Chamber Connections BLOG
Chamber Connections BLOG
The General Assembly begins the last phase of the legislative session this week. The Revenue Estimating Conference gets underway April 26th and finishes May 10th, preparing the way for the creation of the final FY2025 budget. Voting on bills intensifies. Both the House and Senate are working toward a goal of finishing the 2024 session in June. Following the summary of activities scheduled for this week is a brief update of the Public Utilities Commission’s Future of Natural Gas Activities.
This Week At the State House Wednesday, April 24th The Senate Labor Committee will be voting on six bills at 4:30 pm in Room 211. The Chamber expects amendments – known as SubAs – to be offered prior to passage; however, the Committee has not posted the changes yet. SubAs are usually posted up to 24 hours prior to the meeting. S.2122, An Act Relating to Corporations – Workers’ Cooperatives, provides exclusive benefits to cooperatives. Established in 2017, the General Assembly passed a law allowing the creation of an entity where individuals could complete a probationary period as a part-time or full-time employee and become a voting member of the company. The entity is taxed as a corporation. The law also states, “To the extent that a workers’ cooperative has shareholders (owners) who are employees (members), the workers’ cooperative shall be subject to the provisions of title 28 related to employees including, but not limited to: department of labor and training payroll taxes, temporary disability insurance, state unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation insurance.” S.2122 adds a new operational model for cooperatives. It allows co-ops to adopt, in its bylaws, the ability to furnish skilled labor from its members to other entities and to treat those members as independent contractors for that purpose – not as an employee of the co-op. This would allow a co-op to compete with similar businesses at a fiscal advantage. S.2123, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Payment of Wages, changes an employer’s responsibilities as it relates to providing employees with statements of earnings. Today employers must include the hours worked, deductions from gross earnings and an explanation of those deductions. The legislation adds items such as the last four digits of the social security number, deduction explanations, the employer’s address and name, and output information if pay is based on quantity. S.2123 requires employers to provide a type of “mini employee handbook” to employees in English or in each employee’s primary language. The information includes items such as: wage information, benefits, holiday information, sick time, and travel and expense policies. DataUSA reports that 22.4% of Rhode Island households report speaking a primary language other than English. While the most common non-English language spoken in Rhode Island is Spanish followed by Portuguese, there are reportedly forty-one languages spoken as a primary language in the State. Some families are fluent in both their primary language and English, others are not. S.2124, Senate Resolution Creating a Special Legislative Commission to Study and Review Rhode Island’s Minimum Wage – calls for an eleven-member commission to be appointed to conduct an in-depth study of the state’s minimum wage and to report its findings by May 24, 2025. S.2472, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Workers Compensation seems like a movie re-run in that it calls for independent contractors to file annually with the Department of Labor. A similar bill passed last year and became effective January 1, 2024. The court reviewed the statute and determined the language required further revision to clarify the intent of the Act. S.2472 specifies that independent contractors must file annually for each client to be legally considered an individual contractor. The process is simple. To file DWC-11-IC form online, go to: https://dlt.ri.gov/workers-compensation/independent-contractors If you are a company that hires independent contractors, the Chamber encourages you to verify the form has been filed. S.2473, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Workplace Psychological Safety Act. The bill begins by stating that employees have a right to a physically safe work environment and to a psychologically safe workplace. Employers have a “general duty” to provide a work environment free from all forms of psychological abuse and to ensure that all employees are treated respectfully and with dignity. “Psychological abuse” is defined as “mentally provocative harassment. Mistreatment that has the effect of hurting, weakening, confusing, or frightening a person mentally or emotionally.” Within six months of enactment, the bill currently states all employers must adopt policy procedures to comply with the law and train managers and supervisors to handle complaints. S.2473 includes an annual reporting process. Employers are liable for failing to take appropriate measures to