RI’s Top Legislators Discuss Budget and End of Session Priorities

RI’s Top Legislators Discuss Budget and End of Session Priorities

This year’s session of the Rhode Island General Assembly has been unique.

This session has seen the passage of a number of significant bills before the final days — less horse-trading and more policy.

While the IGT/Twin River lottery extension, climate change, nursing home staffing, and a somewhat watered-down minimum page bill have already passed, there are plenty of big bills still pending — including the state’s record level spending budget.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Other high-profile issues include the legalization of the retail selling of marijuana, a tax on the paycheck protection program, and the effort to modernize government by removing the mandate to pay for legal notices, to name a few.

It is estimated that this session will end in two weeks, but the legislature will return in the fall to take up the spending of the federal pandemic funds.

 

Leaders Priorities

House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), said, "The budget must include initiatives that will help our state recover from the pandemic and built our economy back stronger than ever.  With the state facing an affordable housing crisis, creating a permanent funding stream for housing and establishing the position of housing czar are top priorities.  A responsible budget also must continue a strong commitment to public education, stabilize our hospitals, and support the less fortunate."

"We have already passed several strong pieces of legislation this year, including those that address the minimum wage, climate change, making the CCRI College Promise permanent, increase staffing levels in nursing homes, and maintain good-paying jobs in the gaming industry in our state for the next 20 years.  For the remainder of the session, we will continue to focus on affordable housing and issues that are close to being finalized like pay equity, telemedicine, and ensuring that necessary health needs, such as insulin, are made more affordable," added Shekarchi.

 

Fate of Marijuana

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) cites the success of the session to date, but says there is a significant number of bills that need action.

"It has already been an outstanding legislative session, and the Senate is continuing to work hard to deliver meaningful results for our constituents," said Ruggerio."A $15 an hour minimum wage, Act on Climate, nursing home staffing standards, the Maryellen Goodwin Colorectal Cancer Screening Act, and making Rhode Island Promise permanent at CCRI have all been signed into law."

"In addition, the Senate has made affordable housing a top priority for several years. We had a housing crisis before the pandemic, and it has only gotten worse. I am hopeful that the budget includes a permanent funding stream for affordable housing," added Ruggerio.

Ruggerio noted that "green" priorities are still pending in the House.

"There are several environmental initiatives that have passed the Senate that is urgently needed and we are hopeful will win enactment, including a ban on single-use plastic bags and a requirement that all electricity be generated from renewable sources by 2030," he said. 

"Other Senate priorities include strong pay equity legislation, eliminating the practice of charging women higher health insurance premiums than men, and addressing the high costs of prescription drugs. I am optimistic that we will see additional progress in all of these areas. Many of the initiatives put into place during the pandemic were very worthwhile, and we are looking to extend them, including telemedicine, dockside sales of seafood, alcohol to go at restaurants, and outdoor seating," said Ruggerio.

Ruggerio continues to push for the legalization of marijuana, "The time has come to legalize and regulate cannabis. The Senate has developed outstanding legislation that will be considered in the Senate next week, and I encourage our partners in government to continue to work with us to bring this needed legislation over the goal line."

That legislation seems to have less enthusiasm in the House - in April, Shakarchi told GoLocal "marijuana might not get done this year."

 

"No New Taxes"

GOP leaders are fighting for what they say are critical reforms.

House Minority Leader Blake Filippi (R-Dist. 36, New Shoreham, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly) said, "Republicans hope our budget begins to reverse the long-standing method of governing: death of a 1000 razor cuts. Rhode Islanders cannot bear any additional taxes, fees, or new big government programs that will put us at a disadvantage to our neighbors. Fortunately, our previously forecast massive state government deficit, due to mismanagement in the Raimondo administration, is offset with an abundance of one-time COVID-related funding, and we must allocate it thoughtfully. At the same time, we need to responsibly refocus our allocations on core government functions - like caring for our most vulnerable children in DCYF care - rather than spending our finite resources on friends and pet programs."

