text: The Democratic governor recommended a budget that's about 1.5 percent higher than last year's enacted budget. The $3.8 billion general revenue budget is 1.7 percent higher. It would close an estimated $204 million deficit.
  Raimondo is asking for a $250 million bond for school construction, which is her top priority. She allocated $20 million for a second cut in the state's car tax, the House speaker's top priority.
  The Raimondo administration is proposing to cut the budget for health and human services, which includes Medicaid, by about $100 million. It plans to save $28.5 million if the federal government reauthorizes a popular children's health insurance program. Another $18.2 million would come from restructuring the current contract with the insurer who coordinates care for Medicaid and Medicare recipients, and from moving people from nursing homes to in-home and community-based care settings to get additional federal funds.
  The budget also proposes adding copayments of up to $8 for certain services for adults using Medicaid, such as inpatient hospital visits, non-emergency visits to the emergency room and non-preventative physician visits. The administration wants to eliminate guaranteed profit margins for insurers for Medicaid beneficiaries to save $23.7 million and maintain current hospital rates, instead of raising them, to save $14.3 million. State officials say they're cutting costs without cutting eligibility or making broad-based benefit cuts.
  Raimondo also wants to divert millions from quasi-state agencies to help close the deficit and use Department of Motor Vehicles fees that would've gone to the transportation department.
  Raimondo also wants to raise taxes on tobacco products and begin taxing cloud-based software services, such as iCloud storage. The tax wouldn't include streaming services, such as Netflix.
  Raimondo is calling for a $1 billion investment to fix the state's schools. The budget proposes asking voters in November to authorize a $250 million bond for the first phase. State officials say it's affordable because the state will have paid off old debt.
  Raimondo wants to add $1.6 million to a fellowship that helps graduates in the science, technology, engineering and math fields with student loan debt, and invest another $500,000 in a fund to help bring more routes to the state's main airport.