The Gist
Home

Ballot question

Question 4: $50 million in bonds for a State History Center and preservation grants (bond issue)

On the ballot in
Rhode Island
Vote
Yes or no
Election
Nov 3, 2026

The question, as printed on the ballot

4. Cultural Economy $50,000,000 Approval of this question will allow the State to issue general obligation bonds, refunding bonds, and/or temporary notes in an amount not to exceed fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) to provide funding for cultural economy efforts to be allocated as follows: (a) State History Center $45,000,000 Provides forty-five million dollars ($45,000,000) for the construction of a new Rhode Island State History Center. (b) State Preservation Grants Program $5,000,000 Provides five million dollars ($5,000,000) in matching grants administered by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission to cities, towns and nonprofit organizations for capital improvements to public historic sites, museums and cultural art centers located in historic structures, and heritage museums throughout the State.

A “Yes” vote means

A yes vote authorizes up to $50 million in state bonds: $45 million to build a new Rhode Island State History Center and $5 million in historic preservation matching grants.

A “No” vote means

A no vote does not authorize these bonds for the State History Center and preservation grants.

Question text is the project wording of the proposition in Section 1 of Article 5 of the enacted FY 2027 budget (H 7127 Sub A as amended). The Secretary of State prepares the ballot labels (Article 5, Section 2); none were posted on vote.sos.ri.gov or elections.ri.gov as of 2026-09-29 — check against the sample ballot. The proposition as a whole asks: Shall the action of the general assembly, by an act passed at the January 2026 session, authorizing the issuance of bonds, refunding bonds, and temporary notes of the State of Rhode Island for the capital projects and in the amount with respect to each such project listed below be approved, and the issuance of bonds, refunding bonds, and/or temporary notes authorized in accordance with the provisions of said act? Each project is approved or rejected separately.

Sources

The question and plain English statement are copied word for word from official election materials. The Gist does not take a side on ballot questions.