With the start of Rhode Island’s legislative session just a few days away, we reached out, as we have these past few years, to the area’s legislative delegation with a brief survey looking at their initiatives in the past session, and what they hope to accomplish in the 2024 session. We also asked about their perceptions of the state’s greatest challenges and focused on affordable housing and healthcare.
Rep. Terri-Denise Cortvriend, D-Dist. 72, Middletown, Portsmouth
How can constituents learn more about you and your proposals, and how best can constituents contact you?
Website: www.terricortvriend.com
Email: Rep-cortvriend@RIlegislature.gov terricortvriend@gmail.com
Social media: Facebook and X
Phone: 401-472-2789
What legislation do you hope to introduce in the 2024 legislative session? Please give a brief description, and why it’s one of your priorities.
Cortvriend: This year we have been asked to limit the number of bill submissions to 15 requiring me to trim down my introductions.
I plan to reintroduce a version of the comprehensive PFAS ban. If we want to address downstream pollution of these forever chemicals, we need to reduce the upstream sources that they come from.
I plan to sponsor legislation on CRMC (Coastal Resources Management Council) reform, a bill that Save the Bay is advocating for in the wake of the 2020 Champlin’s Marina debacle.
I would like to see Rhode Island join Massachusetts in allowing residents with Developmental Disabilities to audit classes at CCRI and/or RIC and plan to reintroduce a bill calling for this.
I plan to continue to work on issues related to protecting public access to our shores, walking trails and paths.
What legislation did you introduce in the last legislative session and what was the outcome?
What legislation do you hope to introduce in the 2024 legislative session? Please give a brief description, and why it’s one of your priorities.
Cortvriend:I believe I introduced 31 bills in the 2023 session on a variety of issues.
I had several successes which were passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor.
House Bill 5185 requires police officers to receive training to more accurately identify complaints involving persons with cognitive or communication related disabilities.
House Bill 5457 establishes regulations for the registration and operation of low-speed vehicles in Rhode Island.
House Bill 5668 requires that public school districts promote notice and disseminate information on the district’s Special Education Local Advisory Committee.
House Bill 6293 Expanded the types of projects that the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank can fund with gas and electric demand-side funds transferred to the bank to now include clean transportation, clean heating and, energy storage projects
What I am most proud of and what I think will have the longest lasting impact for the most Rhode Islanders is House Bill 5174, the Shoreline Access bill that enshrines in statute where Rhode Islanders can exercise their constitutional right to the shore, which was the result of the work of a 2022 House Study Commission that I chaired.
What do you see as the state’s greatest challenges in 2024?
Cortvriend: Certainly, there are many challenges, but what I have been most involved with is monitoring the ongoing implementation of the Act on Climate to make sure that we reach our climate goals and supporting legislation that helps us get there.
I think we need to be paying more attention to resiliency as we face sea level rise and climate change. I believe the state needs to do more to coordinate and assist municipalities in completing resiliency projects. I applaud Governor McKee for creating the position of a Coastal Resiliency Officer and look forward to seeing the work that comes out of this office.
Among the most critical issues in Rhode Island are affordable housing and healthcare.
What do you think the legislature and governor need to do to address affordable housing concerns?
Cortvriend:This past session the House passed 13 of 14 new housing bills, which were the priority of Speaker Shekarchi, the bills went into effect Jan. 1. I think we need to give these new measures some time to be implemented before we judge the outcome. The one bill that didn’t pass the Senate was the ADU bill which would allow for “accessory dwelling units” to be built on lots of 20,000 square feet or larger. The bill contains size restrictions. I plan to support this bill again.
Over the last few years, healthcare has been, to be kind, uncertain in Rhode Island. We’ve had a failed merger between Care New England and Lifespan, we’ve had revolving Directors of Health Care, we have a critical shortage of primary care physicians with reimbursements iow in Rhode Island, well below neighboring states. How should the governor and legislature address our critical healthcare issues?
Cortvriend: You have raised several issues in this question. I cannot speak to the reasons that there is an interim Director at RIDOH. My personal observation is that the pandemic brought this position into the political spotlight in a way that it probably never was before and may make it more challenging to attract qualified candidates.
We definitely need to increase our Medicaid reimbursement rates. A report was released in Sept of this past year that came to the same conclusion, which will result in expected large increases over fiscal year 2024 and 2025 to address these needs.
Finally, this is an election year. Are you planning on running for re-election, or some other position (if so, which position)? Cortvriend: Yes, at this point I plan to run for reelection as Representative to the people of House District 72. It is an honor to serve my constituents.
