Coming up in Committee: Eighteen Sets of Bills Being Heard by the Rhode Island General Assembly, March 4 – March 6

1. H7314: Requires a photo ID when using a food stamp benefits card. (H Health, Education and Welfare; Wed, Mar 5)

2. H7100 raises the amount of time served to be eligible for parole from 20 to 30 years in cases of 1st or 2nd degree murder life sentences, and from 10 to 20 years in cases of life sentences for other crimes.  It also requires convicts serving consecutive sentences to serve their minimums consecutively. H7101 requires that 50% of any non-life sentence for 1st or 2nd degree murder to be served, before eligibility for parole. (H Judiciary; Wed, Mar 5)

3. S2335: Eliminates tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge, replacing the anticipated revenue with a multi-part Rube Goldberg formula requiring that fixed percentages of the total state budget be annually appropriated to a “transportation infrastructure fund”. Also, adds a temporary HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 5% surcharge to motor vehicle fees to help initially seed the infrastructure fund. Also, if a Federal internet sales tax is adopted, instead of the RI sales tax dropping from 7% to 6.5%, as is specified in current law (but which the governor would like to change as part of his budget, see #14), the sales tax would only drop to 6.625%, with the 0.125% difference going to the infrastructure fund. Also, creates a study commission to look at eliminating the gas tax. (S Finance; Thu, Mar 6)

4. H7463: “Except as required by federal law or as a condition of receiving federal funds, neither the state nor any municipality shall require an employer to use an electronic employment verification system…as a condition of receiving a government contract or applying for or maintaining a business license”. (H Labor; Tue, Mar 4)

5A. H7189: “The information contained in a portable electronic device shall not be subject to search by a law enforcement officer incident to a lawful custodial arrest except pursuant to a warrant”. (H Judiciary; Tue, Mar 4) The same bill was vetoed by Governor Chafee two years ago, which was a little surprising, since it seems like a reasonable extension of privacy law and something you’d expect a reflexive liberal like our current Governor to immediately support. This year, I’ve come across a similar bill from New Hampshire that’s been described as part of an anti-NSA surveillance movement. Is the Rhode Island version also consciously associated with NSA-related issues?

5B. H7190: Prohibits the state (or any political subdivisions thereof) from obtaining location information transmitted by a cellphone without a warrant. The bill includes procedures for obtaining the necessary warrant and a list of “emergency situation exceptions”. (H Judiciary; Tue, Mar 4)

6. H7218: Minimum-manning for social workers at public schools, at a rate of one social worker per 400 students. (H Health, Education and Welfare; Wed, Mar 5)

7. Bud. Art. 12, sec 1: Persons who have “neglected or refused to file a tax return(s) and/or to pay any tax administered by the tax administrator” will not be allowed to register or transfer registrations of motor vehicles. (H Finance; Tue, Mar 4)

8. Bud. Arts. 4 and 5: The bond referenda to be placed on the November ballot, and a series of “financing leases, guarantees, bonds, and/or other obligations”, enabled by Rhode Island’s Public Corporation Debt Management Law; see items 7A and 7B here, for specific details (S Finance; Tue, Mar 4)

9. H7337: Card-check unionization for RI public employees, with the definition of public employee extended to employees of “quasi-public entities”. (H Labor; Tue, Mar 4)

10. Bud. Art. 18, sec 1: Separates the adjutant general of the Rhode Island national guard from the role of head of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, replacing him or her with “an executive director, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of, the governor” and with no mention of Senate confirmation. (H Finance; Tue, Mar 4)

11. H7170: Regulation of unmanned aerial drones. (H Judiciary; Tue, Mar 4)

12. Bud. Art. 12, secs 3 and 4: Expansion of the sales tax on hotel rooms, with specific mentions of “sellers of travel packages”, “room resellers” and “bed and breakfasts (B&B’s)” and “time shares”. (H Finance; Thu, Mar 6)

13. H7457: Increased penalties for crimes committed in association with criminal street gangs. Submitted at the request of the Attorney General. (H Judiciary; Wed, Mar 5)

14. Bud. Art. 14: In the event that an internet sales tax is passed by the Federal Government, the Rhode Island corporate income tax-rate will be lowered from 9% to 6%, while a provision that would have lowered the state sales tax from 7% to 6.5% under the same circumstance is removed from the law. (H Finance; Thu, Mar 6)

15. H7343: Allows electricity customers to decline installation of a smart-meter, defined as a meter which allows “2-way communication between the device and an electric transmission company or distribution company”. (H Corporations; Tue, Mar 4)

16. On Tuesday, March 4, the House Judiciary Committee will hear a series of bills for reducing penalties on various crimes. H7373 reduces a first offense for shoplifting from a misdemeanor to a “violation” and eliminates the possibility of jail time (though it increases the possible penalties for a second offense); H7379 eliminates the maximum 6-month prison sentence for disorderly conduct, except in domestic violence or “lascivious purpose” cases; and H7451 lowers the fine from $1000 to $500 for the first two convictions for willful trespass. Also, H7380 allows up to six misdemeanors to be expunged (with conditions including no intervening felonies, and certain crimes exempted from expungement), 10 years after the last misdemeanor occurred. Question for folks familiar with formal legal definitions: Does the reduction from “misdemeanor” to “violation” mean that H7373 would decriminalize an individual’s first act of shoplifting in Rhode Island?

17. H7473: Caps damages in lawsuits against the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority at $100,000, unless the General Assembly specifically authorizes more. (H Corporations; Tue, Mar 4)

18. Model legislation that is or has been promoted by 501(c)(4) organizations. S2308/S2056 are two versions of bills requiring life insurance companies to perform a semi-annual review of “in-force life insurance policies and retained asset accounts issued for delivery in this state against a death master file”, both of which have the same title as model legislation associated with the National Conference of Insurance Legislators. (S Commerce; Tue, Mar 4H7478 prohibits any consumer contract from containing “a clause which prohibits a consumer from pursuing a claim as a class action”; this bill is model legislation originally lobbied for by Public Citizen and the groups at the top of this press release (H Corporations; Tue, Mar 4)

Ranking Indeterminate: Bud. Art. 7: Changes the Department of Environmental management’s percentage of the “auction or sale of the allowances” associated with the regional greenhouse gas initiative from 5% to 10%, and removes a $300,000 upper limit on the DEM take. (H Finance; Tue, Mar 4)

Bud. Art. 13: Convoluted changes to the state’s share of table-gaming revenue at Twin River that include the phrase “After casino gaming has commenced in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts…”, which looks as if it may occur sooner rather than later, given that the Massachusetts State Gambling Commission chose Plainville to host a slot parlor last week. (H Finance; Thu, Mar 6)

Inobvious Priorities: H7131 >> Registration of music therapists.

Local Impact: Barrington, North Smithfield, Providence 2, Smithfield.

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