Voters in Rhode Island approved all seven bond measures—totaling $400 million—in a special election on March 2. The Rhode Island Legislature referred the questions to the ballot.
Here are the details for all seven approved measures:
- Question 1: Authorized $107.3 million in bonds for the University of Rhode Island Fine Arts Center, the Rhode Island College Clarke Science Building, and the Community College of Rhode Island
- Question 2: Authorized $74 million in bonds for state beaches, parks, recreational facilities, and water projects
- Question 3: Authorized $65 million in bonds for building and renovating housing projects
- Question 4: Authorized $71.7 million in bonds for transportation infrastructure
- Question 5: Authorized $15 million in bonds for the Early Childhood Care and Education Capital Fund
- Question 6: Authorized $7 million in bonds for the Cultural Arts and the Economy Grant Program and the State Preservation Grants Program
- Question 7: Authorized $60 million in bonds to fund improvements to industrial facilities infrastructure
In Rhode Island, the legislature must ask voters to issue general obligation bonds over $50,000, except in the case of war, insurrection, or invasion. To put a legislatively referred bond question before voters, a simple majority vote is required in both chambers.
Between 2008 and 2020, voters in Rhode Island had decided 22 bond measures, totaling $1.3 billion in principal value. Voters approved 100 percent of the bond measures, with support ranging from 55.23% (Question 2 of 2010) to 83.89% (Question 3 of 2016). The last odd-year bond election in Rhode Island was in 1985 where voters approved nine bond measures.
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