The General Assembly approved the 2020 state budget, education reform legislation passed and much more.
General Assembly approves 2020 state budget bill
The General Assembly has approved a $9.97 billion budget for the 2020 fiscal year that largely avoids new taxes while strengthening education, continuing the car-tax phase-out, maintaining municipal aid and closing a $200 million budget gap. The bill, which now goes to the governor, expands pre-kindergarten programs, authorizes the creation of Special Economic Development District on the former Route 195 land in Providence and provides raises for direct care workers for the developmentally disabled.
General Assembly passes education reform legislation
The General Assembly approved two bills intended to reform education in Rhode Island. The first, introduced by Sen. Hanna M. Gallo (D-Dist. 27, Cranston, West Warwick) and Rep. Joseph M. McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston), would require the Commissioner of Education to align statewide academic standards with curriculum and the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System. The second bill, sponsored by Sen. Harold M. Metts (D-Dist. 6, Providence) and Rep. Jean Philippe Barros (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket), would require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish a fast-track program to certify new principals. Both measures now move to the governor’s office.
Legislature OKs bill to extend civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse
The General Assembly passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett) and Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, North Providence) that amends the state’s civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. The legislation extends the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse claims to 35 years. The legislation would also extend to 35 years the statute of limitations for entities, individuals or organizations that caused or contributed to childhood sexual abuse through negligent supervision, conduct, concealment or other factors that enabled the abuse to occur.
The budget bill approved by the Assembly includes the proposal submitted earlier this session as separate legislation by Rep. Edith H. Ajello (D-Dist. 1, Providence) and Sen. Louis P. DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Tiverton, Newport) to exempt menstrual products from Rhode Island’s 7-percent sales tax.
Proposal for separate URI board included in budget bill
The budget bill includes the creation of a Board of Trustees for the University of Rhode Island. The provision, initially proposed in separate legislation sponsored by House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston) and Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown, New Shoreham), would move the state’s sole university out from under the auspices of the Council on Post-Secondary Education.
Lawmakers OK bill creating teams to prevent violence at schools
The General Assembly approved legislation sponsored by House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston) and Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Hanna M. Gallo (D-Dist. 27, Cranston, West Warwick) to increase school safety by creating threat assessment teams in schools to serve as the “boots on the ground” in identifying potentially threatening behavior by those in the school community.
Assembly passes several bills targeting opioid epidemic
Lawmakers approved two bills sponsored by House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston) and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) to place limits on first-time opioid prescriptions and expand the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act to include law enforcement and emergency medical personnel. They also both sponsored the creation of the Opioid Stewardship Fund, later added to the budget bill, to assess a fee on pharmaceutical companies that sell opioids to pay for addiction prevention and treatment programs. With Rep. Justine A. Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich), President Ruggerio also sponsored a bill passed to prevent insurers from denying life insurance to people who fill a prescription for the anti-overdose drug naloxone. Another bill sponsored by Representative Caldwell and Sen. Bridget G. Valverde to require signs at pharmacies warning customers about dangers associated with opioids also passed.
The Assembly approved four bills to better support Rhode Islanders affected by Alzheimer’s disease and to protect against elder abuse. The bills are all sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Cynthia A. Coyne (D-Dist. 32, Barrington, Bristol, East Providence), who led a task force that studied elder abuse and released its final report this week. One bill, sponsored in the House by House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), would establish a program within the Department of Health dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease. Another bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Joseph M. McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston), allows the spouses or partners of patients residing in Alzheimer’s or dementia special care units or programs to live with them. A third bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. David E. Bennett (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston), expands a law that requires people to report elder abuse. The final bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Patricia A. Serpa (D-Dist. 27, West Warwick, Coventry, Warwick), requires those who serve as guardians for other adults to pass nationwide background checks.
