Woonsocket Radio News Room

State House view from the southThis week at the

General Assembly

 

STATE HOUSE — Here are the highlights from news and events that took place in the General Assembly this week. For more information on any of these items visit http://www.rilegislature.gov/pressrelease

 

 

§  General Assembly enacts 2025 state budget bill
The General Assembly approved the 2025 state budget bill (2024-H 7225Aaa). The $13.947 billion budget directs additional funding toward education and children, raises Medicaid reimbursement rates and includes a $120 million affordable housing bond. The measure now moves to the governor’s office.
Click here to see news release.

§  Bill requiring safe storage of firearms is signed into law
Gov. Dan McKee signed legislation (2024-S 2202aa, 2024-H 7373A) sponsored by Rep. Justine A. Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) and Sen. Pamela J. Lauria (D-Dist. 32, Barrington, Bristol, East Providence) to require safe storage of firearms in Rhode Island.
Click here to see news release.

  • LEOBOR reform legislation becomes law with governor’s signature

Gov. Dan McKee signed the Law Enforcement Officers’ Due Process, Accountability and Transparency Act (2024-H 7263Aaa, 2024-S 2096Aaa) which will bring significant and long-overdue reforms to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBOR). The law was introduced by Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) and Deputy House Speaker Raymond A. Hull (D-Dist. 6, Providence, North Providence). 

Click here to see news release.

 

§  General Assembly approves ADU legislation, other bills to ease housing crisis
Legislators approved and sent to the governor several bills included in the legislative package put forth by Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) to address the state’s housing crisis, including the bill to make it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as in-law apartments and granny flats, on their property. The ADU legislation (2024-H 7062A, 2024-S 2998A) is sponsored by House Commission on Housing Affordability Chairwoman June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) and Sen. Victoria Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown). The bills are headed to the governor.
Click here to see news release.

 

§  HEALTH Initiative bills headed to governor’s desk
Several bills that were included in the Senate leadership’s HEALTH (Holistic Enhancement and Access Legislation for Total Health) initiative cleared the General Assembly, including bills to join five interstate licensing compacts to make it easier for Rhode Islanders to access the care they need. Two bills sponsored by Sen. Pamela J. Lauria (D-Dist. 32, Barrington, Bristol, East Providence) aimed at addressing the primary care provider shortage by encouraging new providers to choose a career in primary care in Rhode Island were included in the 2025 state budget.
Click here to see news release.

§  Lawmakers OK bill for automatic disaffiliation of independent primary voters
The General Assembly passed legislation (2024-H 7662, 2024-S 2894) introduced by Rep. Patricia A. Serpa (D-Dist. 27, West Warwick, Coventry) and Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry, West Greenwich) making party disaffiliation automatic for registered independent voters who vote in primaries. Current law affiliates independents who vote in a party primary with that party unless they fill out a disaffiliation form after casting their vote. The bill goes to the governor.

Click here to see news release.

 

§  General Assembly approves Edwards, Euer Healthcare Provider Shield Act
The General Assembly approved the Healthcare Provider Shield Act (2024-S 2262A, 2024-H 7577) introduced by Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton) and Sen. Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown) to protect medical providers who provide transgender and reproductive health care services in Rhode Island from civil or criminal suits from other states or their residents. The measure now moves to the governor’s office.
Click here to see news release.

 

  • Assembly OKs Renewable Ready bill
    The General Assembly passed legislation (2024-S 2293A, 2024-H 7616A) from Sen. Alana M. DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham) and Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) to create the Rhode Island Renewable Ready program to aid the construction of renewable energy projects, such as solar farms, on former industrial sites. The measure now moves to the governor’s office.

Click here to see news release.

 

  • Assembly passes bill to expand parental, caregiving leave
    The General Assembly passed legislation (2024-S 2121Aaa, 2024-H 7171Aaa) sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Valarie Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence) and Rep. Joshua J. Giraldo (D-Dist. 56, Central Falls) to expand Rhode Island’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance program from six weeks to eight, allowing new parents more time for parental leave and caregivers more time to care for a critically ill family member. The measure now moves to the governor’s office.

Click here to see news release.

 

  • General Assembly OKs bill to extend lookback period for repeat DUI offenses
    The General Assembly passed legislation (2024-S 2937aa, 2024-H 7631aa) introduced by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown) and Rep. Patricia Serpa (D-Dist. 27, West Warwick, Coventry, Warwick) that would extend the lookback period for repeat offenses of driving under the influence from five to 10 years. The measure now moves to the governor’s office.
    Click here to see news release.

 

The eyes and ears of politics are shifting to Atlanta tonight for a presidential debate. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be on stage at the CNN Studios for the first of two-currently-planned major debates ahead of this November's election. The 90-minute event will begin at 9 Eastern tonight.        Former President Trump beats President Biden by four-points among likely voters in a new poll ahead of tonight's debate. The New York Times/Siena College found that 48-percent of likely voters said they'd vote for Trump in a hypothetical matchup between him and Biden. Meanwhile, 44-percent said they'd vote for Biden.       A pair of former Uvalde school law enforcement officers have been indicted over the response to the 2022 deadly school shooting. The Uvalde Leader-News reports former Uvalde school Police Chief Pete Arredondo and former school police officer Adrian Gonzales face several felony charges of abandoning and endangering a child. The shooting at Robb Elementary school left 19 children and two teachers dead.        The typical new home built in the US today is markedly smaller than those built a decade ago. According to The National Association of Home Builders, the typical buyer today wants a home that is just over two-thousand-square-feet. New homes have been shrinking since 2015 when the average home size peaked at 26-hundred square-feet.        A federal judge is blocking families of Sandy Hook victims from attempting to collect assets from Alex Jones' media company. This comes after Jones was ordered to pay over a billion dollars to the Sandy Hook families over misinformation he helped spread about the 2012 school shooting. The court trustee overseeing the liquidation of Jones' assets says some of the families were moving too fast to collect the money.        A new spaceship is being built that will bring down the International Space Station. NASA announced on Wednesday that it has awarded an 843-million-dollar contract to SpaceX to build the so-called U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, which would guide the ISS back into Earth's atmosphere in the year 2030. Reentering the atmosphere would effectively destroy the ISS.       

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