provide employees with a psychologically safe work environment. Penalties include economic, compensatory and punitive damages. Any person who aids, abets, incites, or coerces another person in an action not permitted under the legislation is also guilty. A person who experiences psychological abuse may present a case using direct and circumstantial evidence, and if successful may request public notification of the case outcome without disclosing the plaintiff’s name. S.2785, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Labor Relations Act, proposes to protect the free speech rights of employees in the workplace, but it also limits the first amendment rights of employers. S.2785 would prohibit employers from requiring non-managerial employees to attend a meeting to learn about legislative proposals or regulatory matters as well as meetings to provide information concerning labor organization efforts. If enacted, this legislation would severely limit an employer’s ability to educate employees about legislation, including legislation that would materially impact the business’ operations or the employee’s day-to-day job responsibilities. Public Utilities Docket No. 22-01-NG – Investigation Into the Future of the Regulated Gas Distribution Business in Rhode Island in Light of the Act on Climate Since March, 2023, the PUC Stakeholder Committee has been gathering data on various users of natural gas, alternative options that might be available for use, and costs of decommissioning the current natural gas system. The Act on Climate, passed into law in 2021, requires Rhode Island to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions 45% below 1990 levels by 2030, 80% below 1990 levels by 2040 and Net-zero emissions by 2050. The PUC hired Energy and Environmental Economics (known as E3) an analytically driven consulting firm focused on the transition to clean energy resources to assist in the analysis. The Firm released is 122-page report this month. The Stakeholder group will take this report, along with additional information, and develop policy recommendations. They will look to create a list of near-term actionable items, recognizing areas of common agreement and diversion of opinions. The group will discuss concrete policies and determine which policies are within the jurisdiction of the PUC and which actions are non-jurisdictional. E3 designed six economy-wide decarbonization scenarios that each present distinct pathways to achieving the Act’s climate targets:
gas infrastructure;
alternative to gas investments;
and renewable fuels. A few key findings:
The full report will be available on the PUC website soon. The Stakeholder Committee meets again this week April 25th from 10am to 3pm at the PUC office in Warwick. The following new bills have been filed: Senate Bill No. 2988 F. Lombardi, AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- RHODE ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AND LAND USE ACT (Provides amendments relative to the compliance and implementation of the comprehensive planning and use act including the conditions upon which limitations may be placed on land use applications by municipalities.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2988.pdf Senate Bill No. 2992 Kallman, McKenney, Burke, AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- ABANDONED PROPERTY (Requires towns and cities to publish a list of abandoned properties and makes various other amendments relative to the sale of abandoned property by a receiver.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2992.pdf Senate Bill No. 2994 McKenney, Burke, LaMountain, Kallman, AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES (Amends provisions relative to the application of zoning ordinances pertaining to wetland buffers to projects for development, redevelopment, construction or rehabilitation.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2994.pdf
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Legislative Break April 15 – 20
The General Assembly is on vacation break this week. They will return April 23rd for the third phase of the session. This last phase is marked with the development and passage of the final budget which should take place in June. The House and Senate Finance Committees have almost completed hearings on the Governor’s proposed budget. They will now wait for the completion of the May Revenue Estimating Conference. The Governor’s Budget Staff meets with the House Fiscal Staff and the Senate Fiscal Staff to debate and adopt revenue and caseload estimates for the upcoming two fiscal years. These numbers will be used by the General Assembly as the guardrails for the budget. May Revenue Estimating Conference Agenda Friday April 26, 2024 – Caseload Testimony 9:00 A.M Cash Assistance Caseload Department of Human Services Private Community Developmental Disabilities Services Caseload Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals 1:00 P.M. Medical Caseload Executive Office of Health and Human Services Monday April 29, 2024 - Economic