Rhode Island
DOJ and states were back in RI court over federal funding freeze. When is a ruling expected?
Trump layoffs could impact IRS, tax refunds, experts say
Tax experts are advising taxpayers to file early to avoid delays as the IRS faces potential layoffs from the Trump administration.
PROVIDENCE – A federal judge heard arguments Friday in the high-stakes battle about whether to extend an order blocking the federal government from freezing money states rely on for services ranging from child care to disaster relief to Medicaid payments.
U.S. District Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. weighed a request by close to two dozen Democratic states to block the federal government from withholding billions in aid until agencies ensure that all spending aligns with President Donald Trump’s priorities on “woke” gender ideology, climate goals and foreign aid.
States operate on “carefully orchestrated” payment systems that depend on promised and appropriated federal aid for their budgeting, Rhode Island Assistant Attorney General Sarah Rice told the court Friday.
The “categorical” federal funding freeze enacted shortly after Trump took office, creating chaos and throwing child care services and Head Start programs into disarray and uncertainty, is contrary to the law, Rice said.
“We don’t know how long these pauses might have gone on” without court intervention, Rice said.
Despite McConnell’s previous court orders halting any freeze, “an outage has continued to this day,” she said. The harm, she said, is irreparable, impacting crucial services, programs and payrolls.
“The people who provide the care need to be paid,” Rice said.
Federal response: States’ complaint is ‘abstract’
A U.S. Department of Justice lawyer urged the court to reject the states’ request, faulting it as overly broad, “abstract” and “across-the-board.” If the court grants an injunction, federal agencies will be hamstrung from making spending choices based on their own discretion, he said.
“The president is allowed to tell an agency if you have the discretion to pause if you should pause,” Department of Justice Special Counsel Daniel Schwei said.
Schwei drew parallels between Trump’s funding directive and former President Joe Biden’s decision to halt money for a border wall. Executives have regularly exercised their power to halt spending based on their priorities, he said.
The pause, he said, at most impacted the timing of payments and had been withdrawn within days, a step the government has argued makes the case moot.
‘A political term of art’
McConnell questioned how the government’s order to ensure it aligned with Trump’s priorities shouldn’t be viewed as arbitrary in itself. The judge noted that it referred to a Green New Deal – which in reality doesn’t exist.
“It’s a political term of art,” McConnell said.
Schwei said the order was only directing agencies to use their own discretion to save money.
He hit back, too, against McConnell’s reference to a Trump press secretary’s comments implying that the federal government wasn’t complying with the court’s previous court orders.
McConnell granted the states a temporary restraining order in late January and later a second “emergency” order directing the federal government to comply or face possible contempt.
Schwei said the breadth of those orders make it difficult for the government to comply.
Neronha: ‘He could have gone to Congress’
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, whose office is leading the states’ lawsuit, said after the proceedings that he thinks the injunction will be granted because the states have a good case.
“Trump’s executive orders and the subsequent memos sent to federal agencies have ‘sidelined’ Congress, and to an extent the courts, and if Trump wanted to reallocate the funds, he could have gone to Congress, which his party controls, to move the funds through the recision process,” Neronha said.
The injunction is necessary because the federal government can’t be trusted to keep its word and to prevent the Trump administration from issuing a similar memo later, he said.
McConnell said he hopes to issue a ruling in the coming week on the state’s bid for an injunction and left in place an order to keep federal money flowing.
Travel of the case
The states’ challenge to Trump’s freeze on spending landed in federal court in Rhode Island last month after authorities directed agencies to ensure spending complied with the administration’s priorities.
McConnell agreed to indefinitely block the freeze on federal spending, calling the president’s claims of executive authority “constitutionally flawed.” Days later, the court directed the federal government to comply with with the order after states complained that money continued to be withheld. McConnell warned that the government could be found in criminal contempt.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the government’s bid for a stay of McConnell’s orders, finding that the judge had left room for officials to seek relief, if necessary.
With reports from Wheeler Cowperthwaite
Rhode Island
RI Lottery Powerball, Numbers Midday winning numbers for May 30, 2026
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 30, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 30 drawing
01-27-35-44-52, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Numbers numbers from May 30 drawing
Midday: 0-6-8-1
Evening: 7-6-1-2
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from May 30 drawing
01-11-21-25-36, Extra: 05
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 30 drawing
05-14-22-28-30, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island high school yearbook printed with the word ‘school’ misspelled on its cover: ‘Shocking to see’
It failed spelling.
A Rhode Island high school mistakenly misspelled the word “school” on its yearbook cover.
