General Assembly
Although his bill has entered the limbo of “held for further study,” state Representative Brian Newberry (R, North Smithfield) deserves recognition for submitting it. An article about the bill’s hearing raises two points that merit comment: The committee ultimately held the bill for further study, a move that Committee Chairman Helio Melo said will allow…
This being Rhode Island, one expects it to be a long shot, but it’s worth noting that Patricia Morgan (R, Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick) has filed legislation to repeal the Caruolo Act: The Caruolo Act allows school committees to file suit against their taxpayers when they overspend their budgets. Rep. Morgan’s legislation would eliminate this…
How powerful are the Rhode Island Speaker of the House and Senate President? Not only have they convinced their respective legislative bodies that every bill must have their approval when no such requirement exists in the rules, but they can even erase from the minds of other legislators — and of newspaper reporters — memories…
A source who was at Tuesday’s night hearing of the Labor Committee of the Rhode Island House of Representatives informs me that the decision “to hold for further study” the bill that would write former Governor Donald Carcieri’s illegal immigration executive order into law passed by a vote of only 8 – 4 (one committee…
Three high-profile bills go before their Rhode Island House of Representatives committees this week, 1) the bill, referred to the Labor Committee to be heard today, that would make the provisions of former Governor Carcieri’s executive order on illegal immigration into law, and 2 and 3) bills, referred to the Judiciary Committee to be heard…
Because of the snowstorms, the Rhode Island General Assembly has only been in session for three days over the past two weeks, just one legislative week in official “calendar time”, but allowing plenty of time for bills to be introduced and processed. In addition to regular legislation, three Constitutional Amendments on high-profile topics were introduced…
Katherine Gregg has checked in on the latest tally of RI legislators’ voluntary healthcare contributions: More and more of the state’s 113 legislators have “volunteered” over the years to pay a portion of the premiums for the health, dental and vision benefits they receive, which currently cost the state $19,004 a year for a family…
Matt gave Andrew some running room, on last night’s Matt Allen Show, to explain his findings on how the General Assembly can be made to operate a bit more like a real legislature. Stream by clicking here, or download it. Imagine how much more of this sort of thing we could do if we didn’t…
It is essential, not only for new but for all Rhode Island legislators, as well as for Rhode Island citizens, to understand that the ability of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President to exercise near-total control over which bills receive hearings and make it to the floor is not something…
We may look back at the fifth day of January as the first instance of Education Commissioner Deborah Gist’s changed work environment, thanks to a press release by Sen. James Sheehan (D, Narragansett, North Kingstown): “If good teachers are the most important element to education, the Department of Education shouldn’t allow uncertified individuals to teach…