Overview and Testimony 9:00 A.M. US and RI Economic Forecasts – S&P Global Market Intelligence Michael Lynch and Juan Turcios, Economists RI Labor Market Conditions - Department of Labor and Training Donna Murray, Assistance Director, Labor Market Information Unit Consensus Economic Forecast 10:30 A.M. Lottery Receipts - Department of Revenue, Division of Lottery Mark Furcolo, Director, Division of Lottery Commerce Corporation Tax Credits - Commerce Corporation Jeff Miller, Executive Vice President of Investments, RI Commerce Corporation Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - Caseload Follow up Testimony (if necessary)* 1:00 P.M. Cash Assistance Caseload Department of Human Services Private Community Developmental Disabilities Services Caseload Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals Medical Caseload Executive Office of Health and Human Services Monday, May 6, 2024 – Caseload Estimating Conference 9:30 A.M. Caseload Estimating Conference Monday, May 6, 2024 - Revenue Testimony 2:00 P.M. Tax Collections - Department of Revenue, Division of Taxation Neena Savage, State Tax Administrator Accruals - Department of Administration, Office of Accounts and Control Dorothy Pascale, State Controller Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – Follow up Testimony (if necessary)* 1:00 P.M. Tax Collections - Department of Revenue, Division of Taxation Neena Savage, State Tax Administrator Friday, May 10, 2024 - Revenue Estimating Conference 9:00 A.M. Revenue Estimating Conference *in the event that testimony is submitted in writing and no hearing is necessary, all documents will be posted online. Meeting materials will be made available on the General Assembly website at https://www.rilegislature.gov/Special/rcc/Pages/rcec.aspx or http://omb.ri.gov/REC . The following new bill was filed last week: House Bill No. 8170 Shallcross Smith, Craven, Ackerman, Kislak, Noret, DeSimone, Nardone, Fellela, Baginski, J. Lombardi, AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- CONTRACTORS' REGISTRATION AND LICENSING BOARD (Requires all applicants who seek to register as a contractor to produce a legible copy of a valid government issued identification.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8170.pdf Call to Action – Now is the Time! The Chamber Needs Your Help!
The Chamber is asking you to contact your State Representative and State Senator and let them know how H.7171 and S.2121 will affect your business. H.7171, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Temporary Disability Insurance, (S.2121 is the identical bill) increases the weekly dependance allowance provided under TDI/TCI from $10 to $20 or 7% of the benefit rate, whichever is greater. The bill also expands the TCI benefit to cover employees who wish to take time to care for a sibling (including half-siblings and foster siblings), a grandchild or a “care recipient.” A “care recipient” is defined as “a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety related care, including, but not limited to, helping the person obtain diagnostic, preventive, routine, or therapeutic health treatment.” Lastly, the TCI benefit increases to 12 weeks in a benefit year beginning January 1, 2025. This benefit was first extended to employees in 2014 at 4 weeks. It increased to 5 weeks in 2022 and to 6 weeks in 2023. The employer is required to hold the job for the employee that is on leave. It is imperative that you contact your legislators by phone, or email. Both bills are being pushed heavily by the advocates and are under consideration. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7171.pdf Legislative Break Week Begins April 15th The General Assembly will be on legislative break April 15th – April 19th and will return to hearing calendars and floor session April 23rd. This will begin the third phase of the legislative process as bills begin to pass at an accelerated rate. The May Revenue Estimating Conference starts April 26th and will wrap up May 10th, providing the data needed to begin the final negotiations for the FY2025 budget. This Week At the State House Wednesday, April 10th The House Labor Committee’s 4:00 meeting schedule includes H.7793, An Act Relating to Labor Relations – Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act which increases the number of benefit weeks provided to employees from thirteen weeks every two years, to twenty-four weeks every two years (S.2467 is the Senate companion bill). While the Chamber understands that this is unpaid leave, the employer must still keep the employee’s job waiting for the person’s return. Employers are having an extremely difficult time attracting employees. Finding temporary workers can be even more challenging. Should H.7793 pass, employers will be looking for replacements for almost six months, at a time when they cannot find employees for a full year. This is a very high burden at a time when businesses are least able to adapt. Additionally, should the proponents of the expansion of the