‘Ello, Gov’na!: Dan McKee sworn in; ballot questions approved

For most of us, it was just another Tuesday night.

For Dan McKee, it was the day he became governor.

Former Gov. Gina Raimondo finally made it to the District on Tuesday, when the Senate voted to confirm her for Commerce Secretary 84-15 last night. She picked up enough Republican votes to comfortably call it a bipartisan consensus, and the list of dissents from the Republican side is a probable list of who’s running for president in 2024.

Sec. Raimondo left Rhode Island for the nation’s capitol yesterday morning from T.F. Green. Shortly after the final vote count was in, she submitted her resignation to McKee. Raimondo is scheduled to be sworn in Wednesday evening by Vice President Kamala Harris, making her the first Rhode Islander to make it to the cabinet since the days of Harry S. Truman and the atom bomb. In her resignation letter, she called her time in office the “honor of a lifetime” and said the future for the Ocean State is bright.

Dan McKee was sworn in Tuesday evening a little after 6:30pm (what good show in Providence actually starts on time?) to become Rhode Island’s 76th governor. The new governor’s first act of office was to sign an executive order calling for the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct. His office issued this statement:

“I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve the people of Rhode Island at this crucial time for our state, I will work hard, day in and day out, on behalf of Rhode Islanders in all 39 cities and towns to ensure we come out of this pandemic stronger than we went in.”

A public inauguration ceremony will take place Sunday, March 7, noon on the south steps of the Statehouse. 

Just before his swearing-in ceremony, McKee released his list of major staff appointments. Kevin Horan, as guessed by Public’s Radio Ian Donnis, is on as director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs. Corey Jones, formerly co-founder and executive director of RI Black Lives Matter PAC, joins senior staff as a policy advisor (Harrison Tuttle will replace him in his role at the PAC). Joseph Polisena Jr, son of the well-known Johnston mayor, joins as Deputy Counsel. McKee’s new team also includes former members of our illustrious local press, Jonathan Bissonette, Lexi Kriss, and Brenna McCabe in various positions. As previously reported, Andrea Palagi is staying on as director of communications, and Anthony Silva is chief of staff.

It was a quick ceremony for the governor, sworn in by Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, with family present. As typical for our plague-marked year, everyone was wearing masks. Gov. McKee’s day started with voting at Cumberland Town Hall Tuesday morning, before receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at 12:30pm at the Dunk. He takes over a state with declining COVID rates, on the night of a bond question referendum. McKee has gone on record saying he won’t change the COVID response leadership, and has stressed the need to increase vaccine distribution capacity. Within weeks, the new governor will have to submit his budget for the upcoming fiscal year starting on July 1, and the state is projected to be $300 million in the red.

It’s hard to remember with all the other news happening in Rhode Island, but the Ocean State held a March election on Tuesday. Last fall state leaders chose to push the seven bond questions to a referendum for 2021. The seven questions on the ballot represented almost $400 million in government borrowing. Ocean State voters, so the conventional wisdom from our chattering classes say, tend to approve all ballot measures across the board. And once again, they were right. After 100,000 regular in-person, mail and emergency ballots cast, the people of Rhode Island have approved the borrowing.

Question 1 provides $107 million in bonds for the state’s network of public higher educational institutions. Question 2 provides $74 million for various green projects. The third question sets aside $65 million toward affordable housing construction. Question 4 awards $71 million for highway and port infrastructure improvements (with greater federal monies available as well). Question five was a new one for longtime ballot fans, child care was on the ballot as Rhode Island’s early education system became even more overwhelmed during the pandemic (read our coverage here). Question six provided $7 million matching funds for Trinity Rep, the RI Philharmonic and arts organization. And finally question 7 provides $60 million for industrial facilities infrastructure, including the port at Davisville.

The question that came closest to being rejected by voters was 7, getting approval with 58.7% of the vote.