General Assembly
An interesting feature in Monday’s Providence Journal came as four short reports about new legislators in the General Assembly: Rep. Dan Reilly (R, Portsmouth), Rep. Doreen Costa (R, North Kingstown), Sen. Nick Kettle (R, Coventry), and Rep. Chris Blazejewski (D, Providence). The way they’re framed from the beginning tells readers a great deal about the…
The Rhode Island Tea Party provides a late-breaking update on several state Senate bills, posted on Monday, coming up for hearings in the Senate Labor Committee on Wednesday (h/t Lisa Blais)…Senate Labor will entertain yet again bills to extend terms of unaffordable and unsustainable contracts, legislate an end-run around the unsettled matter of law regarding…
Here are a few of interesting bills scheduled, so far, to be heard by General Assembly committees this week. If any other interesting bills are posted for hearings during the day on Monday, I will run an updated post on Monday evening. 16. S0729: Vehicles with more than two axles may not cross the Pawtucket…
To hear RI Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio (D, Providence) tell it, Rhode Island’s legislature is practically run by 25-year-old Stephen Iannazzi (son of the highest-paid union boss in the state… in the same union for which Mr. Ruggerio makes a hefty salary, as well): Mr. Iannazzi showed extreme competence and was an invaluable asset…
14. S0319: Subjects the appointment of the RI Commissioner of Higher Education to the advice and consent of the Senate. (Senate Education, May 4) 13. S0867: Requires all Rhode Island hospitals to submit “evidence of participation in a high-quality comprehensive discharge planning and transitions improvement project operated by a nonprofit organization in this state” or…
Republican Minority Leader Robert Watson was one of the House sponsors of Rhode Island’s medical marijuana law passed in 2005 (H6052). Rep. Watson’s name is listed as second sponsor on both the original bill and the as-amended bill that passed the RI House with his vote on June 22 of the 2005 session. However, he…
A little behind schedule due to Holy Week, here’s the list of some of the interesting bills going before General Assembly committees this week… 13. S0699: Exempts members of the “International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers and its signatory contractors jointly participating in the IMPACT National Substance Abuse Program” from state…
Now here’s a wrong way to address the complexities of society in the Information Age: Under the legislation students could still carry phones in school, but they couldn’t use them during school hours, including study hall and lunch. A first offense results in a warning. A second violation would lead to administrators confiscating the phone…
Yes, a bill is a long way from a law, and this one, which Andrew caught the other day, has only one sponsor, Spenser Dickinson (D, South Kingstown), but it really is quite a suggestion: When a contractor employing members of a recognized union and providing services for more than twenty (20) hours a week…
5. S0760: “No person holding a position in state government which requires confirmation by or the advice and consent of the senate shall engage in lobbying or permitted to register as a lobbyist” aka “a Caruolo Act for the 21st-Century”. (Senate Judiciary, April 12). 4B. S0823: Ethics Commission appointments would be subject to advice and…