state’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) program be successful, the expansion of Family Leave, together with the expansion of TCI would leave employers trying to find replacement employees for up to nine months. The Chamber strongly encourages you to contact your legislators about this proposal as well as the proposal to expand the TCI program (H.7171 and S.2121). The Senate has already passed both S.2467 and S.2121. Both Senate bills are in the House Labor Committee. H.7793 can be viewed at: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7793.pdf Testimony can be emailed to HouseLabor@rilegislature.gov by 1:00 Wednesday. At 4:30, the Senate Labor Committee will take testimony on S.2477, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Payment of Wages – Frequency of Payment. This bill requires all employers to pay employees on a weekly basis unless an employee’s wages are fixed at a biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly or annual rate. S.2477 provides an exemption for state and municipalities as well as any nonprofit organization with less than 25 employees. In 2013, the business community fought hard to pass biweekly pay for all employees. The compromise reached allowed the Department of Labor and Training to authorize biweekly pay for businesses with an average payroll equal to 200% of the state’s minimum wage, a surety bond equal to the highest two weeks payroll exposure, and no history of labor violations. S.2477 removes the 2013 compromise language. Today, Rhode Island has one of the strictest “frequency of payment” laws in the country. (CA requires weekly pay for agricultural workers; NY requires weekly pay for manual workers although large employers may apply for an exemption; VT requires weekly pay although permits biweekly pay if employers provide written notice of the policy change). If this is of interest to your business, testimony can be submitted to: SLegislation@rilegislature.gov To read the actual language of the bill go to: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2477.pdf The Washington Bridge continues to be a major focus at the State House. The Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight has scheduled S.2727, An Act Relating to State Affairs and Government – Department of Transportation for hearing and a possible vote. S.2727 requires the Department of Transportation to submit a monthly progress report to the General Assembly. The report must include (1) An updated timeline regarding actions to be undertaken on the Washington Bridge, including, repairs, alterations, or replacement of all or a portion of the structures. (2) A list of consulting firms retained or utilized by the department. (3) Data on traffic patterns over the bridge for the time period covered by the report. (4) Data on traffic delays. (5) An overview of costs related to actions on the bridge, and (6) Any updates pertaining to pending investigations and audits related to the bridge. The hearing will be televised by Capitol Television on: Cox Communications, channels 15 and 61 for high definition; i3Broadband (Formerly Full Channel) on 15; and Verizon, on channel 34. Livestreaming is available at https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv The following new bills have been filed: House Bill No. 8127 Alzate, Batista, Carson, Spears, Cotter, McGaw, Donovan, DeSimone, Speakman, Morales, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ACT (Establishes requirements which would have to be met by an applicant prior to the issuing of permits for an activity that would have an environmental impact on or would increase the cumulative impacts on an environmental justice area.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8127.pdf House Bill No. 8143 Kislak, Cotter, Fogarty, Potter, Cruz, Boylan, McGaw, AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- PHARMACIES (Restricts audits of pharmacists conducted by insurers and their intermediaries, limiting audits to 1 per year unless fraud or misrepresentation is reasonably suspected. The Rhode Island attorney would have the authority to impose sanctions for violations.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8143.pdf House Bill No. 8148 (Attorney General) Cortvriend, Tanzi, Knight, Finkelman, Handy, Edwards, Fogarty, Azzinaro, McNamara, Speakman, AN ACT RELATING TO WATERS AND NAVIGATION -- COASTAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT COUNCIL (Replaces the coastal resources management council with a state department of coastal resources and transfers all of the powers and duties between the two (2) authorities.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8148.pdf Senate Bill No. 2946 Cano, Mack, AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES (Mandates all insurance plans provide insurance coverage for diagnosing and treating infertility for women between the ages of 25 and 42 years including preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF).) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2946.pdf Last Week At the State House
