Government
Public services and government action
Second Amendment advocates rise, but don't shine, at legislative hearings
Unusually, the Judiciary Committees of the Rhode Island House and Senate scheduled hearings on a slate of gun bills for the same time on the same day. The bills, being heard in the charged atmosphere created in the wake of the Parkland,...
Euer and Kazarian introduce bills to protect access to reproductive health care
“Freedom and full equality cannot be achieved until we have the opportunity to control our lives at the most basic level: planning our families, our health care, and our life’s paths,” said Rhode Island State Senator Dawn Euer (Democrat,...
National Grid's rate case, and the future of energy in Rhode Island, continues
National Grid is proposing significant rate hikes for both gas and electric utility service, and the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will be deciding on these increases. In return for these rate increases, National Grid wa...
The time has passed for Congress to act on DACA
Yesterday marked the deadline that President Donald Trump gave Congress to create a legislative solution for those temporarily spared from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Tomorrow the the Lati...
Basic due process protections need to be added to red flag bill says ACLU
The Rhode Island ACLU released a report on Friday analyzing the "red flag" legislation (H7688 / S2492) being fast tracked through the General Assembly that would "allow family members and law enforcement officers to petition a judge to i...
FANG Collective declares victory in the Shame on Citizens campaign
On Thursday activists and organizers with The FANG Collective, the Shame On Citizens campaign and other groups celebrated after learning that Citizens Bank had ended their financing of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP). Citizens Bank faced...
Republican state representatives call high school student speakers 'props' at State House rally
During yesterday's rally at the Rhode Island State House announcing the introduction of legislation to ban assault weapons, Rhode Island State Representatives Michael Chippendale (Republican, District 40, Coventry, Foster Glocester) and...
Assault weapon ban introduced in Rhode Island, high school students speak in support
Assault weapons are banned in Connecticut and Massachusetts, making Rhode Island what Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello might call an outlier. In an attempt to address this deficiency, Rhode Island State Senator Joshua Miller (Demo...
Providence wants to regulate firearms, so the state needs to repeal preemption
Providence City Council President David Salvatore and the crest of the city council today announced their intention to request legislation that would enable Rhode Island municipalities to regulate firearms. The proposed legislation would...
Cranston City Council passes two gun resolutions after heated discussions and public comment
After more than nine months of delays and rhetoric, the Cranston City Council passed a resolution recommending that the Rhode Island General Assembly pass a law banning concealed carry gun permit holders from bringing guns into schools....