Rhode Island’s single-party rule, since the last Republican was elected to statewide or federal office 20 years ago, has further devastated the state’s poor standing in America, according to a new report published today by the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity.
The report, “One Score,” initially documents twenty failures from liberal public policies over twenty years of decline across the board, housing and other affordability and tax issues, deteriorating educational results, perpetually poor business rankings, crumbling infrastructure, cultural/migration losses, and other economic failures.
The report’s preamble “One Score and Zero Years Ago …” is satirically modeled after President Lincoln’s famed Gettsyburg Address, citing “governance conceived not in liberty.” It lists fourteen areas where the state declined from its already poor rankings and six areas where the Ocean State currently ranks as “worst” or near the very bottom.
“Rhode Island’s ruling elite remains willfully blind to the grim reality that their own disastrous policies have betrayed and impoverished the people of our state,” declared Mike Stenhouse, CEO of the Center. “Trapped in their fantasy world of progressive dogma and woke ideology, this year’s budget doubles down on the very failed experiments that are already dragging us toward the edge. Let me be clear: this is not leadership – it is pure special-interest politics and it is the express lane over the cliff. Sadly, the assault on RI families continues. Voters need to wake up.”
The report can be viewed at RIFreedom.org/OneScore. In the coming days, supporting references and charts will be added to the website. In the coming weeks and months, additional failures will be presented.
Twenty Years of Decline
- Rhode Island’s average price of electricity increased 73%, managing to rank even worse than 47th held in 2006, now at 48th. (U.S. Energy Information Administration US Electricity Profile)
- Rhode Island’s state taxation per gallon of gasoline increased from $0.33 (13th worst) in 2013 to $0.41 (10th worst) in 2025. (Tax Foundation Gas Taxes by State)
- State and local governments in Rhode Island collected $2,534 per capita in 2022, which was 9th highest in the country and up from $1,776 in 2006. (Calculated from Urban Institute State and Local Finance Data)
- Rhode Islanders’ per capita spending on food prepared at home increased 16% from 2006 to 2024, which was the biggest increase in the country. (Calculated from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Economic Research Service Food Expenditure Series)
- Per pupil spending increased from 2006 to 2023 from $11,769 to $21,182, an increase of 19% above inflation, reaching the 8th highest cost. (U.S. Census Bureau Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data)
- Enrollment of students in Rhode Island public schools is down nearly 20,000 (13%) from the 2005-06 school year. (Anchor Rising October Enrollment)
- Rhode Island’s population grew 43% more slowly than the nation overall (2010-2024). (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2025)
- The number of RI public school students qualifying for free or reduced lunch (a marker of poverty) has increased 21,481 (42%) from 2005-06 to 2025-26. (Anchor Rising October Enrollment)
- In 2006, 6.9% of Rhode Island’s resident population relied on food stamps (SNAP). In 2023, the rate was 13%. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- On a very broad collection markers of freedom, Rhode Island is consistently in the bottom 20, with a generally downward drift over time. 2006 was its high point since 2000, when the state ranked only 20th least free. Its latest rank (2022) was 15th least free. (Cato Institute)
- The Ocean State has failed to escape from the very bottom of CNBC’s Top States for Business Ranking, essentially unchanged at 46 in 2025 from its rank of 48 in 2007. (CNBC)
- For an index focused on long-term competitiveness, Beacon Hill put RI at the middle of the pack in 2006 (25th best), but by 2018, the state had fallen to 14th worst. (Beacon Hill Institute, 2006 and 2018)
- Rhode Island’s NAEP scores are stagnant 2007 since, with an average proficiency across math and reading and 4th and 8th grade of 32%. The state’s saving grace is that other states are falling faster. (The Nation’s Report Card, Rhode Island)
- Rhode Island’s gross domestic product (GDP) failed to keep pace with the country’s, so the Ocean State’s rank slipped from 22nd best to 16th wors between 2006 and 2025. (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2006 and 2025)
State of the State Today
- With only about 10,000 babies born in Rhode Island annually, the state has the second-lowest fertility rate in the country.(WPRI)
- Rhode Island is the worst state in the United States for starting a business. (WalletHub)
- Of all Rhode Island households, 44% experience food insecurity over the course of a year. (Rhode Island Voices)
- Rhode Island has the worst roads in the country, with 37% of major roadways in poor condition. (Construction Coverage)
- Rhode Island is the least educated stae in New England. (WalletHub)
- The Ocean State’s housing affordability has taken the nation’s biggest hit since the pandemic. (Realtor.com)
