Billions on the line in R.I. as Trump comes into office

Jan. 19--PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island has, at the very least, a $12.5-billion stake in the spending decisions that will be made by the new Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Congress. And maybe much more.

These federal dollars pay the salaries of defense industry contractors from Westerly to Woonsocket. They build roads. They help pay hospital and nursing home bills. They pay for college-aid and high-level research into the causes and cures of countless life-cycle phenomenon, from childhood obesity to memory loss. They finance a third of the state budget. They've given Providence the wherewithal to hire 80 new firefighters, and buy 250 body-cams for the capital city police.

According to a government database, the money coming to Rhode Island from Washington D.C. in 2016 included:

- $821.3 million in salaries paid to 10,650 civilian federal employees, including postal workers, in Rhode Island.

- $437.4 million in federal contract payments.

- $2.9 billion in grants to state government, a string of local police and fire departments and scores of nonprofits.

- $5.2 billion for federally subsidized housing for the old, the poor and the disabled; college-aid under Pell grants and other programs that benefited groups as varied as rod-and-gun clubs and the Norman Bird Sanctuary.

- $3.2 billion in federally-backed loans and loan guarantees.

And big as these numbers are, it does not appear they include Social Security or Medicare payments.

And it is not crystal clear they include all $2.9 billion of the federal dollars in this year's $8.9-billion state budget. For example: The budget includes huge chunks of federal money for Medicaid ($1.6 billion), Food Stamps ($282 million), federal highway aid ($245.4 million), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also known as TANF ($64.4 million), Title 1 grants to local schools ($54.5 million), and the National School Lunch Program ($30.8 million).

If federal contracts dry up, that could potentially filter down to hundreds of businesses in Rhode Island, big and small, from Blount Boats in Warren to missile-defense contractor Raytheon on Aquidneck Island. All were targeted to get federal contract dollars in 2016 in amounts ranging from $750 to $185.3 million, according to the website USASpending.gov.

A shrinkage in federal grants could punch big holes in the budgets of many of Rhode Island's cities and towns, state agencies, colleges and hospitals, along with scores of nonprofits from AIDS Care Ocean State to the Trinity Repertory Company.

While other states -- including Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Montana and Kentucky -- are more federal aid-heavy than Rhode Island, a newly-released analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, of 2014 census data, found Rhode Island 16th highest in the nation in terms of how much of its budget is financed by federal dollars. In that year, 34.7 percent.

Anyone worried? The answer: You betcha. But some more openly worried than others.

For example: Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, has repeatedly cited the potential harm that national GOP vows to repeal the Affordable Care Act -- known familiarly as Obamacare -- could have on upwards of 70,000 Rhode Islanders and "how much that will cost us."

"We get an awful lot of [federal] money and, by the way, it isn't just health insurance. Depending on what they do to the Affordable Care Act, it's money that we receive for lead poisoning treatment, immunizations, preventative care, health equity zones. It could be disastrous," she says.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza is also worried, but not enough to change course.

On the November day that he vowed to protect undocumented immigrants from any unfair deportation policy that President-elect Donald Trump might adopt, Elorza acknowledged his stance could put his city's federal aid at risk.

The stakes for Providence: In 2015, the city received a total of $71.3 million from the federal government, according to the most recent information the mayor's staff was able to provide.

While 2016 totals were unavailable, the city's allotment that year included $15.1 million for the future hiring of 80 new firefighters. The Police Department won another $375,000 for a "Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program," according to USAspending. gov. The body-cams await City Council approval.

Other federal-grant dollars were earmarked for: "Emergency shelter grants ... prisoner reentry ... a creative collaboration between Trinity Repertory Company, The Steel Yard and neighborhood residents to present public performances ... design charettes envisioning the future use of the Cranston Street Armory."

"We're not going to sacrifice any of our people, and we're going to continue with the policy we've always had," Elorza said late last year.

Providence cooperates with federal immigration authorities by holding anyone with an immigration detainer who is charged with a crime. But the city has refused for years to hold for possible deportation any undocumented immigrant charged with a simple civil infraction.

"That will not change," the mayor said.

Asked again this week, on the cusp of Trump's inauguration, how worried he is about the city losing aid, Elorza said:

"While it's encouraging that the president-elect has walked back from some aspects of his campaign rhetoric on immigration, we remain vigilant. Even if the president-elect nonetheless takes action to withhold any federal funds because of our position on undocumented immigrants, the City of Providence will not change our policy on the matter."

The stakes for Brown: No university in Rhode island has more federal money flowing through it than Brown University.

