nlavin@rhodeislandcurrent.com

Nancy Lavin

[email protected]

Nancy Lavin is a senior reporter at the Rhode Island Current. She is an award-winning reporter covering politics, energy issues and the environment for Rhode Island Current. She previously reported on banking and finance, energy and entrepreneurship for Providence Business News. Nancy also spent three and a half years at the Frederick (Md.) News-Post and worked at The Westerly Sun. She is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

FY27 budget heads to Gov. McKee’s desk after Senate approval
Rhode Island

FY27 budget heads to Gov. McKee’s desk after Senate approval

7:13pm ET
Nancy Lavin
A $15.2 billion budget — the highest state spending plan on record — heads to Gov. Dan McKee’s desk, following the Rhode Island Senate’s approval Tuesday. The upper chamber’s 32-6 vote followed more than two hours of debate and a...
Local Democratic party leaders endorse Foulkes and Khamsyvoravong over incumbents
Rhode Island

Local Democratic party leaders endorse Foulkes and Khamsyvoravong over incumbents

11:38am ET
Nancy Lavin
The Democratic challengers for governor and lieutenant governor, Helena Buonanno Foulkes and Xay Khamsyvoravong, won the backing of local party leaders during a closed-door meeting at the Rochambeau Library in Providence Monday night. The Rhode Island Association of Democratic City...
How environmental advocates stopped a late-session push to let RI Energy own power plants
Rhode Island

How environmental advocates stopped a late-session push to let RI Energy own power plants

Jun 08, 2026
Nancy Lavin
No one testified in opposition when a proposal that would let Rhode Island Energy own power plants went before lawmakers during concurrent chamber vettings on April 28. It seemed unlikely that the sweeping reversal of a three-decade-old law separating utility...
House approves $15.2B FY27 budget with marquee acquisition: millionaire’s tax
Rhode Island

House approves $15.2B FY27 budget with marquee acquisition: millionaire’s tax

Jun 05, 2026
Nancy Lavin
A record $15.2 billion fiscal 2027 budget breezed through the Rhode Island House of Representatives in near record time Friday, with the 65-10 vote finalized with an hour to spare before sunset. The approved budget is almost identical to the...
RI Senate confirms final member to retooled CRMC
Rhode Island

RI Senate confirms final member to retooled CRMC

Jun 04, 2026
Nancy Lavin
The newly reshaped Rhode Island Coastal Management Council (CRMC) is set, with the Rhode Island Senate confirming Scott Rabideau as the sixth and final appointee on Thursday. The 38-0 vote, made without discussion, answers the mandate set by lawmakers nearly...
Take two for McKee campaign ad, now free of sex and drug joke. What the experts say of the cleanup.
Rhode Island

Take two for McKee campaign ad, now free of sex and drug joke. What the experts say of the cleanup.

Jun 04, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Gov. Dan McKee’s reelection campaign replaced a commercial with a new version Wednesday, wiped clean of off-color sex and drugs references in a split-second shot of a health insurance card graphic. McKee’s campaign spent another $66,804 to air the revised...
Rhode Island backed a pro-slavery amendment 165 years ago. Now lawmakers look to repeal it.
Rhode Island

Rhode Island backed a pro-slavery amendment 165 years ago. Now lawmakers look to repeal it.

Jun 03, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Daniel Trafford can rattle off dates of Civil War battles and publications down to the month and day without hesitation. But the State House publicist and history buff had no idea Rhode Island lawmakers attempted to prevent the Civil War...
Lincoln medtech CEO picked to lead state life sciences agency
Rhode Island

Lincoln medtech CEO picked to lead state life sciences agency

Jun 02, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Bob Cormier, a leading medical technology and healthcare executive with Rhode Island roots, has been tapped to take over as president and CEO for the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation announced Tuesday. Cormier’s selection by the...
Revised FY27 budget takes up ‘compromise’ millionaire’s tax, frustrating businesses and progressives
Rhode Island

Revised FY27 budget takes up ‘compromise’ millionaire’s tax, frustrating businesses and progressives

Jun 02, 2026
Nancy Lavin
The long-debated state millionaire’s tax finally survived the legislative gauntlet, securing a place in the revised fiscal 2027 budget given initial passage by a panel of House lawmakers Friday night. But the hotly contested tax on top earners remains a...
Rhode Island has a primary care problem. Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King has a plan.
Rhode Island

Rhode Island has a primary care problem. Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King has a plan.

Jun 01, 2026
Nancy Lavin
An initial wellness exam for the state’s primary care landscape published by the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner on Monday found fewer Rhode Islanders have a personal doctor they can turn to for non-urgent health concerns compared with a...
House lawmakers see governor’s proposed FY27 budget and raise it to $15.2B
Rhode Island

House lawmakers see governor’s proposed FY27 budget and raise it to $15.2B

May 29, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Two long-debated topics on Smith Hill, a millionaire’s tax and a state inspector general, were cemented in the revised fiscal 2027 budget given first passage by a panel of House lawmakers Friday night. The record $15.2 billion budget — even...
Two days after McKee, Foulkes fires back with twice-as-long campaign commercial
Rhode Island

Two days after McKee, Foulkes fires back with twice-as-long campaign commercial

May 29, 2026
Nancy Lavin
Helena Buonanno Foulkes will hit local airwaves Saturday with the first TV ad of her campaign. The Friday morning announcement of the forthcoming 60-second spot, already available on YouTube , comes two days after Gov. Dan McKee’s campaign made its...