Rhode Island’s Delegation Voted Against $156M in Health Care Funding. I Would Have Voted Yes.

Why putting Rhode Island first means working with any president who delivers results

Rhode Island just received $156 million in federal funding to transform rural health care across our state. This couldn’t come at a better time—two of our hospitals are on the edge of bankruptcy, and Rhode Island families are struggling with some of the highest healthcare costs in America.

This funding will expand services at federally qualified health centers, grow Hospital at Home programs, strengthen behavioral health and opioid response efforts, and bring critical support to Block Island and the Narragansett Indian Tribe. It’s exactly the kind of investment Rhode Island desperately needs to keep care close to home and reduce costs for working families.

There’s just one problem: our entire congressional delegation voted against it.

Senator Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Representative Gabe Amo, and Representative Seth Magaziner all voted no on the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation that created the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. When Governor McKee announced the award, he called it “a major win for Rhode Island” but never mentioned President Trump or acknowledged that our delegation opposed the very bill delivering this funding.

I respect their right to vote their conscience, but I disagree with that decision. Rhode Island families needed this $156 million. Our hospitals needed it. Our tribal communities needed it. Block Island needed it. When you represent Rhode Island, your first question shouldn’t be “which party proposed this?” It should be “does this help Rhode Island?”

This is exactly why I’m running for Congress as a right-leaning independent focused on accountability and results. I’ll work with any president—Democrat, Republican, or Independent—who delivers real wins for Rhode Island families, veterans, defense workers, and communities. Party labels matter less than bringing home funding that keeps our hospitals open, supports our tribal nations, and ensures every Rhode Islander has access to quality care regardless of their ZIP code.

Rhode Island deserves representatives who put our state first, every single time. That’s the standard I’ll hold myself to in Congress—and the standard I’ll expect from everyone else