Government
Public services and government action
AG Neronha withdraws Rhode Island from church/state separation case before the Supreme Court
One day before Christmas and a week before his last day as Rhode Island Attorney General, Peter Kilmartin signed onto an amicus brief challenging a Fourth Circuit Court ruling that declared the Bladensburg Cross, a public monument in Mar...
DARE, Southside residents rally for the restoration of low income apartments
Organized by DARE[note]Direct Action for Rights and Equality[/note], just under two dozen people gathered outside 18 Portland Street in Providence on a windy, chilly Valentine's Day morning. 18 Portland Street is the location of one of t...
"Let your voice be heard," says Speaker Mattiello to business community
Wednesday was the 2019 Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce (GPCC) Luncheon, where the Providence area business community invited members of our General Assembly to listen to their concerns and ideas. Laurie White, President of the GPC...
Representative Williams' bill would establish commission to study the decriminalization of prostitution
Representative Anastasia Williams (Democrat, District 9, Providence) has introduced legislation, H5354, to create a special legislative commission to study the health and safety impact of revising commercial sexual activity laws. "It's i...
New report documents the effects of source of income discrimination in housing
A new report from SouthCoast Fair Housing entitled "It's About the Voucher" finds that "source of income discrimination imposes steep barriers to renting for low-income Rhode Islanders who rely on the Housing Choice Voucher (HVC) program...
Business interests mislead on the minimum wage
As part of her budget proposal for the coming year, Governor Gina Raimondo is seeking an increase in the minimum wage from $10.50 to $11.10. This increase, the governor said in her State of the State address, will “put us on a pathway to...
Public support needed for offshore wind
This Tuesday, I need you to fight for a livable future. The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) is having a hearing for the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the entire nation and without public support it like...
Representative Lima masks her anti-panhandling bill with Orwellian double-speak
A new legislative session is upon us, and that means a new series of opportunities for our state to make life even more difficult for the state's poorest and most vulnerable. Specifically, legislation introduced Thursday targeting panhan...
Rhode Islanders for Reform: Senate Rules changes are not acceptable
Rhode Islanders for Reform is staunchly opposed to the proposed 2019-2020 Senate Rules package, as introduced on Thursday. There are significant alterations to the rules from previous sessions, which would result in a huge, unprecedented...
Senator Samuel Bell: Statement on the proposed gutting of the Senate rules
The new proposed Senate rules have just been announced, and they are an insane power grab by the Senate President. Basically, these proposed rules weaken every good government process protection in the Senate rules, not just copying the...