R.I. lawmakers speeding to the finish line
The rules have gone out the window as
Bills will go flying from legislative committee rooms to the floor for immediate votes. Blink and you may miss a last-minute
If this year is anything like last year, the sun will rise before the last vote is taken by half-awake lawmakers. But House Speaker
"
A fall session? Pawsox fans -- still hoping for legislative action on the minor league baseball team's relocation-financing plan -- will keep those words in mind.
These, meanwhile, are some of the big issues awaiting votes in the final days:
The budget
Having cleared the House on a 64-to-11 party line vote last week, the proposed
Senators raised concerns at an earlier hearing about the state's ability to pay the escalating cost of the car-tax phaseout launched by this budget bill. It begins with
But no serious opposition is expected to the
Several other closely-watched proposals are in the budget bill, including two years of free community college tuition championed by Raimondo, and a two step-increase in the state's
Mandated sick leave
The
The original bill sponsored by Senate Majority
Guns
A bill to disarm domestic abusers won the 13-to-5 approval of the
Called the Protect Rhode Island Families Act, the legislation would expand the current prohibitions on gun possession by people convicted of a crime of violence, including felony domestic assault, to those convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence or under the umbrella of a final protective order issued by a court.
Unlike earlier versions which contained a lifetime ban, the bill now headed for a full House vote includes a process for those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to a file a petition to get their state gun prohibition lifted, five years after they complete their sentence. The bill is headed for a House vote with Mattiello's support, but no public commitment from
Expungement
With tens of thousands of crimes committed in
A similar bill cleared the House last year, then stalled in the
Criminal sentencing overhaul
The
But then Paiva Weed left mid-session for a six-figure job heading the
That doesn't mean the package is dead, however.
"The justice package is one of many items still under consideration.
Health care
Abortion-rights advocates, fearful of what the
But the
"Suspending some of the rules in the final days of the session to speed up the legislative process is an annual tradition, but not the good kind," notes
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