5 million for the program for 2020. The final budget makes funding permanent.

● Repealed the 24-month time limit for families participating in the Rhode Island Works program. The RI Works Program, the state’s welfare program for low-income families, provides a monthly benefit to families with young children ($554/ month for a family of 3) and is the primary workforce readiness program for parents in these families. Many of the parents have barriers to employment, including limited literacy and/or English proficiency, behavioral health challenges, and homelessness. Rhode Island was one of only 8 states to have 2 time limits- the 24 month periodic limit and a 48 month lifetime limit. Eliminating the 24-month time limit will allow parents to have time to build skills and will simplify program administration.

● Establish funding for an Independent Provider (IP) Program allowing Medicaid eligible seniors and people with disabilities to hire homecare workers of their choice. The IP model adds an alternative to hiring a home care worker through an agency ultimately expanding the workforce and improving the wages of homecare workers throughout Rhode Island.

● Provide funding for 2020 census outreach allowing Rhode Island to get an accurate count of all residents. Census data are used for the distribution of federal funds to critical social service programs that help low-income Rhode Islanders. Data is also used to determine the number of representatives for a state in the U.S. Congress and electoral votes in the presidential election process.

● Increased support for Pre-K and K-12 education including an increase of $2.9 million to expand pre-K seats by 270 and $2.3 million for English Language Learners in K-12, bringing total investment to $5 million.

Ongoing Work...

● End discriminatory housing practices that allow landlords to refuse to rent to individuals/families based on the source of income for their rent – including Housing Vouchers, and “welfare” benefits (RI Works, SSI). While the Source of Income bill passed the Senate, it did not make it out of the House Judiciary Committee. However, over 40 organizations throughout Rhode Island came together to form the HomesRI Campaign, focused on educating and raising awareness around Rhode Islands affordable housing crisis. Along with the Interfaith Coalition this campaign hosted numerous events both in the community and at the State House and will continue to be a powerful voice for improving access to safe, affordable housing.

● Make roads safer for all by granting driver’s licenses for undocumented Rhode Islanders. Last year in partnership with many other organizations in Rhode Island we were able to get driver’s licenses for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Unfortunately the plan to expand this program for all undocumented residents was stalled as the bills were held for further study in both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

● Raise the minimum wage to help working families make ends meet. The Governor proposed raising the minimum wage from $10.50 to 11.10/hr effective January 2020. Neither the budget proposal nor a bill to raise the wage to $11.50/hr, which passed the Senate were enacted. Massachusetts’s minimum wage is $12.00/hr and will rise to $15 by 2023. Connecticut’s minimum wage will rise to $11.00 in October and to $15 by 2023.

● Guarantee equal pay regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. This year’s Fair Pay Act would have made it illegal to pay workers less than their white male colleagues while doing comparable work, banned policies preventing workers from discussing their pay with each other, required companies to disclose salary ranges, and eliminated the use of salary history in setting wages. While the bill passed the Senate, it did not make it out of the House Labor Committee.

● Increase the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 15% to 20% of the federal credit. This change would have decreased income taxes owed by lower-wage working families, providing more resources for basic needs and allowing them to contribute more to vibrant local economies. Rhode Island’s credit is significantly lower than the credit in Massachusetts (30 percent), Connecticut (23 percent) and Vermont (36 percent).