PROVIDENCE Rhode Island state government is set to finish a COVID-ravaged year better funded than ever after the General Assembly passed a $12.7-billion mid-year state budget Friday.
Meeting in a rare lame-duck session at Rhode Island College for social distancing, senators passed the budget 31 to 5 along party lines, with all Senate Republicans opposed. The tax-and-spending plan passed the House on Wednesday, and Gov. GIna Raimondo is expected to sign it into law.
The budget takes advantage of unprecedented federal funding to maintain current services and avoid layoffs through the end of June.
Rhode Island spending in the budget would exceed what Raimondo proposed in January by $2.5 billion and last year s budget by $900 million.