Over 100 copies of Johnston Senior High School’s 2026 yearbook are missing the letter “c” in the word “school” written on its spine.
Students, faculty and parents at what was dubbed “Johnston Senior High Shool” in the keepsake graduation book are shaking their heads at the cringeworthy mistake.
“It was really a shocking thing to see, a whole high school misspelling the word ‘school,’” Johnston senior Neari Vazquez told NBC 10. “It’s kind of a bad look.”
Johnston Senior High School Superintendent Scott Sutherland told 12 News that he wrote a letter to the school’s families to apologize for the error, made by the yearbook printing company Treering.
In the note, he explained that Johnston’s yearbook club looked over a digital proof of the book prior to publication, but it did not show the spine.
However, Treering, which is based in Silicon Valley, released a statement disputing his claims.
“The school reviewed and approved both before the book went to print,” the spokesperson wrote.
“The yearbook was printed exactly as the school’s editorial team approved it.”
The school’s yearbook club first noticed the glaring error when the boxes of books arrived at the school.
“One little thing, it’s like everything is perfect but this one thing is messed up,” yearbook club member Nate Dellamorte told NBC 10.
“When I talked to the advisor, he was already actively trying to fix it and a lot of the members said they’re gonna help him.”
Sutherland is outraged over the embarrassing oversight, and has already consulted with lawyers for advice on the matter.
“We are extremely disappointed that this error made it through the company’s quality control and production process,” he continued in his letter.
“We are currently working directly with the yearbook company and other local vendors to ensure the issue is corrected before any yearbooks are distributed to students.”
Others think the yearbooks shouldn’t be reprinted — and the school should just chalk it up to a funny mistake.
“I mean it does happen, and I’m sure it would be too costly to reprint everything,” parent Melanie DaSilva told NBC 10.
“So it might just be one for the books and probably get a laugh.”
Rhode Island
R.I. House Finance budget phases in millionaires tax over three years – The Boston Globe
In January, Governor Daniel J. McKee touched off a debate about a millionaires tax by proposing a state budget that would impose a 8.99 percent tax rate on personal income of more than $1 million — a 3 percentage point increase over the current top bracket that would have generated $67 million in fiscal year 2027.
The House Finance budget would phase in that millionaires tax by raising that top rate by 1 percentage point per year over three years — 6.99 percent for tax year 2027, 7.99 percent in 2028, and 8.99 percent for 2029. The move would generate an estimated $22 million in 2027, $68 million in 2028, $115 million in 2029, and $142 million in 2030.
Blazejewski said phasing in the millionaires tax will help Rhode Island deal with federal funding cuts as they take effect in the years ahead. Advocates see that tax as a crucial source of funding for essential programs amid federal cuts, he noted, while opponents predict it will hurt small businesses and drive away rich residents.
“We thought this strikes the right balance here for our state, given the situation we’re in with the federal government,” Blazejewski said. “We think this is a prudent way of increasing revenue over time, and then phasing it in, so it has less shock, it has more time to be absorbed, and then also comes online exactly when we need it.”
Rhode Island is pursuing a millionaires tax three years after Massachusetts imposed a 4 percent millionaires tax on top of its 5 percent income tax, raising billions in revenue. On May 25, the Globe reported that the Massachusetts surtax on that state’s highest earners has already generated more than $3.1 billion in revenue this fiscal year, with two months remaining — surpassing the $2.4 billion projected.
Inspector general
The House Finance budget includes $1.3 million to fund an independent inspector general’s office staffed with 12 full-time employees who will investigate waste, fraud, and abuse in state government.
Blazejewski called for creating an inspector general’s office soon after becoming House speaker on May 7. The move by the state’s most progressive House speaker came as a surprise to some because Republicans have long made the inspector general’s office a top legislative priority.
But Blazejewski noted he introduced inspector general legislation in 2015. On Friday, he said the federal government is cutting funding at the same time the state has seen “high-profile state failures” such as the closure of the Washington Bridge westbound and the botched rollout of a $99 million state payroll system.
McKee and Republican lieutenant governor candidate John J. Loughlin II questioned why Blazejewski wants the inspector general to oversee the executive branch — but not the Legislature.
On Friday, Blazejewski noted that voters approved a separation of powers amendment to the state Constitution in 2004 to ensure the three branches of government are separate and distinct, and that the inspector general’s office would be an administrative agency of the executive branch.
“If you allow the executive office to run roughshod over the Legislature, the judiciary, you no longer have three branches of government,” Blazejewski said. “It’s not original to Rhode Island. It’s a fundamental principle of government.“
RIDOT audit
The budget includes an audit of maintenance work by the state Department of Transportation. “We just have had too many high-profile failures, and we need to conduct an audit as to the maintenance program,” Blazejewski said.
