This Week: What’s Happening On Smith Hill?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Several important committee votes and at least one major Senate vote will take place on Smith Hill this week as the General Assembly session nears the final stretch of the legislative year.
On the calendar is the controversial civil unions bill, a piece of legislation that would lower the state’s cigarette tax by a dollar, and the Senate vote on the expansion of DNA testing on anyone arrested for committing a violent crime.
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It has been nearly three weeks since House Speaker Gordon Fox said same-sex marriage was off the table for 2011, and he backed civil unions. Marriage equality groups were outraged. Conservatives claimed the public didn’t support same-sex marriage. Nobody, it seemed, was happy.
But on Tuesday, civil unions will be voted on by the House Judiciary Committee, the first step in what will likely be the most talked-about vote of the legislative session.
The bill’s sponsor is state Rep. Peter Petrarca of Lincoln (at right). According to Petrarca, the bill would give same-sex couples the exact same rights that straight married couples are given.
"While my bill does not legalize same-sex marriage in the State of Rhode Island, it represents a wave of change and progress in granting same-sex couples equal access to those state rights that married couples hold," Petrarca said. "By providing increased rights, benefits and protections for gay and lesbian couples, this bill is a step forward to ensuring equality and improving their quality of life."
Bill Faces Opposition
Petrarca’s “it’s better than nothing” mentality is consistent with the thoughts of many Rhode Islanders. The idea being that a civil unions bill now will be the first step toward same-sex marriage legislation passage down the line. But critics of the bill, like Rep. Art Handy and the group Marriage Equality Rhode Island, are expected to continue to convey their displeasure with anything other than a House vote on same-sex marriage.
Handy has introduced an amendment to the civil unions bill that would grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Lowering The Cigarette Tax
One local lawmaker believes he’s found the way to lure folks from Connecticut and Massachusetts back to Rhode Island to do their shopping: Lower the cigarette tax.
At almost $3.50 per pack, the state has one of the highest cigarette taxes in the country. But Woonsocket Rep. Robert Phillips is calling for the tax to be dropped by $1 as a way to help attract new buyers from across state lines and generate more revenue.
The cosponsors for the bill include: Rep. Dan Reilly (Portsmouth), Rep. Jon Brien (Woonsocket), Rep. David Bennett (Warwick) and new House Minority Leader Brian Newberry (North Smithfield), who in February told GoLocalProv he supports the legislation on principle.
“We’re a very small state. We can’t afford to be non-competitive with neighboring states,” Newberry said at the time. “It’s bad economic policy for the state.”
DNA Legislation In The Senate
In the other chamber, the major vote of the week takes place when the Senate will decide on a bill that will require anyone arrested for committing a violent crime to submit a DNA sample.
The idea is that forcing DNA samples from violent criminals could help tie suspects to unsolved crimes. The bill’s sponsor is Sen. David Bates of Barrington (at left).
Under current state law, anyone convicted of a felony is required to submit a DNA sample. Bates’ legislation would extend that requirement to anyone arrested for violent crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and molestation. Certain kinds of assault would also require a DNA sample.
Bates’ bill was originally expected to be voted on last Thursday, but the vote will now happen Tuesday.
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