1. H5258/S0150: House and Senate Rules for 2015-2016 sessions, which will determine how business is conducted for the rest of the session.  (H Rules; Tue Feb 10 & S Rules; Tue, Feb 10)

2. H5160: Requires that the town/city council and school committee of every municipality to be served by a proposed mayoral academy give explicit approval, before an academy can be opened. (H Health Education and Welfare; Wed, Feb 11)

3A. H5221: Limits electric rate increases to “two and one-half percent within any consecutive twenty-four month period”. (H Corporations; Tue, Feb 10)

3B. H5218 prohibits electric rates from being raised “in excess of five percent in any three year period without general assembly approval”. H5291 prohibits electric rates from being raised more than “five percent per year, unless the increase shall have been previously approved by affirmative action of the general assembly”. (H Corporations; Tue, Feb 10) Both of the bills involve the General Assembly trying to make itself into a standalone board of appeals for executive branch bodies, with the power to take actions that have the force of law independent of the Governor, and are therefore unconstitutional.

4. H5031: Proposed Constitutional Amendment (requiring voter ratification) extending the terms of State Representatives and Senators to four years, with a limit of “three full terms”. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10)

5. H5124: “Any candidate for state or local office who has outstanding campaign finance reports or fines due the board of elections shall be ineligible to qualify for election to any state or local public office until all such reports are filed and/or all fines are paid. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10) It’s doubtful that restrictions on who can run for office can be implemented outside of the state constitution.  However, as we say in Rhode Island, if you can find a test case where a Republican would be barred from running for office, get it into the Federal system, and have Jack McConnell as the judge, who knows?

6. H5093: Detailed regulations regarding patients with terminal illnesses and “investigational drugs, biological products, or devices”. Two of the more inobvious provisions are “if a patient dies while being treated by an investigational drug, biological product, or device, the patient’s heirs are not liable for any outstanding debt related to the treatment or lack of insurance due to the treatment” and “a licensing board or disciplinary subcommittee shall not revoke, fail to renew, suspend, or take any action against a health care provider’s license issued under this title, based solely on the health care provider’s recommendations to an eligible patient regarding access to or treatment with an investigational drug, biological product, or device”. (H House Health Education and Welfare; Wed, Feb 11)

7. H5180: Card-check unionization procedure for public and quasi-public employees. (H Labor; Thu, Feb 12)

8. H5155: Clarifies existing law stating that the home address of someone confined to a correctional facility, for voting purposes, is the address they had before they began serving their sentence and creates processes to make sure this law is properly enforced. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10)

9. H5032: “No lobbyist…shall make any political contributions to any member of the general assembly for the period from January 1, through July 1, for each session”. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10)

10. H5067: Allows a municipality to require mortgagees to correct any housing code violations on properties they are foreclosing on that become vacant. A fine of $1,000 per day per property can be imposed, for each day a property is not up to code. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10)

11. H5354: Requires National Grid and only National Grid, called by name, to “provide services to any individual or entity” who applies and meets all conditions “for service between November 1 and the subsequent April 30 within twenty-four hours of application”. (H Corporations; Tue, Feb 10) Content and merits of the law aside, is the General Assembly allowed to pass laws that apply to only one company?

12. H5149: Prohibits employers or employees from subject[ing] another employee to an abusive work environment. (H Labor; Thu, Feb 12)

13. H5246: Creates a process for the General Assembly (“in grand committee”) to fill the office of Lieutenant Governor in the event of a vacancy. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10) One more time: it’s highly doubtful that the change this bill makes can be done at less than the constitutional level.

14. H5171/H5296: Allows cities and towns to exempt 100% disabled veterans and their spouses from local taxes. (H Municipal Government; Thu, Feb 12)

15. H5251: Allows classified state employees to run for office. Should the employee win, he or she must quit their classified job before assuming office. (H Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10)

16. H5215: Requires a first-time driver’s license applicant to receive “six hours of over-the-road driver’s training from a licensed driver’s 30 training school in this state” before obtaining a license. (H Corporations; Tue, Feb 10)

17. S0058: Allows bake sales to be held at polling places on election day. (S Judiciary; Tue, Feb 10)

Local Impact: Middletown