To continue the basketball analogy that Governor Dan McKee (D-Cumberland) used in his State of the State address, delivered on Tuesday night, he was putting up shots from all over the court, be they open layups or contested three-pointers.

Housing, life sciences education, reducing chronic absenteeism, Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) reform, creating a state archives building and raising the state’s per capita income by $20,000 were all among the focuses of the address.

Representative Joseph McNamara (D-Warwick, Cranston), who was mentioned twice in the address, said McKee’s speech was unifying, and placed emphasis on areas where it was important for the state to work on.

“I thought it was a very upbeat message that highlighted the importance of everyone working together for a common goal to achieve success, and I loved the analogy of comparing Rhode Island to a basketball team that overcomes obstacles by working together and a joint effort,” McNamara said. “I think that today, it’s a message that people would like to see at every level of government- more collaboration and working towards the common good.”

With fewer federal funds coming in and warnings from Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi (D-Warwick) that the upcoming budget will likely not be as high as this past year’s, McNamara cautioned to look between the lines for what the governor doesn’t consider as high of a priority, and what could be more likely to be cut in next year’s budget.

“It was very telling, the things that weren’t mentioned in the speech,” McNamara said. “You didn’t hear anything about the Industrial National Bank Building, also known as the Superman Building; you didn’t hear anything about major investments in RIPTA.”

One of the likely top issues for the General Assembly this year, according to McNamara, will be affordable housing. McNamara said that state Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor is currently examining a quasi-public housing model that worked in Maryland, which he hopes will help accelerate the production of affordable housing statewide.

McNamara, who’s been in the House of Representatives since 1995, said that the goals of the administration largely align with the goals of the General Assembly.

“In terms of education, Speaker Shekarchi has been a leader in establishing the life sciences as an industry that we are both geographically and educationally able to achieve. These are jobs that pay six figures, which young families need today to survive, and they’re jobs that will be continually in demand, so I think in terms of that, we’re aligned,” McNamara said. “There’s been no greater leader in the state in terms of housing reform and ensuring that we develop affordable housing than the Speaker, and we realize that that’s a huge issue facing the state. I think in these areas, we’re aligned.”

Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi, who attended the address, could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.

Warwick Public Schools Superintendent Lynn Dambruch and Assistant Superintendent Bill McCaffrey said that they were particularly happy about a $15 million investment that the governor promised to include in his proposed budget.

That money, according to McKee, will be going towards coaching for math and English Language Arts (ELA) teachers and professional development. McKee had previously said that closing the gap between Rhode Island and Massachusetts schools by 2030 was a priority of his, which he brought up again during the address.

“I’m thrilled that the governor has a lofty goal for closing the gap by 2030, and I’m happy that he’s backing that goal with money to support it,” Dambruch said.

According to Dambruch, WPS recently purchased a new, higher-quality curriculum to help raise student standards and test scores.

McKee also prominently mentioned cutting down on chronic absenteeism- something Warwick has been able to take a significant chunk off of, according to Dambruch, who mentioned in the most recent School Committee meeting that the chronic absenteeism rate in Warwick had decreased from 45% to 32%. The loudest cheers of the night came when McKee introduced three students who were formerly chronically absent and managed to turn their attendance around this school year.

Outside of that, some of the largest cheers of the night came when McKee mentioned legislation to ban assault weapons statewide.

Warwick Police Chief Bradford Connor, the newly inducted president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association, said that the association did not have an official position on the proposed ban.

“When we polled the association last year on all the gun bills, we were split down the middle, so we didn’t offer an opinion,” Connor said. “Some chiefs, especially [Bristol Police Chief and former RIPCA president Kevin] Lynch, were in favor of the bills and provided testimony in support. When we poll the chiefs again, I imagine we’ll be in the same place.”

The RI GOP response to McKee’s address was given by House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale (R-Foster, Glocester, Coventry), who said that parts of the governor’s agenda, including the Act on Climate of 2021, were idealistic and unrealistic, lambasted him and Rhode Island Department of Transportation (DOT) director Peter Alviti for the near-failure of the Washington Bridge last month and said that the state needs to be looking at places to cut spending. Chippendale also mentioned the RI GOP’s proposal to create the position of Inspector General, which he said would save taxpayers billions of dollars and exists in 36 states and the District of Columbia.

Responding to Chippendale’s remarks, McNamara said that the Minority Leader was being disingenuous with some of his criticism.

“For example, I know he talked about the toll gantries still being up and the danger that they will be turned into car tolls,” McNamara said. “There is no legislation, no proposal to do that, and as a matter of fact, when we passed the Rhode Works legislation, it explicitly excluded the possibility that they would be used for car tolls; and by the way, he voted against that.”

McNamara said that he knew of some Republicans in the House who were in support of bills introduced in the General Assembly on some of the issues McKee mentioned as priorities.

Additional reporting done by John Howell