Issues on the Ballot

On Tuesday, November 5th, Providence residents will be voting on 6 issues, in addition to candidates for the Providence School Board (see 10/23/2024 PVD Eye for candidate statements) and other elections.  This is a Sample Providence Ballot and the following is a guide to the issues on the ballot.

State Question 1: Shall there be a convention to amend or revise the Rhode Island Constitution?

An article of the Rhode Island Constitution, as framed by constitutional convention delegates in East Greenwich on Nov., 5, 1842, sets a maximum of 72 members of the House of Representatives. Today there are 75. (Rhode Island Digital State Archives)

The Rhode Island Legislature adds this question to the ballot in years ending in the number four to give voters a once-in-a-decade opportunity to consider revising or amending the state’s governing document. Voters have rejected the question to hold a constitutional convention in 1994, 2004 and in 2014.

The last time a constitutional convention was held was in 1986.

Proponents of a convention say it could be the route to bring forward reforms such as a line-item veto on the budget, a right to an education, and the establishment of an Office of Inspector General. Opponents warn out-of-state special interest groups influencing changes to the state’s constitution and strip back civil liberties.

Editor’s note: Opponents of a convention are concerned that, as a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court opinion, large donors and out of state interests can play an outsized role and end up with Rhode Islanders losing hard-earned rights.  Furthermore, they maintain that the General Assembly has a process for voters to approve or reject proposed constitutional amendments, as in 2020 when voters approved amending the constitution to drop “and Providence Plantation” from the official state name.

Cost estimates for the convention range between $2.6 million and $4.6 million, which includes an estimated $1.3 million toward a special election to select the 75 convention delegates.

This Measure Would

  • A yes vote means you support a constitutional convention being called to amend or revise the Rhode Island Constitution.
  • A no vote means you oppose the holding of such a convention. If the question fails, the next opportunity to consider holding a constitutional convention will be in 2034.
  • If the question passes, the state would have to set up a special election to select 75 convention delegates to represent each district in the House of Representatives. Delegates would then gather, debate, negotiate and approve a set of amendments that would appear on the ballot for the 2026 general election. No amendments or revisions delegates agree on at the convention would take effect until they have been submitted and approved by a majority of voters.

 

State Question 2: Higher Education Facilities Bond

The cybersecurity program at Rhode Island College is one of the higher education initiatives that stands to benefit from the approval of question 2. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

This bond issue would allocate $160.5 million for two higher education facilities in the Ocean State: A newly built biomedical sciences building at University of Rhode Island (URI), and additional funding for the Institute of Cybersecurity & Emerging Technologies at Rhode Island College (RIC), which opened in 2023.

A yes vote would authorize the bond issue, the most expensive on this year’s ballot. With interest, the total cost is estimated to be nearly $258 million, with interest over time accounting for almost $100 million of that total cost.

Voting no would oppose the bonds from being issued and prevent the spending.

Both URI and RIC estimate the renovations would be complete sometime in 2028, and that the useful life of both buildings would be around 50 years.

This Measure Would

  • Earmark $87.5 million to build a new biomedical sciences building at URI. The new facility would include modern laboratory spaces for research in biomedicine, biotechnology and other science-adjacent fields. There would be office space as well. The Yes on 2 campaign materials have suggested that suggests the new spaces could support expansion into new research areas for URI, like the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Fortifying the biomedicine offerings at Rhode Island’s only land grant university would complement the state’s other efforts at nourishing its life sciences industry, like the Rhode Island Life Science Hub in Providence, which is still shaping its own facilities.
  • Direct $73 million toward a substantial facelift for RIC’s Whipple Hall, by modernizing the existing building into a home for the fledgling Institute for Cybersecurity & Emerging Technologies. The institute attracted 400 students in its first year, but existing facilities lack higher end systems. The bond would help fund improved computer labs and classrooms, cyber range facilities for threat and attack modeling, office space and secure data centers. The institute’s IT infrastructure would also see an upgrade.

 

State Question 3: Housing and Community Opportunity Bonds

Housing costs and availability have become a pressing issue in Rhode Island, leading to a lack of housing stock in places like Providence, pictured here. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

Housing issues in Rhode Island have been characterized as a full-fledged “crisis” for some time now, with home price hikes and notably high rent increases in major cities like Providence. Improving availability and affordability of places to live is the goal of a $120 million housing bond package — the biggest in state history.

