Rhode Island
The Fed just cut rates. Here is what it means for Rhode Island – The Boston Globe
For Rhode Island, the advent of a rate cut comes at a time when the unemployment rate has gone up while the labor market is seeing fewer jobs available for workers. Meanwhile, the housing market has registered record prices for homes amid elevated mortgage rates and limited supply of homes in the market.
Experts suggested that the Fed’s move would help stabilize the labor market in the state.
“We have seen some weakness, but we haven’t been seeing a whole lot of layoffs and hopefully this will continue to decrease the number of layoffs,” Lisa Murray, Citizens Bank’s Massachusetts president, told the Globe. “I think we got a little fat during the pandemic and that’s why we saw some of the activity that we’ve been seeing with layoffs. But I think people are going to continue to try to right-size their organizations for a much more measured economy going forward.”
Laurie White, the president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, told the Globe the Fed’s lowering of borrowing costs will help companies to source relatively cheaper capital to invest in their businesses.
“I think it could be euphemistically said hallelujah,” she said. “The reduction, the half-point reduction, is going to unleash additional capital expenditure activity.”
White described the Fed’s move as “aggressive” and anticipated more cuts over the coming months. She noted, however, how businesses react will be influenced by more than just what the Federal Reserve does, but also by the results of who will end up in the White House.
“I don’t think you’ll see anything, you know, truly, truly consequential from business in terms of making any moves until after the election in November, when it is determined what direction [of] the policy is,” White said.
One area of Rhode Island’s economy White said could be impacted by a drop in rates is the building sector, which could be helped by lower borrowing costs.
“The building and the construction industry is a very important sector to the Rhode Island economy,” she said. “There is a tremendous amount of pressure on homes, there is not…a lot of inventory. What we need is more inventory. But in order to get more inventory, you need to be able to borrow and build at rates that are competitive.”
John Marcantonio, the chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Builders Association, said he would wait and see how the rate cut impacts his members who represent the residential construction business in the state.
“When it was going up, the pace at which it went up, it certainly did affect, you know, housing,” Marcantonio said. “In many ways, how fast it comes down, the pace at which it comes down, where it would settle in, is going to be something we’re all going to have to sit back and watch and see how that effect happens. I would say I’m glad the Fed is finally cutting rates.”
Limited inventory is a major concern for the housing market in Rhode Island. A rate cut could lead to lower mortgage rates, which will spur demand for homes in a state struggling to provide enough properties for prospective buyers, said Chris Whitten, president-elect of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
Interest rates on home loans had been dropping in recent weeks in anticipation of a quarter percentage point rate cut, he said, but a 50 basis point reduction would put added pressure on the Ocean State’s housing market.
“For the Rhode Island housing market, which was already struggling with inventory,” he said, “I am going to see, I think, a lot more buyers getting in the market and therefore a lot more multiple offer situations and therefore the home values continuing to go up on their already record median high pace.”
In recent years, Rhode Island has lagged behind other states in the country in issuing new construction and building permits. An increase in local prospective homebuyers and from neighboring states would escalate competition and push up prices. Although lower borrowing costs may ease the cost of capital for builders, the sector would still face challenges to develop new homes.
“Even though it may be more advantageous for builders now, given the 50 basis points cut, it’s a matter of actually finding those opportunities and getting through the red tape that we have here in Rhode Island, at the local level, to build the inventory that we do need,” Whitten said.
Omar Mohammed can be reached at omar.mohammed@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter (X) @shurufu.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Health professionals are warning Rhode Islanders to look out for a fast-moving threat in the brush this summer: the Lone star tick.
NBC 10’s Martha Konstandinidis went out to see the increase in ticks firsthand and has some simple steps to protect your family.
(WJAR) — The Rhode Island House has passed a Bill that offers a rare alternative when considering end-of-life options: water cremation and human composting.
These processes are actually considered better for the environment.
Instead of being rooted in flames during cremation, remains are placed in water and no greenhouse gases are released.
Tom Harries, CEO of Earth Funeral – Green Funeral Home, explains the natural organic reduction also known as human composting, process while standing in front of an actual vessel in the warehouse during a tour at their new location, which will open in Elkridge. Eventually it will house 126 vessels. Jeffrey F. Bill/Baltimore Sun)
Last year NBC 10 was able to get a first-hand look into how it works.
The John F. Tierney Funeral Home in Connecticut became one of the first in Southern New England to offer water cremation or “Aquamation” for humans.
Remains are placed into a machine, and water begins to circulate, leaving bone material behind.
Human composting uses fertile soil to break down remains.
Lawmakers on both sides spoke before the vote.
It passed 47-17.
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It now heads to the Senate.
(WJAR) — Rhode Island mayors are spending taxpayer dollars on out-of-state travel, attending conferences, summits, and networking events across the country while away from the cities they were elected to lead.
