Trump fights complicate latest budget brawl between McKee and Neronha. Here's why.

USA Today

13-02-2025

Trump fights complicate latest budget brawl between McKee and Neronha. Here's why.
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The attorney general asked for $3.65M budget boost to hire 13 new employees
Neronha took issue with McKee denying his budget ask in 2023
Dispute comes as Neronha's office leads state court cases against President Trump's orders
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and Gov. Dan McKee are at odds over the state budget again, this time as Neronha spearheads the Ocean State's opposition to President Donald Trump's agenda.
In his annual request to state budget writers last fall, Neronha asked for a $3.65-million increase in his office's budget for the year starting July 1.
The extra money would allow him to add 13 new employees, including additional prosecutors, and bring it closer in line with staffing levels in other states, he said.
"In the last budget cycle, my office kept our budget request to the absolute minimum, with no new requested [Full-time Equivalent positions] and a modest increase in our base budget," Neronha wrote in his request to McKee. "This year, it is essential that we increase our staff and budget to keep pace with the needs of Rhode Islanders ‒ and to ensure this Office is positioned to meet its statutory, ethical and legal obligations."
Neronha argues he needs more money to fight Trump administration's actions
Not long after Neronha submitted his request, Trump won the 2024 presidential election, raising the probability of litigation between the state and federal government.
That did not convince McKee to give Neronha more money, however. In the budget McKee proposed to lawmakers last month, staffing levels for the attorney general's office were kept flat, as they were for most state agencies in a year of diminished federal resources and a projected revenue deficit.
Neronha's request "for additional [full-time equivalent employees] was not presented in the context of addressing a new administration in Washington, D.C.," state Budget Office spokesman Derek Gomes wrote in an email. "The governor's office recognizes that the Office of the Attorney General can bring forward a request to the General Assembly, and the governor's office will monitor it, as it does with all budget-related items during the legislative session."
When McKee told reporters he would stand by unauthorized immigrants threatened by Trump administration deportation sweeps, Neronha took to the social media platform Bluesky.
"The best way for the governor to stand up for the people of Rhode Island is to give my office the resources we need to protect Rhode Islanders and their interests, as other govs have done," Neronha posted. "We are already litigating v. Trump overreach – and only we can do that. Instead he rejected our request."
Neronha's office is part of four lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions and is leading the 22-state suit to block a federal funding freeze in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. The other suits challenge cuts to National Institutes of Health funding, ending birthright citizenship and access to private information for Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.
Neronha spokesman Timothy Rondeau said the attorney general's office is evaluating "numerous opportunities" to file amicus briefs on federal cases, fielding a "barrage of outreach" from constituents, helping "navigate the fallout" from executive orders and "issued guidance with respect to ICE in schools."
What does Neronha want?
What would the state get for the extra $3.65 million Neronha requested in his budget for next year?
Four new prosecutors, including two to handle drunken driving cases
One victims services advocate
A new three-employee Charities Unit to investigate philanthropies
One attorney and one paralegal to bolster the Open Government Unit
Two new Information Technology employees and one "eDiscovery Management" specialist
New software for cybersecurity, body worn cameras and eDiscovery
Complex litigation expenses for health care, energy rate reviews, and gun cases
McKee's budget for next year includes $51.6 million for the attorney general's office, up from $46.5 million approved by lawmakers for the current year and nearly the $52.5 million Neronha asked for.
But the extra money in the budget would not pay for the new hires Neronha wants, but rather the 5% pay raises the McKee administration awarded state workers last year, which were not included in the budget passed by lawmakers over the summer.
Not the first budget brawl between departments
This isn't the first time Neronha has asked for a budget boost and been denied by McKee. In 2023 Neronha's requested a $2-million increase to pay for, among other things, a new cold case unit. After McKee didn't include it in his budget, state lawmakers added it to the state's final end of session spending plan. (McKee's office noted that they had included extra funding for the attorney general in 2022.)
McKee and Neronha have also clashed over issues including the eviction of a State House homeless encampment, enforcement of an apartment lead abatement law and the investigation of McKee's contracts to friendly education nonprofit the ILO Group.
Now Neronha's request for a bigger budget is once again in the General Assembly's hands.
"The Attorney General has discussed these issues with the Speaker, and is very grateful to both the Speaker and the Senate President for the support they have given our Office over the years to expand our capacity to help Rhode Islanders," Rondeau wrote in an email on the budget.