Amid mask fight, some returning lawmakers asked to take COVID tests before session starts [The Providence Journal]
PROVIDENCE - On their first day back from a six-month break,
They confirmed a passel of new judges and also over-rode two of Governor
In the
More about 'auto body shop' bill: Will lawmakers override McKee's 'auto body shop' veto? What will it mean for insurance premiums?
House Speaker
"I don't think it is prudent at this time to be distributing test kits to our members at the State House."
The most contentious issue of the day: masks.
Political Scene: RI legislature reopens Tuesday with votes on spending, veto overrides
The
Anticipating the issue, Shekarchi sent out an email on
With a newborn in intensive care,RI Senator tries and fails to get OK to vote by proxy
But House GOP Leader
"They have a right to conduct legislative business on the House Floor. No rule of the House can de facto usurp this right."
Instead of relegating maskless
In the end, however, only three of the eight
When asked why, he said: "I am being polite and we are in close quarters...and I am choosing to wear this mask out of my own volition. I am not wearing it because of any unlawful executive orders or any dictates from the speaker.
"This is my personal choice," he said.
But a handful of lawmakers with seats close to where unmasked Republicans
Rep.
"And frankly, I am disgusted that my seatmates in the Republican party care so little about our hospital workers...[and] their co-workers," she said.
And so the 2022 legislative session began, with a significant number of lawmakers absent - a dozen in the 75-member House, 7 in the 38-member
In his welcome back speech, Speaker Shekarchi lauded the opening day approval of "the first down-payment on
Looking ahead to the next six months, Shekachi said: "A good deal of our work - as was the case last year - will focus on the health and economic issues related to the pandemic, which still has us in its grip."
"We are presented with an historic opportunity to make critical long-term investments to ensure our state is in a better place for everyone. Including businesses, workers, families, children and seniors — for decades to come," he said.
In his own opening day speech,
He also promised:"We will put
FEDERAL MONEY:
The spending bill McKee signed into law earmarks the first 10% of
In September McKee proposed spending
State lawmakers kept most of McKee's proposal and added
But with most states having spent at least some of their federal aid months ago, some senators argued that the
Sen.
The spending package also includes
Sen.
"What is going to happen is the people who need money now won't get it and we won't stave off the workforce hemorrhaging in childcare and other sectors of the economy," Acosta said.
Acosta and Mendes ultimately voted for the spending bill, which passed the
There's a deal: Here's what we know about the plan to begin spending COVID relief in RI
The small business aid includes
Other pieces of the spending plan include
JUDGES:
The Assembly confirmed five of McKee's appointment to lifetime judgeships and approved two new magistrates.
The judges are
The magistrates are
VETO OVERRIDES:
The lawmakers over-rode two of the governor's summer vetoes, including one obliging the state's auto insurers to pay auto body shop markups and a less controversial measure creating a registry for Airbnb, Vrbo and other short-term rentals bedeviling communities like
Of the auto body shop bill, McKee's veto message said:"The
The brother of one of Shekarchi's former clients -
The op-ed,said in part: "The governor was mistaken...The act does not add any new costs at all. Payment of industry standard markup and sublet services have always been honored by most insurance companies.
"However, a small number of mostly out-of-state insurers take their customer's premium payments, but after an accident, they want to get away without paying for what is necessary to repair the vehicle."
The auto body shop owners also handed out at least
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