In fiscal year 2016, $136.8 million in research spending at Brown was funded by federal government agencies -- and the University distributed $44.5 million in federal financial aid to Brown students. Combined, the total dollar figure in federal support for FY 2016 was $181.3 million, according to Brown spokesman Brian Clark.

The list of campus endeavors funded by these dollars runs for several pages, including research into a potential "pharmaceutical intervention for stress-induced drinking," "an olfactory system that mediates innate behaviors," and "a behavioral analysis of demand for marijuana."

A layman would have a hard time deciphering some of the other areas of inquiry, but they are all a part of the draw of this world-renowned university on Providence's College Hill.

In the wake of Donald Trump's election, the Ivy League campus has also been a hotbed of political activity that has, at times, put its president, Christina Paxson, in the proverbial hot seat.

In November, Brown students staged a walkout in a show of support for black, Latino, Muslim, LGBTQ and others who fear for their safety in the Trump era.

"This walkout is about something bigger than a single election," the organizers explained. "It is a walkout against white supremacy, xenophobia, classism, transphobia, sexism and other systems of oppression that now have a platform in this nation."

Faculty members, alums and graduate students urged Brown to protect undocumented members of the Brown community from deportation, by offering them "sanctuary."

Paxson agreed: "Many of the statements that the president-elect articulated during the campaign with regard to immigration and undocumented members of communities across the United States have prompted fear and anxiety."

But, in an Op-Ed published in the Brown Daily Herald, she said private universities and colleges cannot bar law enforcement from entering the campus to enforce immigration law.

"While we wish we could offer absolute protection to members of our community who are threatened by possible changes in policy, it would be irresponsible to promise protections that we cannot legally deliver."

Asked how worried she is about Brown's continued ability to secure tens of millions of federal dollars, Paxson issued this statement:

"At this point, there is very little information about how policies that have an impact on higher education might change. We will continue to be vigilant, keeping a close eye on developments and, as appropriate, communicating with elected officials about issues that affect colleges and universities."

The federal dollars flowing into Rhode Island fall into several buckets:

Federal employees: $821.3 million

In 2016, 10,650 federal workers in Rhode Island were paid an estimated $821.3 million in wages, an average of $77,166 each. That represented about 3.5 percent of total wages paid in the state, according to R.I. Department of Labor & Training numbers.

By way of comparison, the private sector average was $49,900 and the average salary for all workers $51,650.

The numbers do not, however, include 7,486 military personnel, including 3,309 on active duty and 4,177 in the National Guard stationed in Rhode Island.

Putting these numbers in some context: In 2015, federal workers made up 2.2 percent of Rhode Island's total workforce, the only branch of government within the state to have a higher percentage than that of the nation and the region, according to state Department of Labor analyst Joseph Bianco.

Federal contracts: $437,388,625

It is no easy task identifying -- to the penny -- exactly how many federal dollars flow through Rhode Island in any given year.

One source of information is the website USAspending.gov, which lists 540 Rhode Island hospitals, colleges, individuals and companies and state agencies that received the $437.4 million in contract commitments in 2016 from an alphabet soup of federal agencies.

No federal agency pumped more money into Rhode Island's economy than the Department of Defense: $332,062,581.

Among the biggest beneficiaries: Raytheon in Portsmouth with $185.3 million in contract commitments, and Systems Engineering Associates Corp. in Middletown, $51.9 million, according to the federal spending site. But scores of others were slated for these federal contract dollars, including: Hyman Brickle & Son, a Woonsocket-based woolens company that produces pea coats and blankets, the Newport Tent Company, the B & M Clambake Company and the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation.

Federal grants: $2,933,179,779

In 2016, the federal government committed a total of $2.9 billion to a long list of hospitals, colleges, government and nonprofit agencies.

The A-to-Z list began with the Adjutant General's Office ($9.9 million) and ended with the YMCA Rhode Island $717,698.

Other designated recipients included: AIDS Care Ocean State, the Alliance of Artist Communities, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, the Norman Bird Sanctuary, the Narragansett Indian tribe, the Providence Children's Museum, the Rhode Island Disability Law Center, the RI Indian Council, the RiverEdge Arts Project, Smith's Castle, Trinity Repertory Company and the Village Hearth Bakery.

Other financial assistance: $5,138,370,639

In this category are billions of federal dollars that flow through the state's public and private colleges in the form of Pell grants.

Recipients ranged from Brown to the Newport School of Hairdressing, the Toni and Guy Hairdressing Academy, the St. Joseph School of Nursing, the International Yacht Restoration School, the New England Institute of Technology and New England Tractor-Trailer Training.

But a big chunk of this money -- $82.1 million -- went towards subsidized housing in public and privately-run venues. Another aid category: "trade adjustment assistance" for farmers and fishermen.

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