Welcome to our first weekly recap of the week at the State House. This new weekly feature, generated by BillBuddy, recaps all of the legislative happenings in the General Assembly over the past week. We’ll cover both newly-introduced bills and bills that have passed committee or floor votes and making their way to becoming law. We hope you find it useful!

It’s been another busy week under the dome, with Rhode Island lawmakers rolling out a slew of new proposals and advancing others that could significantly impact everything from your drinking water and doctor visits to how your kids’ schools operate and how your data is protected.

What’s New

Several high-impact bills made their debut, signaling potential shifts in public health, consumer rights, and environmental policy.

A major public health initiative, H6304, aims to tackle lead in drinking water by requiring water suppliers to inventory lead service lines by October 2024 and make this information public. The bill outlines procedures for notifying property owners and tenants, offering mitigation like filters, and replacing these lines, prioritizing disadvantaged communities. If owners refuse replacement, their address could be published, and tenants might gain lease termination rights.

If you’ve ever fumed over healthcare red tape, H6317 might be music to your ears. It seeks to axe most prior authorization requirements for medical services, tests, or drugs ordered by primary care providers, with exceptions for controlled substances and fraud. It also mandates a single, standardized, electronic prior authorization form by 2026.

School bus safety is the focus of H6318, which would require all school buses to have live digital video systems to record traffic violations like illegal passing. It also mandates retractable stop signs visible from 100 feet and specifies procedures for student boarding and disembarking.

S1037 aims to beef up Rhode Island’s identity theft protection law. It broadens the definition of “personally identifiable information,” mandates stronger cybersecurity measures, and sets stricter timelines for data breach notifications (30 days for government agencies, 45 for others). Financial penalties for violations would also see a significant hike.

The proposed “Environmental Justice Act,” S1038, would create a process to identify “environmental justice focus areas” based on income, minority population, or language barriers. Facilities like power plants or landfills seeking permits in or near these areas would need to conduct environmental and health impact studies and hold public meetings. State agencies could deny permits if unreasonable health or environmental risks are found.

Workplace well-being is addressed in S0959A, the “Workplace Psychological Safety Act.” This bill would make workplace bullying illegal for employers with 15 or more employees, requiring anti-bullying policies, training, and fair complaint processes. It also bans forced mediation before legal advice and non-disclosure agreements for bullying issues.

A significant number of other noteworthy bills were introduced. For those watching the state’s energy future, H6316 would compel Rhode Island Energy to enter a long-term natural gas contract. On the tax front, S1040 proposes a new tax on profits from real estate sales, with rates depending on ownership duration and profit margins, though some sales would be exempt. Another tax bill, S1044, reiterates the 4% annual cap on property tax levy increases for municipalities but outlines specific exceptions. Housing continues to be a hot topic, with S1052 updating rules for land subdivision, potentially making it easier to build on existing undersized lots in established neighborhoods, and S1051 allowing lot splits based on average neighboring lot sizes. For those owning homes on leased land, S1053 would grant homeowner groups the first right to purchase the land if the landowner decides to sell. Labor issues are also in the spotlight with S1059, which would alter negotiation rules for municipal employees, and S1058, the “Warehouse Worker Protection Act,” requiring employers to disclose work quotas. Children’s welfare is addressed in S1056, which mandates cooperation between state departments and the Family Court. Education funding sees a proposal in H6325 to establish a “high-cost special education fund” for municipalities. Further lead poisoning prevention measures are in H6305, requiring child blood samples to go to state or RI-based labs and mandating annual public reporting of lead screening data. Schools could become Medicaid providers for certain health services under H6308, allowing federal reimbursement. Changes to gun ownership prohibitions are proposed in S1055, adding certain misdemeanor convictions to the list of disqualifiers. Local tax flexibility is the aim of H6320 for Warwick and S1041 for Providence, concerning property tax rates and levy increases, respectively. The governance of Central Falls School District could change under S1063, and the financial responsibility for students in Bradley Hospital’s CRAFT program could shift under S0113A. The Pokanoket Tribe Land Trust in Bristol could see property tax exemptions via S1043. The Rhode Island Life Science Hub Act sees proposed changes in S1039, and the RI Resource Recovery Corporation’s tipping fees are addressed in S1050. Finally, retired teachers might be able to work more days to address staffing shortages under S1048, and Family Court jurisdiction is clarified in S1057.

Also newly introduced were bills removing certain investment restrictions for domestic insurance companies (H6315 and S1047), making gender-neutral updates to workers’ compensation laws (H6319, S1060), offering a first-year minimum tax exemption for new S-corporations (S1045), and allowing more flexibility for disabled students in the RI Promise Scholarship program (S1042). The City of Newport could gain authority to collect state hotel taxes under S1046. Rounding out the new introductions are measures to create special license plates for cancer awareness (S1061) and an accessibility non-profit (H6307), the official naming of the Cpl. Richard C. Brule Bridge in Warren (H6323 and S1062), validation of Hopkinton’s Home Rule Charter amendments (H6321), a name change for the Burrillville Land Trust to Conservancy (S1054), and a specific marriage solemnization authorization (H6306).

What’s Moving

Several significant bills have taken a step closer to becoming law, having passed their respective committees.

Among those, S0238A, “The Freedom to Read Act,” which aims to protect public and school libraries from censorship, has passed committee. Also moving forward is H5803Aaa, a bill to expand and mandate a statewide electronic permitting platform for various building and development applications, which also cleared committee.

Other notable bills passed by committee include S0495A, creating a “Rhode Island housing champions” program for towns; S0771A, requiring schools to establish policies restricting student access to personal electronic devices; and S0271A, which would ease access to medications for alcohol or opioid addiction by removing prior authorization hurdles for many. S0085A, limiting self-service checkouts in grocery stores, also advanced. The bill expanding the scope of the RI Health and Educational Building Corporation, S0640Aaa, passed committee, as did H6033A, requiring public utilities to have an in-state customer service office. Measures concerning temporary school bus driver licenses (H5882A and S0397Aaa), state agency housing development on state land (H5802Aaa), and changes to the State Building Code office and committee (H5804A) also received committee approval. The pilot program for harm reduction centers would be extended under S0462A, which passed committee. Licensing rules for speech-language pathologists and audiologists (H5557A) also moved forward.

Additionally, committee approval was given to S0075aa, allowing new car dealers to perform VIN checks; H5250A, adding Juneteenth to business holiday restrictions; S0475A, requiring AEDs at golf courses; S0343A, requiring lifeguards and rangers at public beaches to be trained in administering opioid antagonists; H5946A, ensuring open access to construction sites during work hours; and H5251A, allowing a moment of silence in schools on September 11th.

With many of these bills addressing pressing issues, the coming weeks will be crucial in determining their fate. As always, we’ll keep you posted on developments from Smith Hill. Stay tuned.