PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Gov. Gina Raimondo said Tuesday she might have to scale back her plan to provide two years of free tuition at public colleges.
A larger-than-expected revenue shortfall disclosed by state fiscal officials last week has complicated final negotiations between the Democratic governor and state legislators writing the budget for the fiscal year that begins in July.
Raimondo said she is willing to reduce the costs of her signature proposal, citing a “short-term revenue problem” and broader uncertainty surrounding the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.
“We have to be careful in general right now about getting over our skis on any new expenditures that are very large,” she told reporters Tuesday. “I don’t know where Trump’s going to come out on the Affordable Care Act. I don’t know what’s going to happen with federal tax policy.”
“It is a period of uncertainty,” she added. “I need to protect Rhode Island. I need to protect the progress we’ve made. Our economic recovery is strong. We need to keep it going.”
Raimondo said she still wants to include some element of the tuition plan in the upcoming roughly $9 billion budget that legislators are expected to finish writing in the next month. She said boosting higher education is important in the long-term for the state’s population to adapt to a changing economy where good jobs require high skills.
But she said she would consider modifications, such as a means test limiting the benefit to families who need it most.