Filippi added, "As we wind down this House session, Republicans will champion and support legislation that will bolster meaningful education reform, small business relief, efforts to create accurate voter rolls, and common-sense measures to add transparency, accountability, and oversight with the use of executive powers during a declared state of emergency."

Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere (R-Dist. 38, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly) is taking a firm stand on new taxes. "I don’t want to see any new taxes --and there are some proposals for new taxes. I’ve been on the record opposed to one-time fixes — when we do that it creates a structural deficit. One-time fixes could be federal money — I’ve been told we won’t use because we have a surplus, [but] I don’t want fed money used in this budget," said Algiere.

"With that new money — $1.5 billion to state and few hundred million to city and towns — there needs to be a collaboration of where it’s used. I know there are discussions to create a collaborative group between the executive and legislative branches as well as nonprofits," he added. 

State Representative Barbara-Ann Fenton Fung (R-Dist. 15, Cranston) says Governor Dan McKee's tax on the federal relief to business needs to be corrected. "In terms of the budget, I'm looking at protecting our businesses by reversing the Governor's proposed taxation of our PPP recipients, and increasing funding for two key programs: DCYF and RI College," says Fenton-Fung. 

She also cites the need to reform the RI Department of Children, Youth and Families, "As the RI Training School is in my district, I'm always looking out for DCYF, and was concerned that Governor McKee's budget eliminated 10 juvenile program workers in that program.  It also cut Child Welfare's Social Case Workers by 8.5 FTE.  Our frontline workers at DCYF need more help, not further staff reductions, to deal with their caseloads effectively as their responsibilities demand." 

"I have also chatted with leadership about RI College, especially given the fact they had to raise tuition and eliminate 20% of their full-time faculty per Dr. Sanchez.  We want strong and affordable institutions of higher education to help with our workforce development goals, and RIC is an important part of that picture, especially for students in the urban core," said Fenton-Fung, who is in her first term after defeating then-Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello.  

"I have two remaining legislative priorities before we break for the summer.  One is a bipartisan bill I've cosponsored with Reps Carson, Amore, and others to create a Special Education Ombudsman, that will help parents ensure compliance with IEPs.  Second, my own bill that has bipartisan support focuses on improved notification procedures for patients with abnormal mammography results," added Fenton-Fung. 

 

Continue to Cut the Car Tax

East Bay veteran Senator Walter Felag (D-Dist. 10, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton) said of his budget priorities, "Continue local car tax reduction, increase local educational funding, avoid cuts to human service programs, replace the rainy day fund reimbursement, and increase the highly successful RI Livable Home Modification program from $500,000 to $700,000 to allow elderly to live in their homes."

Of his legislative priorities, Felag noted the following. 

"The first bill (2021-S 0107A) passed by the Senate would provide for the Department of Health to take action to establish maximum contaminate levels for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water and set interim standards. The act would also provide that the Department of Environmental Management set standards for PFAS in ground and surface waters, and adopt standards for PFAS monitoring at landfills," said Felag. 

A GoLocal investigation cited the issues tied to PFAS in RI's water supply.

In addition, Felag said priorities are the Bronze Star Plate for veterans who earned the Bronze Star medal (S200), educating school-age children on litter prevention and recycling awareness (S210 SUB A) and eliminating the gag clause in prescription drug benefits ( S497).

 

Push for Pay Equity, Gun Safety

Senator Gayle Goldin (D-Dist. 3, Providence) said critical bills are still pending, "The Senate passed my pay equity bill in March, and it is my hope that the House will pass the bill so that we can get the bill to the governor’s desk. I believe strongly that we must pass all of the gun safety bills. I’m the lead sponsor of the bill to limit high-capacity magazines, and that bill, coupled with all of the others will create a safer RI for all of us."

"This year has shown clearly the difficult decision families must make on a daily basis to meet their needs. It is my hope that our state budget will reflect ways to address those pressures including an equitable restructuring of our tax code, a robust investment in child care, a significant increase to RI Works, health care expansion for new parents, the removal of the abortion bans for state employees’ insurance and Medicaid, and a strengthened and expanded paid leave that meets the caregiving needs of all families," added Goldin.