Woonsocket Radio News Room

Sen. Valverde re-introduces legislation to create
Nursing Home Workforce Standards Advisory Board

 

STATE HOUSE – Sen. Bridget Valverde has reintroduced legislation to create a 13-member advisory board to keep state leaders informed on current market conditions, wages, benefits and working conditions in Rhode Island’s nursing home industry.

The legislation (2025-S 0118) creating the Rhode Island Nursing Home Workforce Standards Advisory Board is intended to help state leaders understand the challenges facing nursing home staff, and craft solutions that ensure safety for them and patients alike. Senator Valverde sponsored similar legislation last year, which was approved by the General Assembly but vetoed by Gov. Daniel McKee.

“The Rhode Islanders who work in nursing homes do a very critical job, often under high pressure and without as many resources or the level of pay that they really deserve. Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our family members in nursing homes means providing proper support and training to the people who care for them. This new board will give state leaders insight into the conditions and challenges in our state’s nursing homes so we can work to effectively address them,” said Senator Valverde (D-Dist. 35, North Kingstown, East Greenwich, South Kingstown).

The advisory board will consist of three members representing nursing home employers, three representing nursing home workers, two representing community organizations that work with the Medicaid population, one member representing a joint labor-management multi-employer nonprofit training fund, and representatives of the Health and Human Services secretary, the Department of Labor and Training, the Department of Health and the Long-Term Care State Ombudsman.

The board will advise the General Assembly and the Department of Labor and Training on market conditions, wages, benefits and working conditions in the nursing home industry; recommend minimum statewide compensation and working standards for nursing home workers; propose minimum standards for nursing home training programs and assist in ensuring compliance by employers with the recommended standards.

The legislation is strongly supported by SEIU Local 1199NE, which represents many staff members at Rhode Island nursing homes.

Rep. Scott A. Slater (D-Dist. 10, Providence), who sponsored the 2024 bill in the House, has also reintroduced it (2025-H 5257).

President Trump says Elon Musk is a "leader" who "gets it done." Trump and Musk took part in a joint interview on Fox News Tuesday night, where Trump credited Musk with implementing many executive orders he has signed since taking office again. He said Musk works with his group of people at DOGE, who he referred to as "geniuses" to get things done.        The first peace talks between the U.S. and Russia about the war in Ukraine are done. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials met with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia Tuesday. Rubio said President Trump is the only one who can "drive the war to a conclusion." Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine will not accept a peace deal that is made without his country's involvement.        A federal judge is temporarily halting the firing of eleven intelligence officers. The officers, who worked for the CIA and other intelligence agencies, had been told to resign or face immediate termination due to their temporary assignments working on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. On Tuesday, the judge ordered the officers not be fired for at least the next five days.        New York's attorney general is condemning cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program. Letitia James is calling the reported 20-percent staff cuts "reckless" and "cruel" and says it'll undermine efforts to help patients. The WTC Health Program provides medical treatment for 132-thousand first responders, survivors and others who lived or worked in Lower Manhattan when terrorists flew jets into the Twin Towers on 9/11.        Pope Francis has pneumonia in both of his lungs. The Vatican updated the condition of the 88-year-old Tuesday saying, "Laboratory tests, chest X-ray, and the Holy Father's clinical condition continue to present a complex picture."        An Indigenous man who recently had his sentence commuted by President Biden is free. Leonard Peltier was released from a Florida prison on Tuesday and returned home to North Dakota. Peltier was serving a life sentence for killing two FBI agents in 1975 during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.       

Old News Archives