Coming up in Committee: Thirty-Two Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly, March 12 - March 14, Part 2

20. H5300: Creates an underground utility contractor licensing process (and fee) where, apparently, none currently exists. (H Corporations; Wed, Mar 13)

19. S0212: Allows "mobile and manufactured homes within a mobile and manufactured home park" to count towards a city or town's low or moderate income housing requirements. (Senate Housing and Municipal Government; Thu, Mar 14)

18. S0672/S0640: Prohibits local ordinances regarding "the location, design, construction, or maintenance of on-site sewage disposal systems and/or wetland setbacks or requirements" from being more stringent than DEM or CRMC regulations. (S Environment and Agriculture; Wed, Mar 13)

17. S0501: Joins Rhode Island to something called the "International emergency management assistance compact", article III section (a)(7) of which requires member jurisdictions to "provide, to the extent authorized by law, for temporary suspension of any statutes or ordinances, over which the province or state has jurisdiction, that impede the implementation of the responsibilities described in this subsection". (S Special Legislation and Veterans Affairs; Wed, Mar 13)

16. H5657: "All pupils in grades kindergarten through eight in all public schools in the state shall receive instruction designed to prevent the abduction, exploitation or sexual abuse of children". (H House, Education and Welfare; Wed, Mar 13)

15. H5711 mandates that all higher education institutions in Rhode Island (no distinction between public and private is made) honor suitable "military training, experience, correspondence courses and occupations, and adopt a policy for applying those credits to veterans. {H5712, S0629} mandate that state licensing boards consider the "education, training or services completed by an individual as a member of the Armed Forces or Reserves of the United States, the National Guard of any state, the Military Reserves of any state, or the Naval Militia of any state toward the qualifications to receive the license or certification". Both bills submitted at the request of the Governor. (S Special Legislation and Veterans' Affairs; Wed, Mar 13 & H Veterans' Affairs; Thu, Mar 14)

14. H5364: Allows the state to make a refund deal for "any financing leases entered into with the authorization of the general assembly" (no explicit mention is made of "bonds", "guarantee agreements", or "other obligations"), while "public corporations" could only refund various instruments of obligation if they had been issued "to finance the acquisition, construction, or improvement of an essential public facility". (H Finance; Wed, Mar 13) This bill has already been passed by the full Senate, so whatever it does, it goes to the Governor if it passes the House.

13. S0279: Requires all licensed healthcare organizations in Rhode Island to "establish a system for identifying patients or residents who could benefit from palliative care", where palliative care "includes, but is not limited to, discussions of the patient's goals for treatment; discussion of treatment options appropriate to the patient, including, where appropriate, hospice care; and comprehensive pain and symptom management". (S Health and Human Services; Tue, Mar 12)

12. H5184: "No public school official or public school employee shall display or distribute to any pupil any campaign materials...relative to any campaign for election to public office, nor shall the same be sent home with pupils". (H Judiciary; Tue, Mar 12)

11. H5251: Mandates "constant" electronic surveillance in all individual resident rooms and public areas of licensed nursing homes. (H House, Education and Welfare; Wed, Mar 13) This line still strikes me as creepy: "Electronic monitoring in residents' rooms, bathrooms, and bathing areas shall be constant", even if the surveillance in the bathrooms and bathing areas is only required to be audio.