Public records obtained by the NBC 10 I-Team shows the mayors of Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls used public funds for out-of-state travel between March 2025 and March 2026. The mayors of Cranston, East Providence, and North Providence traveled out of state during that period but reported spending no taxpayer money on those trips.
Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien spent $5,061.60 tied to 20 days of out-of-state travel, including $2,676.39 in city funds.
Grebien’s trips included the AGRIP Conference with the Rhode Island Interlocal Trust, Rhode Island Day in Washington, a Business Leaders Day conference hosted by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Veterans Honor Flight, and a medical mission to Cape Verde with Project Health.
Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien spoke about his travel. (WJAR)
“I try to use the least amount of city dollars, use some campaign, and then put some of the private as well,” Grebien said. “I do understand the perception, and that’s why I’m very, very careful.”
Asked how much time at conferences is spent working versus networking, Grebien said, “It’s probably honestly 60-40, 60% work and 40% off time by the time you get everything going.”
Several Rhode Island mayors attended Rhode Island Day in Washington alongside the state’s congressional delegation, despite lawmakers regularly returning to Rhode Island.
Grebien defended the trips as an opportunity to meet federal officials and pursue funding opportunities for the city.
“We are able on those days to go down and meet with department heads, so we have a lot of grants that we are in front of — HUD, the National Park Service — so it gives us that opportunity while we are there to do that,” he said.
Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien spent $5,061.60 tied to 20 days of out-of-state travel, including $2,676.39 in city funds. (WJAR)
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley spent more than 30 days out of state during the one-year period, according to records.
“Most of my travel is with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is hugely valuable,” Smiley said.
Invoices show Smiley attended five conferences or summits across the country, more than any other Rhode Island mayor.
Those trips included the U.S. Conference of Mayors Summer Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida; the U.S. Conference of Mayors Fall Leadership Meeting in Oklahoma less than three months later; the North American Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism in New Orleans; the International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference in Washington; and the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Annual Meeting.
Records also show Smiley traveled to Israel with the Rhode Island Jewish Alliance and took a personal trip to Portugal.
Rhode Island mayors are spending taxpayer dollars on out-of-state travel, attending conferences, summits, and networking events across the country while away from the cities they were elected to lead.
The city spent $1,793.75 on conference registration fees for two of Smiley’s trips.
While Smiley was in Providence during the Brown University shooting, he had been traveling the week before. When asked what would happen if a trip coincided with a city emergency, Smiley said he remains accessible.
“My travel is almost entirely domestic, and I have ready access to get home quickly,” Smiley said. “I was not prevented from doing my job at any point last year or this year either.”
The investigation found Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera spent the most taxpayer money on travel during the period reviewed.
Rivera spent $3,302.23 on 17 days of out-of-state travel. That total included $717 from the police department budget for a joint trip with the city’s police chief.
Rivera traveled to Washington for the Yale Mayor’s College and CEO Caucus and Rhode Island Day, to Atlanta for the Purpose-Built Communities Conference, to Puerto Rico for the Northeast Leadership Conference hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of Rhode Island, and to Chicago for meetings with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and police chiefs.
Rivera said the trips are necessary to build relationships and secure funding opportunities for Central Falls.
“Not every community has a $22 million budget, right? A lot of these communities have more funding,” Rivera said.
Central Falls City Hall. (WJAR)
Rivera pointed to a connection she made during a trip to Chicago that later resulted in funding for the city.
“This was a relationship I built when I went on one of these trips and I was able to get $25,000 for our summer food service program for this year,” she said.
When asked why she does not personally pay for conference travel, Rivera said the costs are difficult to cover privately.
“I wish I could pay for these trips out of my pocket, but it’s really hard,” Rivera said. “I am very careful. We get requests all the time. I don’t go to all these trips.”
Rivera was also the only mayor interviewed who said she canceled travel plans because of a city emergency, including a February 2026 trip to Washington that coincided with a blizzard.
Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins spent six days out of state attending two national conferences but reported spending no city funds on the travel.
Those conferences included the Community Leaders of America CLA|FCL South Carolina Spring National Conference in April 2025 and the CLA|FCL South Dakota Fall National Conference in October 2025. Attendance for both trips was paid for by the conference organization.
East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva spent 12 days out of the city on two international trips, also without spending city funds.
DaSilva’s office says he traveled to Cabo Verde in July 2025 with several state and local leaders to celebrate the country’s 50th anniversary of independence. He also traveled to Sao Miguel in the Azores in June 2025 for the “Sister Cities Summit,” which was paid for by FLAD, the Luso-American Development Foundation.
North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi spent 26 days out of state on five personal trips or vacations and one charitable honor flight, according to records reviewed by the I-Team.
The town said no city or campaign funds were used for Lombardi’s travel.
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