Gina Raimondo

Jobs and the Economy
Our economy is strong when Rhode Islanders can get good paying jobs, wages are growing, construction is booming and everyone who works hard has the opportunity to get ahead. Under Gina’s leadership, Rhode Island has gone from number 49 to number one in the nation for rising wages, there are more people working than at any time in the past 10 years, and our unemployment numbers are on par with the national average (they were some of the highest in the nation when she took office).

Small businesses are the engine of our economy. Gina is committed to supporting Rhode Island businesses — that’s why we’ve made significant investments to help small businesses and local manufacturers.

For the first time in a long time, companies are moving here and expanding here because they want to hire Rhode Islanders. A combination of job training and business incentives has ignited our comeback.

In the last two years, we have recruited or expanded 24 companies that would have gone somewhere else, but today are on track to hire more than 2,000 Rhode Islanders at an average salary of more than $70,000.

New companies means new construction and cranes in the sky. Under Gina’s leadership, Rhode Island has among the fastest annual construction job growth of any state in America.

Early Childhood Education
Excellent early childhood education puts kids on the path to lifelong success. In the three years since Gina took office, there are three times more four-year-olds from low income communities participating in Rhode Island’s public Pre-K. Rhode Island’s preschool programs are among the best in the United States, and our enrollment rates have increased by 70 percent in the past year. As governor, Gina has more than doubled the state’s investment in high-quality, public Pre-K programs.

All families deserve access to excellent childcare, so Gina has taken direct action to ease the financial burden and give peace of mind to low-income working families. Under her leadership we’ve seen the largest increase in Child Care Assistance funding in a decade, and Gina’s latest budget calls for additional investments in improving childcare quality.

K-12 Education
Our kids succeed when they go to great schools with excellent teachers and get a world-class education. No one in Rhode Island history has made a larger investment in our state’s public schools than Gina. From kindergarten through high school graduation, Rhode Island students have more opportunities to thrive than ever before.

As governor, Gina guaranteed all-day kindergarten for every child in Rhode Island. She committed to more than doubling the number of kids who read on grade level in third grade by 2025 — a key indicator for improving high school graduation rates. And since today’s kids need some understanding of coding and digital literacy to compete in the 21st century, Gina made Rhode Island the first state in America to teach computer science in every public school.

Gina is investing in every Rhode Island student so they can graduate high school and have the opportunity to go to college. Thanks to Gina, the PSAT and SAT are free in Rhode Island — and now 20 percent more high school students are taking college admission tests.

But college isn’t for everyone, and everyone deserves a good job. High school students who don’t plan to go to college should graduate with the advanced skills they need to be successful and ready to compete for today’s in-demand jobs in healthcare, construction, computer science and more. Rhode Island, under Gina’s leadership, is leading the nation in expanding career and technical education opportunities. High schoolers are graduating with additional degrees, certifications and licensures, prepared to join the workforce immediately.

Gina ended the state funding freeze on school repairs and construction. Now, she is leading the way to pass a once in a generation school funding package to fix, upgrade and build public schools throughout Rhode Island. There are priority needs in every district — students and teachers deserve schools that are warm, safe and dry.

Higher Education and Job Training
Every hardworking Rhode Islander must have access to the training and education they need to keep up and get ahead — with or without a college degree. Gina is making record investments in education and job training so that every hardworking Rhode Islander can keep up and get ahead in today’s economy.

The top reason cited for not going to college is the the cost, so Gina led the effort to make Rhode Island one of just five states that offers tuition-free access to community college. Thanks to Gina, more than 1,500 additional Rhode Islanders enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) this year — a 43 percent increase.

College isn’t for everyone, but everyone deserves a good job. So Gina created new career and technical training programs in and beyond high school. Rhode Islanders at every stage of their career can get the skills, degrees, certifications and licensures they need for today’s in-demand jobs in healthcare, construction, computer science and more.

Rhode Islanders who complete training programs are matched with local employers in need of talent. Gina’s leadership is a win-win for Rhode Island employers and employees.

Healthcare
Everyone deserves access to high quality, affordable health care.

Under Gina’s leadership, 96 percent of Rhode Islanders have health insurance and our premiums on the state health exchange are the lowest in the country.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is working in Rhode Island. We have one of the highest insured rates in the U.S. When Washington tried to tear Obamacare apart, putting the lives of Rhode Islanders at risk, Gina spoke out and stopped them. Gina will not let Washington take away our health care.

Gina is committed to combating the overdose crisis in Rhode Island — it remains our most urgent health crisis. Gina was one of the first Governors to appoint a dedicated senior adviser to focus full-time on the overdose crisis and our Overdose and Prevention Action Plan has been hailed as a national model. Under Gina’s leadership there has been a decline in overdose deaths in Rhode Island — but even one death is too many, we must keep going.

Roads and Infrastructure
Rhode Islanders deserve safe and well-maintained roads and bridges. When Gina took office, Rhode Island ranked dead last in bridge condition in America — one out of four bridges in our state was crumbling. She made a commitment to fix our roads and bridges and put thousands of Rhode Islanders to work.

Under Gina’s leadership, we have already fixed more than 75 bridges and roads, in every community in Rhode Island, as part of a 10-year, $4.7 billion investment in the state’s infrastructure. The construction industry is back at work repairing and rebuilding Rhode Island.

Energy and the Environment
Climate change will have a big impact on our small state. We have to do all we can to protect Rhode Island’s precious resources.

Governor Gina Raimondo is making sure that every Rhode Island family can enjoy our bay, beaches, forests and wetlands for generations to come.

In her first term, the Governor set an ambitious goal: Make Rhode Island’s energy system ten times cleaner by 2020. With less than two years to go, we’re well on our way to meeting our goal.

Rhode Island is the only state in America with an offshore wind farm and this year Gina announced a new offshore wind project to provide enough energy to power over 200,000 Rhode Island homes and create more than 800 good jobs at every level. Green energy jobs have already increased by 66 percent under Gina’s leadership.

Our state is ranked third in the nation for energy-efficiency programs and policies under Gina. Since 2014, the number of solar companies in Rhode Island has increased from six to 48 and homeowners and businesses across our state are benefiting from incentives to install solar.

Gina has been an environmental leader in our country and region. She endorsed a more aggressive reduction in emissions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a strong, regional approach to combat the climate crisis. When President Trump withdrew our nation from the Paris Climate Agreement, Gina entered Rhode Island into the United States Climate Alliance and committed to uphold greenhouse gas reduction goals despite D.C.’s action. And when the Trump administration threatened to open up Rhode Island’s coastline to offshore oil exploration and drilling, Gina went directly to Washington to protect the Ocean State.

Gun Violence Prevention
School is the last place a parent should have to worry about their child’s safety. Gun violence has become far too common in the United States and Gina believes that if the federal government won’t take action to prevent gun violence and keep our kids safe, states must act. Without action, thoughts and prayers are meaningless.

In 2017, Gina was proud to champion and sign The Protect Rhode Island Families Act, which prohibits gun possession by individuals convicted of domestic violence crimes, and requires that all guns in their possession be turned in upon conviction.

Gina was the first Governor in the country to sign a Red Flag Executive Order after the school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida — ordering police to take all available legal steps to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

She is with Rhode Islanders demanding a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those used in Parkland, Las Vegas and Sandy Hook and she is championing legislation to make schools more secure, healthier and safer.

Gina has never taken a dollar from the NRA and she never will.^[14]