General Assembly
Rules of procedure are a sore spot for me. For several years, now, I’ve been watching at the state and local levels (especially the local level) as laws and procedural rules have been distorted beyond recognition. On Monday, in fact, I presented a case in a four hour hearing before the Tiverton Town Council, making…
Yesterday’s meeting of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Judiciary Committee began with the surprise move of Representative Christopher Blazejewski asking Chair Edith Ajello to void the reconsideration of a further study vote from yesterday that had resulted in a proposed Constitutional amendment on the Ethics commission being sent to the House floor. The Chair…
[7:30] One more: For the record, Reps still present: Ajello, Costa, Marcello, Almeida, Walsh, Martin. [7:23] Testimony on the Master lever has concluded. On to a bill requiring board of canvassers to report on provisional ballots. Signing off, for the moment… [7:20] Margaret Kane: Eliminating the Master lever requires voters to read the ballot and…
10. H5760: Allows all Rhode Island school departments to accept “donations, gifts and grants of money, equipment, supplies, materials and services, conditional or otherwise, from any state, the federal government, or any governmental entity or agency; or from any person, firm, association, foundation or corporation”. (H House, Education and Welfare; Wed, Mar 13) Right now,…
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…
For the first time, the list goes to three parts… Local Impact: Central Falls 2, One or a Few Big Employers. Inobvious priorities: S0498 > Adds the executive director of the Economic Development Corporation to the Interagency Council for the Homeless; S0353 > Sets weekend fees for justices of the peace; H5395 > Golf carts…
10B. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees will hear large rafts of bills on motor vehicle law on Tuesday, March 5 and Thursday, March 7, respectively. {H5505, S0470, S0564} and S0355 toughen penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, H5779 for driving to endanger, and {H5379, S0565} for both; H5666, submitted at…
Local Impact: Coventry Inobvious Priorities: H5101 >> no driving with a dog in your lap; S0008 >> warning labels that say cell-phones may cause brain cancer (for the record, the American Cancer Society’s position is here); S0171 >> laundries must post prices of each garment cleaned. 19. One inobvious priority slides its way into the…
A bill (H5068) requiring cities and towns to post an armed guard at every school in Rhode Island was posted Tuesday for a House Municipal Government hearing today. Here’s the complete text: The school committees of various cities, towns, and school districts, shall appoint a guard to each school building within their jurisdiction. The guard…
10. S0330: Independent voters would not need to become a member of a political party, to vote in that party’s primary. (S Judiciary; Thu, Feb 28) 9. H5389: Spencer Dickinson’s proposal for a binding arbitration process for teacher contracts. In the Dickinson process, only the school committee could choose to go to binding arbitration, but…