A yes vote would authorize a bond issue in support of six different housing initiatives, including construction, renovation, measures to increase available housing stock and assistance for municipal housing efforts.

Voting no would oppose the bonds from being issued and prevent the spending.

If funded, the bond’s assorted projects would begin by or around 2026, and would see completion sometime between 2027 and 2030. Upon completion, new or redeveloped housing is expected to last for a minimum of 30 years.

This Measure Would

  • Provide $80 million to subsidize the availability of low- and moderate- income affordable housing production. Up to $10 million of this funding could be directed toward building a new public housing program.
  • Direct $10 million to help communities acquire properties and redevelop existing structures.
  • Set aside $20 million to help generate more low, moderate and middle-income housing designed for homeownership.
  • Use $5 million to subsidize the purchase of properties to be redeveloped into affordable housing
  • Direct $4 million toward physical infrastructure needed for affordable housing pre-development and development.
  • Devote $1 million to municipalities to aid their plans for housing development. Upzoning, or changing zoning laws to accommodate new housing developments, is one example.

State Question 4: Green Economy Bonds

Coastal resiliency, forest management and improvements to Newport’s Cliff Walk are a few areas targeted for improvement in Question 4’s environmental bond. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

A yes vote on this $53 million bond package for the green economy would support nine environmental initiatives across the state. The projects and parties that stand to benefit are diverse, as are the bond’s proponents, which include Save the Bay, the Rhode Island Ports Coalition and the city of Central Falls.

Voting no would oppose the bonds from being issued, and prevent the spending.

The priciest inclusion is $15 million for upgrading berthing space, port access roads, cargo areas and security measures for Quonset’s Port of Davisville in North Kingstown.Rhode Island’s only public port on Narragansett Bay has  4,500 feet of berthing space and 235 acres of operating capacity. Voters have previously approved infrastructure improvements to Davisville: 63% of voters approved a $70 million bond package that included $50 million for Davisville in 2016. In 2021, the port got another $20 million via 59% of voters’ approval of a bond initiative. Critics question whether the port’s inclusion is a business initiative masquerading as an environmental one.

But the Rhode Island Ports Coalition argues the success of Davisville is linked to the success of offshore wind: “The bottom line is that we cannot reach our clean energy goals without offshore wind, and we cannot provide the necessary support for offshore wind projects without infrastructure on land that is up to the task,” said Gavin Black, president of the Rhode Island Ports Coalition and of Moran Shipping, at a bond campaign event in September.

Most of the projects have an estimated completion time of up to five years. The useful life of each project varies but most fall within 25 to 50 years. Farmland and open space rehabilitation are considered to have a “permanent” useful life, according to the state’s official voter information handbook.

This Measure Would

  • Direct $15 million toward Port of Davisville infrastructure at Quonset, which is Rhode Island’s only public port. The funds would finance new berthing space and develop the port as an offshore wind hub.
  • Use $10 million for municipal improvements and restoration to infrastructure resilience, such as helping communities make their coastal areas or floodplains more resilient. The Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank will administer these funds, which if approved will provide resiliency resources for 39 Rhode Island municipalities over two years.
  • Provide $5 million for cleaning “brownfield” sites, which is land previously used for commercial or industrial purposes that has since fallen into disuse and is often contaminated or polluted. Remediation helps make these lands usable again.
  • Direct $5 million toward local parks, playgrounds and fields, and another $5 million for preserving the agricultural land of Rhode Island’s working farms.
  • Use $5 million for forest and wildlife habitat management, which can include wildfire mitigation, removal of dead trees, efforts to increase biodiversity or getting rid of invasive species.
  • Use $3 million for repairs needed to restore pedestrian access along the Newport Cliff Walk.
  • Use $3 million for preservation of farmlands, watersheds and recreation and open spaces as part of the Open Space Program. The program will see “every state dollar matched by an additional three other dollars” from federal, local and non-profit sources, according to the Yes on 4 campaign.
  • $2 million for flood prevention and habitat resilience in vulnerable coastal areas.

