Lots of very interesting bills are being heard by General Assembly committees in the upcoming week. I’ll put up the list in three separate posts; here’s part 1 or part 3, depending on your personal preference for numbering conventions…

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17. H5310: Prohibits rental agreements from containing clauses that prohibit tenants from inviting contractors onto a rental property to conduct repairs. A sentence that makes you wonder what the backstory is is included at the end: “This prohibition shall extend to rental agreements for docks, piers and marina slips” (House Corporations, April 12).
16. H6032: Creates a licensing board for orthotists or prosthetists, where the Rhode Island Society of Orthotists and Prosthetists gets to appoint 2 of the 3 members. A clear separation of powers violation (House Corporations, April 12).
15. H5664: Requires colleges and universities provide information about graduating students to the Secretary of State on an annual basis, to assist him in keeping voter rolls updated. No one is automatically removed from the voter registration list as the result of this bill (House Judicary, April 13).
14. H5458: From the official description: “This act would make any financial town meeting or referendum to set a city or town’s budget or tax rate subject to state election laws” (House Judiciary, April 13).
13B. H5804/H5813: Would either increase (H5804) or entirely remove (H5813) the maximum number of voters that can be assigned to a single polling place, maintaining the restriction that no polling place can span more than a single ward (House Judiciary, April 13).
13A. H5511/H5661: Both bills would move the poll closing time in Rhode Island elections from 9pm to 8pm. H5661 would also make poll opening times uniform across RI communities, at 7 am (House Judiciary, April 13).
12. H5884: Various changes to the municipal pension system (House Municipal Government, April 14)
11. Bud Art 7,: The Senate’s crack at the strange new tax on wireless equipment (Senate Finance, April 12).