The budget also removes the Department of Transportation director as chairman of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. Former DOT director Peter Alviti Jr. began serving as chairman of the bus agency’s board in 2023. But Blazejewski said, “We just think it’s a conflict of interest.” The DOT director can continue to serve on the board, but not as chairman, he said.
No line-item veto
The House Finance budget rejects McKee’s call for placing a constitutional amendment on the November ballot asking voters to give the governor line-item veto power, which would allow him to strike specific items from the budget without having to approve or veto the entire bill.
Last year, McKee refused to sign the state budget approved by the General Assembly because it raised taxes and fees, but he did not veto the bill. And McKee noted that 43 other states have some form of line-item veto authority.
But Blazejewski said, “That line item veto is about changing the power structure between the governor and the General Assembly,” and the current process works with the governor proposing a budget and legislators passing a budget. Other states have had “issues” with the line item veto, he said, noting Wisconsin’s governor used that power to delete words, numbers, and punctuation from a bill to change its meaning.
Budget exceeds $15 billion
The budget totals a record $15.2 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1, marking an increase over the $14.859 billion proposed by McKee.
In August, the business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council warned that the state’s rate of spending was not sustainable. And in the Republican response to McKee’s State of the State, House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale said the state budget has grown by 200 percent since 2000, when it was about $4.5 billion.
URI medical school funding
The House Finance budget includes $5 million as an initial investment in creating a medical school at the University of Rhode Island.
The Senate had included that proposal in a 17-bill package aimed at strengthening the state’s strained health care system. Blazejewski said the medical school will help alleviate the state’s severe shortage of primary care doctors in the future.
Tax on Social Security
The House Finance budget includes the first year of McKee’s proposal to eliminate state personal income taxes on Social Security benefits over three years.
Under current law, taxpayers who have reached full Social Security retirement age (67 or older) and have incomes of less than $107,000 for single filers, or $133,750 for joint filers, are exempt from state income tax on Social Security income. The House agreed to eliminate the current minimum age threshold.
Child tax credit
The House Finance budget does not adopt McKee’s proposal to replace an existing tax deduction for dependents with a new child tax credit that would refund families $325 on their taxes per child, per year.
But it does build on the existing tax deduction structure and adds a $330 child tax credit to help lower income families. Blazejewski said the new system “costs a little bit more but gives even more of a benefit to families in Rhode Island.”
Bond questions
The budget includes a record $600 million in bond questions on the November ballot, but it modifies some of the proposals in McKee’s budget.
- Blazejewski said McKee’s budget “underfunded” an integrated health building at URI. So the budget provides $275 million (rather than $215 million) for the state’s three colleges, including $165 million (rather than $105 million) for the URI building, $50 million to renovate Rhode Island College’s Adams Library; and $60 million for a workforce innovation center at the Community College of Rhode Island.
- $120 million for housing, including $25 million for producing housing units for homeownership.
- $100 million (rather than $115 million) for economic development, including $55 million (rather than $70 million) for site development at the Quonset Business Park and I-195 District.
- $50 million for the “cultural economy,” including $45 million for a State History Center that would display the state’s founding documents.
- $55 million for “green economy bonds.” Blazejewski said, “Our caucus spoke over and over about making the green bond greener, and we’ve done just that.“
- The House budget eliminated the $50 million McKee proposed for Career and Technical Education. Blazejewski said testimony indicated the proposal was underfunded even at $50 million, “so we’re going to go back to the drawing board.”
Energy proposals
The House Finance budget adopts some, but not all, of McKee’s proposals for lowering energy bills.
House Majority Whip Katherine S. Kazarian, an East Providence Democrat, said the budget expands the renewable energy standard to including hydro and nuclear energy, which will result in savings.
But she said the budget would reject McKee’s plan to push back the 2033 deadline to reach 100 percent renewable energy sources for state electricity until 2050. “We’re going to continue to keep that 2033 deadline, which is really important to our caucus and, frankly, to the renewable energy investments that have come to the state,” she said.
Central Falls schools
The budget returns the Central Falls school district to local control after 35 years of state control. Blazejewski said this was a priority of Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera.
Domestic violence calendar
The House budget includes $600,000 to hire three full-time employees and create a domestic violence calendar in state Superior Court to address a backlog of 1,200 felony domestic violence cases.
The House Finance Committee voted 11 to 2 to send the budget to the House floor for a vote next Friday, June 5.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.
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