Assembly OKs bill establishing ‘supported decision making’
The General Assembly approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Adam J. Satchell (D-Dist. 9, West Warwick) and Rep. Robert E. Craven (D-Dist. 32, North Kingstown) to establish a formal process recognizing “supported decision making,” a structure of support for disabled or aging individuals that is less restrictive than guardianship. Supported decision making helps individuals maintain independence while receiving assistance in making and communicating important life decisions.
Assembly passes bill aimed at preventing service animal misrepresentation
The General Assembly approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Roger A. Picard (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland) and Rep. Bernard A. Hawkins (D-Dist. 53, Smithfield, Glocester) to prevent owners from misrepresenting a pet as a service animal in order to gain access to rights or privileges reserved for disabled individuals with service animals.
The proposal by URI President David Dooley to change the governance of the University from the state's Council which oversees Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island to a more independent board of trustees structure has been added to the budget -- functionally assuring its adoption.
In his remarks to the press late Friday night, Speaker Mattiello cited former Director of Administration Gary Sasse's comments on GoLocal LIVE that the measure is the "most important economic development this year" as his reason to put it in the budget.
Senate Majority Leader's 195 Legislation -- In the House Finance Budget
RI State Senate legislation sponsored by President of the Senate Dominick J. Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) that “takes a new approach to economic development on large tracts of state land. Spurred by delays and impediments imposed upon the [Fane] Hope Point Tower proposal for the I-195 Redevelopment District, the bill intends to create a more streamlined process for approvals on these state-owned parcels moving forward” is now an article in the budget.
“We have a rare opportunity for development at the former I-195 land and some other areas across the state,” said Ruggerio. “In the I-195 District, a developer is hoping to invest more than a quarter of a billion dollars to create an iconic structure that redefines the skyline. We should have welcomed this investment with open arms. Instead, we did everything we could to chase the developer away. Thankfully, he’s still here. This process has sent a terrible message to anyone looking to invest in Rhode Island.”
The legislation strips the remaining regulatory authority from the City of Providence.
Mattiello said that the 195 measure, along with the URI change in governance, constitute "economic development" -- the reason he said for placing them in the budget.
One of the agencies that took a hit is Commerce RI. Mattiello said the agency continues to enjoy $50 million in funding capacity, but the double incentive of Rebuild and sales tax exemption was removed. Tax exemptions in the future will be applied to the Rebuild program.
Rebuild and other Raimondo economic programs were trimmed.
Governor Raimondo's unpopular beach fee increase proposal is out.
Raimondo wanted to extend the hike for Rhode Island residents with a $2 increase in beach parking fees, bringing the cost to $8 during the week and $9 on the weekend.
Speaker Mattiello had indicated back in February the plan was dead on arrival -- read more here.
Camping fees are in.
The Rhode Island DEM proposed to increase camping fees, and depending on the offering (three different tiers), camping fees would increase by as much as $16 in 2019, or as little as $4 for residents.
Raimondo's Proposed Medicare Tax on Large Employers
Immediately after the introduction of Raimondo's budget that Wall Street Journal ravaged the proposal.
"She also wants to reimpose the ObamaCare penalty for individuals without health insurance. And she’d create a new $1,500 penalty on large “for-profit” employers for each employee who enrolls in Medicaid. This new tax is loosely based on legislation proposed by Bernie Sanders and would essentially punish businesses for hiring low-income workers," wrote the WSJ.
Governor Gina Raimondo's plan to tax the services of interior designers was roundly criticized. It was going to hit the small business for $1.4 million.
“I was pretty upset about it,” said designer Robin Garceau, who attended hearings at the Rhode Island General Assembly about the proposed tax on her business — and industry. “Why is [Raimondo] singling out certain services — why wouldn’t it be services across the board?”
The number of compassion centers under the approved House Finance budget is expanding from three to nine and the initial three owners have no claim on the new licenses.
The new licenses will cost $500,000 per license.
Lobbyists for the existing compassion centers tried to secure their rights to own the new licenses.
According to Mattiello's office, the expanded centers will be able to both grow and distribute.
