Coming up in Committee: Forty-Five Sets of Bills Scheduled to be Heard by the RI General Assembly, April 9 - April 11, Part 1

Local Impact: Burrilliville 2, Glocester, Pawtucket 2, Portsmouth 2, Providence/Pawtucket.

Inobvious Priorities: S0648 >> Creates a new board to oversee licensing of massage therapists; H5445 >> Licensing of music therapists; H5853 >> Regulations on the treatment of circus elephants; S0676 >> Procedures for resolving "ownership of unclaimed property on loan to a museum" (primary sponsor is the Senate President); S0055 >> Adds the Senate Majority Leader to the Joint Committee on Legislative Services.

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45. S0467: Requires parents/guardians of driver's license applicants under 18 years of age to take a course on "on the content of the driver education curriculum and the requirements for the graduated licensing for persons under the age of eighteen" developed by CCRI. (S Judiciary; Tue, Apr 9)

44. S0555: Tightening of regulations on precious metal dealers, including a requirement that a licensed dealer have an address in an area zoned for business, and that a $50 fee per branch be paid on an annual basis. (S Judiciary; Thu, Apr 11)

43. S0368/S0572: Rules for distinguishing independent contractors from regular employees. (S Labor; Wed, Apr 10)

42. S0293: All bidders on state, municipal or quasi-governmental contracts worth $1M or more "shall have an indentured Class A apprenticeship program" with "no less than fifteen percent of the labor hours worked on the project...performed by apprentices in these programs". (S Labor; Wed, Apr 10)

41. H5768: Retirement board disability decisions concerning police or fire injuries sustained on the job have to be appealed within 20 days of the decision. (H Judiciary; Tue, Apr 9)

40. S0599: Prohibits banks from charging overdraft fees for certain kinds of small transactions. (S Commerce; Thu, Apr 11) Listed because of it's relation to the payday lending issue.

39. H5901: Completes the process of moving the East Greenwich fire district into the Town of East Greenwich. (H Municipal Government; Wed, Apr 10)

38. H5889: "Establish[es], within the state temporary disability insurance program, a temporary caregiver insurance program to provide up to eight (8) weeks of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, domestic partner, or to bond with a new child". (H Finance; Thu, Apr 11)

37. S0391/H5479: Directs the state's executive office of health and human services to apply for a Federal waiver, to able to provide publicly financed contraceptives to "individuals (who lack health insurance coverage of family planning services and supplies or have high-deductible coverage and) whose income is no greater than two-hundred fifty percent (250%) of the federal poverty level". (S Finance; Tue, Apr 9 & H Finance; Wed, Apr 10)

36. H5130: Adds Federal military installations to the list of properties eligible for payments-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) paid to their hosting communities. Note that PILOT amounts are computed as a percentage of taxable value, so this would impose an additional cost on state taxpayers, not simply redistribute existing payments. (H Finance; Tue, Apr 9)

35. H5022: Gives the governor the power to appoint judicial system magistrates, from lists of candidates created by the judicial nominating commission (Currently, magistrates are appointed by various top-level judges). (H Judiciary; Tue, Apr 9)

34. H5759: Allows multi-stage lotteries for charter school admissions, and requires "geographic attendance zone plans" for charter schools that plan to operate as neighborhood schools. (H Health, Education and Welfare; Wed, Apr 10)

33. S0674: Establishes regulations for privatizing municipal services. (S Finance; Thu, Apr 11)

32. H5167: Requires cities and towns to provide transportation to students attending charter or vocational school students outside of their city or town, if the transportation is necessary for them to be able to enroll. (H Health, Education and Welfare; Wed, Apr 10)

31. H5428: Allows the director of the department of labor and training to pursue employment-law complaints on behalf of employees/applicants who become unavailable to pursue them on their own. (H Judiciary; Wed, Apr 10)

30. S0128: Creates tax-credits for fuel vendors for installing facilities that dispense compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, hydrogen, any liquid at least eighty-five percent of the volume of which consists of ethanol or electricity. (S Finance; Wed, Apr 10)