Politics & Government

Last Session in the General Assembly

Here are some of the highlights of the 2013 General Assembly session.

Here are the highlights from news and events that took place in the General Assembly this year, which has gone into recess for 2013. For more information on any of these items, visit http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/News/.

BUDGET

The 2014 state budget bill included no tax or fee increases.

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It restored the historic structures tax credit program by using $34.5 million previously approved for projects that were never completed, with a $5 million per-project cap.

The budget implemented a statewide sales tax exemption on art, including books, paintings, performance, traditional and fine crafts and more.

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The budget included $4.5 million, some from federal sources, for workforce development. Among the programs included is the Rhode Island Back to Work program, which will pair a person collecting unemployment benefits with a business for training at no expense to the business, which could then hire the trained employee if it chooses. It also included the enhanced Jobs Match program to use a computerized system to match employers and job-seekers and identify skills gaps in the workforce.      

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/BUSINESS

Lawmakers restructured the state’s entire approach to economic development with a commitment to draw up a new long-term economic plan, the overhaul and re-naming of the Economic Development Corporation and the creation of the Council of Economic Advisors. The General Assembly also approved a measure that allows changes to the state’s strategy to fall under a new Executive Office of Commerce.The Office of Commerce would be established in 2015 to coincide with the beginning of the governor’s term and would be led by the secretary of commerce, appointed by the governor. The office would absorb the Department of Business Regulation, the Office of Regulatory Reform, and functions related to Housing and Community Development, as well as the newly reconstituted Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.

The General Assembly passed legislation to allow Rhode Island businesses to pay employees on a biweekly basis.

Signed by the governor was legislation creating a “Made in Rhode Island” collaborative to promote locally made products. The panel of government, education and arts leaders will work with the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation and an advisory council of businesspeople and artists to market, brand and promote Rhode Island-made products.

PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE

The Assembly approved three gun safety/gun violence bills. One creates a task force to study ways for the state to address firearm safety and behavioral health. Another bars the sale and ownership of guns with altered, missing IDs. The third increases criminal penalties for carrying a stolen firearm while committing a crime of violence.

Approved was legislation that would place synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones (sold under such names as “herbal incense” and “bath salts”) on the highly-regulated Schedule I drug list, and would ban their manufacture, sale and use in Rhode Island.

Legislation has been signed into law that allows failure to wear a seatbelt to remain a primary offense, but that lowers the fine from $85 to $40.

ELECTIONS AND GOOD GOVERNMENT

The General Assembly agreed on national popular vote legislation to add Rhode Island to a compact of states agreeing to commit their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the most popular votes in presidential balloting across the country. 

Lawmakers also passed legislation to insert more transparency and accountability in the tax incentive process, calling for more data and review of how tax credits and other incentives are used year-to-year.

The legislature introduced live web-streaming and an online bill tracker tool so that members of the public and the press can keep a close eye on the progress of legislation they care about. Capitol TV has the ability to live-stream up to four legislative events – including the House and Senate sessions – simultaneously.  

HEALTH

Legislators OK’d legislation to control health care costs for families and businesses while increasing the quality of care and transparency, as well as addressing market power.

In order to improve financial protection for cancer patients taking oral chemotherapy treatments, the Assembly approved legislation to put chemo pills and related treatments on par with intravenous (IV) chemotherapy.

Legislators in both chambers passed a measure that would pave the way for greater use of e-scripts. Under this legislation, the director of the state Department of Health (DOH) would be required to establish rules and regulations for adopting a system for electronic data transmission of prescriptions involving substances on the various controlled substance schedules.

CONSUMER/QUALITY OF LIFE

Rhode Island became the 10th state to enact same-sex marriage. The law takes effect Aug. 1.

The Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program was expanded to allow employees to receive up to four weeks’ paid leave if they must take time out of work to care for a sick family member or bond with a new child. 

The Assembly raised the minimum wage from $7.75 to $8 beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

ENVIRONMENT

Legislators passed a bill to allow homeowners in participating cities and towns to access a low-cost, fixed-rate loan for energy upgrades that would become an assessment on the property, much like a sewer assessment.

Lawmakers required all No. 2 distillate heating oil sold in the state to contain a specified percentage of a biobased product beginning in July 2014.

The state budget included a measure to allow inherited working farmland to be assessed at its use value, not its higher cash value, for inheritance tax purposes. The concept is a way to prevent family farms from being driven out of business or sold off in whole or in part when one generation passes them along to the next.

EDUCATION

The budget passed by the Assembly continues to fully fund the decade-long phase-in of the education aid formula with an allotment of an additional $30 million for 2014. It also includes $500,000 for early-education programs; $250,000 to fund an all-day kindergarten pilot program, and an additional $6 million for higher education to freeze tuition at the current level at the state’s colleges and university.

Bills were passed to improve safety measures in Rhode Island schools. One bill requires all schools to perform a safety assessment in conjunction with local police, fire and school safety teams within 30 days of enactment and every three years thereafter. The other requires the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education to certify annually that all safety and emergency plans have been reviewed and updated.

The House and Senate adopted resolutions supporting the efforts of the Board of Education and Department of Administration to locate a nursing education center at the South Street Power Station inProvidence, a planned endeavor by the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and BrownUniversity.

VETERANS AND MILITARY

The legislature approved creation of a 13-member Veterans’ Services Strategic Plan (VSSP) advisory committee to develop, maintain and annually update a five-year plan for the delivery of government services in such areas as benefits, employment, educational attainment, job training, health services and homelessness.

Legislation was approved calling for establishment of veteran-friendly educational programs to allow service personnel returning from a combat tour to achieve educational attainment in an accelerated manner, including recognizing a student’s military training and coursework.

Lawmakers passed bills allowing service members who are moved to a different base or otherwise deployed to terminate motor vehicle leases or rental agreements. 


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