Statewide Expansion of Pre-K Proposed by Raimondo Goes Down
Governor Raimondo said in her State of the State Address that she would push for a statewide Pre-K program -- it has a $10 million price tag, but her proposal is not in the budget.
"Tonight, I pledge to be the Governor who brings universal public Pre-K to Rhode Island. By the time I leave office, there will be a Pre-K seat for every four-year-old whose parents want it. The budget I'll submit later this week sets us on a path to make that happen. Let's get this done," Raimondo said.
Mattiello Friday night spoke to the House budget needing to address a shortfall of federal funding for Pre-K -- and that the proposal will expand the educational opportunity in Rhode Island, but will not be "universal" in 2020.
"We backfilled the Federal money $5 million — and added 280 high-quality seats. So it’s not universal. It’s an aggressive expansion to pre-K. The cost is $2.85 million," said Mattiello in a briefing to the press on Friday night, noting that the combined with the "back-fill" the state is investing close to $8 million next year.
"Hospitals were down $11M under [Raimondo's] budget — this is slightly better than proposed with a few million more in general revenues. They will be better off than proposed," said Mattiello.
Raimondo's increase in the cigarette tax was rejected to increase the cigarette tax by 25 cents per pack and 30 cents on cigars.
Mattiello said their decision was based on the impacts on small businesses, particularly border-town convenience stores who also benefit from sales of other products to people who come in to buy tobacco products.
The bill fully funds the state’s education aid formula, increasing direct aid by $34.4 million over the current year’s amount. The committee granted the governor’s request for $5 million for more support for English language learners -- this initiative was strongly supported by the Senate leadership.
The budget also adds an additional $640,000 in funding for the Department of Education to help with education reforms.
Double Loss for Raimondo -- PILOT Funded, But Her Enabling Power to Cities and Towns in Out
The House budget rejects both of Raimondo's initiatives. First, Raimondo's cuts to the PILOT program are restored. And, her initiative to allow cities and towns to create new local taxes on non-profits are out.
Budget adopts Senate President Ruggerio’s proposed Opioid Stewardship Act (2019-S 0798) to establish a restricted receipt account for $5 million to fund "opioid treatment, recovery, prevention and education services" funded by a new tax to manufacturers and distributors on opioid products sold or distributed in Rhode Island.
Late negotiations added exemptions for those used for hospice care, addiction treatment and epidurals.
The budget includes up to $200 million in GARVEE bonds that will allow the state to take advantage of current low-interest rates to fund the reconstruction of the viaduct that carries Route 95 north through downtown Providence.
This is another freestanding bill dumped into the budget.
The House budget defunds all vacant state positions -- those positions that have historically been funded, but have not been filled by the Raimondo administration.
Shekarchi’s plan provides a "work-around" for owners of “pass-through” entities whose state and local taxes exceed the new $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction on their federal tax returns.
Connecticut passed similar legislation in May of 2018 and the proposed Rhode Island law “is carefully designed to be revenue-neutral for the state.”
“This bill will help small businesses, most of whom report their taxes as pass-through entities, by having the business entity pay the taxes on the business income and allowing a federal income tax deduction – which might have been limited if reported on the owner’s personal income tax returns,” said Willey. “Regular C-Corporations get this benefit, and this bill would put the pass-through entities on an equal footing with big businesses.”
911 Revised, Federal Compliance, New Training, More Fees
The controversial 911 fees have been revamped. On one hand, the fee has been cut from $1 to $.50 and those dollars are now being placed in a dedicated restricted receipt account to meet federal law.
But, a new tax is being implemented on mobile accounts.
The budget adds $220,000 in funding to help train E911 operators to better provide CPR instruction to callers while they await emergency responders, and established restricted receipts accounts for E911 surcharge fees on phone bills.
To comply with federal requirements, the surcharges on phone bills will be split into two separate charges, one to support E911 operations and another for funding other public safety needs. Both will go into restricted receipt accounts. This creates a net new $10 million in new revenue.