State Question 5: Cultural Arts and the Economy Grant Program Bond

Trinity Rep is one of the arts and culture facilities that would benefit from the arts bond. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

Arts advocates failed to secure legislators’ confidence in a funding package at the tail end of the 2024 legislative session. But the Rhode Island General Assembly did throw the arts a bone in the form of a bond question meant for capital improvements to three popular arts organizations.

A yes vote would authorize $10 million in funding for facilities and preservation efforts, as well as a bonus for the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) in the form of support for its capital improvement grants.

Voting no would oppose the bonds from being issued and prevent the spending.

Rhode Islanders have been generous with arts and culture bonds in the past; similarly intentioned funding packages were OK’d by voters in 2014 and 2021. The 2014 bond was threefold the cost of the current proposal, and 60% of voters approved the $30 million for nine organizations across the state. The 2021 bond was smaller, at $7 million, but also approved by 60% of voters.

This Measure Would

  • Provide $2 million for the Tomaquag Museum, the state’s only Indigenous museum, which is located in Exeter. The capital improvement funds would help Tomaquag settle into its new home on 18 acres of University of Rhode Island-owned lands in Kingston. The new master plan includes four buildings for the museum campus.
  • Supply $2 million to the Newport Contemporary Ballet to build a Center for Arts, Dance & Education. The ballet purchased a new building on Newport’s Broadway in 2022 which would be used for the center, which would have three larger studios, allowing them to accommodate more classes and students than their current location on Charles Street.
  • Another $2 million would go toward Trinity Repertory Company for an assortment of construction and expansion projects, including a 12,000-square-foot addition and seating and stage changes to the Lederer Theater Center. An elevator replacement and office space consolidation would also be part of what Trinity’s Executive Director Kate Liberman called “a major renovation, not just a facelift.” The proposal has seen some local opposition, largely from local skaters whose Trinity-adjacent skatepark would be impacted by the extensive renovations.
  • The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts would get $4 million for matching 1:1 grants in its Cultural Arts and the Economy Grant Program. Unlike the grants RISCA awards individual artists or groups for making art, these funds would be limited to capital improvement, renovation and preservation at nonprofit artistic, cultural and performance centers or museums.

Published originally as 2024 Voter Guide by RI Current

City of Providence Question Number 6: Shall the city issue $400,000,000 in bonds to fund capital improvements for Providence Public School buildings?

The 93-year old Gilbert Stuart Middle School, which was taken out of service in June.

 

The future Harry Kizirian pre-K through 8th grade school (artist’s rendering).

In addition to voting for elected officials and statewide ballot questions, Providence voters will be asked whether the City should issue bonds (essentially borrow) $400 million “to finance the construction, related demolition, renovation, improvement, alteration, repair, landscaping, furnishing and equipping of schools and school facilities throughout the City.”

The proposed $400 million bond issue would fund “Phase 4” of an ongoing capital project to overhaul the city’s school buildings that began in 2018.

The Phase 4 plan promises to build, rebuild or restore 16 more selected buildings to “new or like-new” condition. Providence School Department’s Rebuild Providence Schools website shows some of the completed projects, but it does not include a comprehensive list of past, current and future projects.

The average age of a Providence school building is 70 years old, with some as old as 90 years. And for most of those years, the city consistently underfunded maintenance and repairs, leaving many classrooms cold, wet or exposed to hazardous conditions. The city’s own 2022 assessment estimated a total cost of $900 million to bring all school buildings up to standard. The city has already spent more than $160 in capital funds for school buildings, with additional work in still in progress.  This $400 million gets us a lot closer, if not all the way there.

The need for this investment is clear. So is the payback. The State of Rhode Island will reimburse Providence 91 cents for every dollar spent on schools, using funds from the state’s previously-approved Statewide School Construction Bond. And, according to Zack Scott, Providence’s Deputy Superintendent of Operations, the city will recoup the remaining 9 cents in savings from energy-efficient buildings. New buildings will be built to accommodate solar panels – which will require other sources of funding to install.

One major condition of the state’s generosity is that the district build “newer and fewer” schools meaning that some existing and recently-closed elementary and middle schools will be replaced with larger buildings housing kindergarten through eighth grade.