JEC Report: Trump Price Hikes Costing RI Households Extra $3,800+ for Everyday Essentials

PROVIDENCE, RI - Due to President Trump's irresponsible policies and destabilizing, chaotic, volatile approach to governing, the cost of gasoline, housing, healthcare, childcare, groceries, utility bills, and other prices are up in Rhode Island and nationwide, and Americans are feeling the pinch.

Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed once again called on President Trump to end his reckless war with Iran and halt his chaotic tariff tax regime that is fueling higher prices.

A recent report from the minority staff of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) analyzed changes in the prices Rhode Islanders are paying under the Trump Administration and concludes that Rhode Islanders are having to spend over $3,800 more under President Trump.

Reed also notes that two-thirds of the federal tax cuts in Trump's so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' law went to the top 20 percent of households by income, while also slashing $1 trillion from Medicaid and reducing nutrition assistance and federal aid to less fortunate families.

Today, Senator Reed issued the following statement noting that Trump's latest trade war with Canada, including new tariff taxes on Canadian goods, as well as the across-the-board tariffs and ongoing war with Iran, will stretch the budgets of working families even more in the coming weeks:

"With gas, groceries, and other prices surging, Rhode Islanders are continuing to feel the economic pressure of Donald Trump's reckless war of choice with Iran and his costly tariff taxes, which are driving up the price of everyday essentials. On top of that, Congressional Republicans backed a federal law reducing access to affordable health care and eroding the social safety net.

"It's unfair that Rhode Islanders are being forced to spend an extra $3,800 per household just to buy the basics under Trump. Americans can't afford Trump's price hikes. It's time for change and it's time for Congress to take action and give working people a real rebate for the unnecessarily elevated prices they have been forced to pay by the Trump Administration."

Reed also notes that the increase in higher costs for essential items comes on top of the hundreds of billions of dollars the war in Iran has already cost U.S. taxpayers.

Meanwhile, in a separate report, the JEC also found that while President Trump enriched his own family by at least $2.2 billion in income while in office last year, American families lost $219 billion to rising costs last year under the Trump Administration.

To help return some hard-earned money to American workers, Senator Reed has cosponsored two key bills that could provide major rebates to Americans who have been unfairly forced to bear the burden of Trump's tariffs and oil price shocks: the Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act (S.4093) and the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act (S. 4111).

Led by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), the Tariff Refunds for Working Families Act would create a tax rebate program for individuals and families who have paid increased prices for groceries and everyday essentials due to President Trump's unlawful foreign tariffs. The bill would provide direct rebates of $1,200 to American families who make $180,000 or less and $600 to individuals who make $90,000 or less. It would also provide an additional $600 for each dependent child.

As American drivers pay more for gas and oil profits climb due to the war, Senator Reed has also teamed up with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehoue (D-RI), who is the lead Democrat on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, on the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act. This bill would impose an excise tax on the windfall profits of major oil companies that produce or import 300,000+ barrels per day, and return some of the industry's tens of billions of dollars in excessive gains to consumers in the form of a quarterly rebate.

Key findings from the JEC-Minority report and other statistics:

Housing Costs

• Rhode Island families have had to spend $957 more on housing costs such as rent and mortgage payments since President Trump took office.

Grocery Costs

• Americans paid $310 more for groceries in President Trump's first year than in 2024, and grocery prices are now more than 4 percent higher than when Trump took office.

• Beef and coffee prices are hitting Americans especially hard. Since the President took office, the average price of ground beef has risen almost every month to record highs and is currently nearly $7 per pound. Coffee prices also spiked to nearly $10 per pound.

Energy Costs

• Gas prices have soared since the start of Trump's Iran War. In total, people across Rhode Island have spent $158 million more on gas since the beginning of the war. That means the average family in Rhode Island has spent $393 more on gas.

• Families in Rhode Island paid $40 more for electricity in 2025 under President Trump than they did in 2024. And, in just the first six months of 2026, they are expected to spend an estimated $57 more for electricity than they did in the first half of 2024.

- Rhode Island families who use heating oil paid $288 more to heat their homes this March compared to last year.

Health Care Costs

• Because of Trump and Republicans' refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax cuts that help people afford their health insurance, monthly premiums for ACA plans rose over 50 percent on average in 2026 compared to last year. Meanwhile deductibles surged to record highs, increasing by more than $1,000 on average.

JEC report sources include: Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index and Average Price Data, Joint Economic Committee - Republicans, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Walmart.com, AAA.com, Edmunds.com, Federal Highway Administration, Energy Information Administration, National Weather Service, heatable.com, Kaiser Family Foundation.

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