by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
January 2, 2024
The Rhode Island State House awakened from its winter slumber Tuesday afternoon with the bang of a gavel, springing lawmakers to attention for the 2024 legislative session.
Leaders of both chambers reiterated their policy priorities for the year in opening remarks, striking a mix of optimism and caution for the six months of debate and discussion that lie ahead. The biggest cloud on the horizon, for now at least: a slowdown in state revenue growth, coupled with the end of federal pandemic relief funds, which will force the state to curtail spending for the fiscal 2025 budget compared with prior years.
“The painstaking choices made in this room have given the state great tools to grapple with many critical ongoing issues,” House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said in his opening address to the House of Representatives. “But we aren’t out of the woods yet.”
Across the hallway in the Senate, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio also warned of “difficult decisions to make” while lauding legislators for their history of “prudent spending.”
Still awaiting Gov. Dan McKee’s proposed fiscal 2025 tax-and-spend plan, slated to be unveiled in mid-January, lawmakers wasted no time setting forth their own wishlists.
Shekarchi pledged to take his legislation making it easier for property owners to add accessory dwelling units “over the finish line” this year, having failed to win support from the Senate in the 2023 session.
Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat, also referenced “unfinished business” from the prior session, including reforms to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, which protects police officers under investigation for misconduct. Both Shekarchi and Ruggerio stressed education and health care reforms in their opening addresses.
Proposals to ban declawing cats, strengthen DUI laws
While state representatives aren’t able to introduce bills until Thursday, the Senate kicked off with roughly two dozen pieces of legislation introduced in its opening Tuesday session, including a trio of bills aimed at strengthening DUI laws by Democratic Sens. Leonidas Raptakis and David Tikoian, of Coventry and Smithfield, respectively. Other bills proposed on the inaugural day of session would prohibit declawing of cats, and require new teachers and their employers to contribute to Social Security, according to Greg Pare, a Senate spokesperson.
After a 2023 session which saw more than 2,550 bills filed across both chambers, Shekarchi is seeking to trim back the number of proposals in the House, asking representatives to voluntarily limit the number of bills they introduce to a maximum of 15 apiece.
“We are confident this reduction of bills will improve our hearing process and facilitate public participation,” he said.
The Senate already has a 25 bill per-person limit, unless given permission by the Senate president.
Rep. Enrique Sanchez, a Providence Democrat who was among the most prolific legislation sponsors in 2023, appeared willing to abide by the voluntary limit.
“Based on my experience, I kind of overwhelmed myself last year,” Sanchez said in an interview after the session ended Tuesday. “I wish the cap was 20. But I will try to stick to 15. We’ll see.”
Among his forthcoming proposals, a joint bill with fellow Providence Democrat David Morales requiring employers to offer weekly, rather than biweekly, pay schedules to their employees.
Will state’s transportation chief face impeachment?
Also still on the table: potential impeachment of Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti for his role in the Washington Bridge emergency shutdown in December. Sanchez previously suggested he was gathering support to use the House constitutional power to launch impeachment proceedings against Alviti, which requires 25% of state representatives to sign a resolution to start the investigation. The Senate, which acts as jury in the investigations, can convict by a two-thirds majority.
“That should not have happened,” Sanchez said of the structural deficiencies that led to an abrupt closure of the westbound lanes of the I-195 bridge in mid-December. “Our state government, our state agencies, aren’t supposed to get to a breaking point.”
Even without a potential impeachment, Sanchez backed legislative oversight hearings as a means to gather answers and information about what went wrong in the regular maintenance and repair of the bridge. Shekarchi has also expressed support for a legislative probe in the wake of the catastrophe, while Ruggerio remained noncommittal. U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, D-R.I., speaks with Rep. Raymond Hull, a Providence Democrat, at the State House on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024, the first day of the new legislative session. Rep. Marvin Abney, a Newport Democrat, in face mask, looks on. (Nancy Lavin/Rhode Island Current)
Helping small businesses
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale has his sights set on a “suite of bills” aimed at representing Republican lawmakers’ top priorities, including helping small businesses and improving the state public education system. Chippendale joined with leaders of the Rhode Island GOP earlier in the day in a press conference renewing the call for an independent Office of Inspector General.
A slim majority of the 10-member Republican House delegation, including Chippendale, voted in support of the fiscal 2023 spending plan. But Chippendale was reluctant to commit similar support this year without having seen the final spending plan.
“Last year, we were able to get a lot of really good initiatives to help the business community into the budget,” Chippendale said. “We were able to communicate and work across the aisle, and that is always my hope.”
The House opening session also featured a guest appearance by U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo. Rhode Island’s 1st District congressman attended along with his district director, Kate Michaud, the former Warren town manager.
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