S.2121, the Temporary Caregiver bill, passed the Senate Floor 31- 3. Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz, Senator Anthony DeLuca and Senator Thomas Paolino voted against the bill. Absent from the vote were: Senator Elaine Morgan, Senator Louis Raptakis and Senator Gordon Roberts. The bill is now on its way to the House Labor Committee. While the bill passed the Senate, we ask you to continue to contact your Senator as bills will be negotiated over the upcoming months. S.2121 (and its companion bill H.7171) double the amount of time workers can use for Temporary Caregiver Insurance (from 6 weeks to 12 weeks) and expand the program to allow employees to take time to care for “a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety related care, including, but not limited to, helping the person obtain diagnostic, preventive, routine, or therapeutic health treatment.” This Week At the State House Tuesday, April 2nd H.7286, An Act Relating to Public Utilities and Carries, is the topic of discussion in the House Corporations Committee at the Rise (approximately 4:30pm) in the House Lounge. This bill creates a tiered rate system for electricity and natural gas customers whose household income level is below 150% of the federal poverty level and who are eligible for LIHEAP assistance or Medicaid. For these households, the plan envisions capping electric rates to ensure that they pay no more than 3% of their income on electricity or 6% of their income if the house utilizes electricity as a sole source of heat. The program will be funded by increased rates assessed on all other customers. The most current US Census estimates 10.8% of population in Rhode Island meets the definition of living in poverty. The census does not say how many are living at 150% of the federal poverty level. The Rhode Island total population at the time of the census was 1,095,962. Testimony may be submitted at HouseCorporations@rilegislature.gov Wednesday, April 3rd The House Committee on Small Business will be taking testimony from the public, but with a special request to hear from businesses affected by the Washington Bridge partial closure and replacement plan. The committee is gathering information to determine what assistance might be needed as the bridge is dismantled and rebuilt over the next year and a half. The meeting will be held in room 101 at 4:00pm sharp. If you wish to submit written testimony, email your letter to HouseSmallBusiness@rilegislature.gov The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to hear S.2282, An Act Relating to Education – Curriculum at 4:00 in room 313. This act would establish a "workplace readiness week". It would require all public high schools, including charter schools, to annually observe that week by providing information to students on their rights as workers, including: (1) Prohibitions against misclassification of employees as independent contractors; (2) Child labor; (3) Wage and hour protections; (4) Worker safety; (5) Workers’ compensation; (6) Unemployment insurance; (7) Paid sick leave, paid family leave, and state disability insurance; (8) The right to organize a union in the workplace; and (9) Prohibitions against retaliation by employers when workers exercise these or any other rights guaranteed by law. Testimony can be submitted to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov Senate Labor is scheduled to hear a couple bills of note at 4:00pm in room 212. S.2122, An Act Relating to Corporations – Workers’ Cooperatives, provides exclusive benefits to cooperatives. Established in 2017, the General Assembly passed a law allowing the creation of an entity where individuals could complete a probationary period as a part-time or full-time employee and become a voting member of the company. The entity is taxed as a corporation. The law also states, “To the extent that a workers’ cooperative has shareholders (owners) who are employees (members), the workers’ cooperative shall be subject to the provisions of title 28 related to employees including, but not limited to: department of labor and training payroll taxes, temporary disability insurance, state unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation insurance.” S.2122 adds a new operational model for cooperatives. It allows co-ops to adopt, in its bylaws, the ability to furnish skilled labor from its members to other entities and to treat those members as independent contractors for that purpose – not as an employee of the co-op. This would allow a co-op to compete with similar businesses at a fiscal advantage. S.2900, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Fair Employment Practices – Extreme Temperature Employee Protection, requires employers to take special precautions when employees are working in temperatures above 90 degrees or below 32 degrees, including employees that are required to stay in vehicles under these conditions. Employees would be entitled to paid rest breaks, adequate shade, warming or cooling stations, drinking water, protective equipment and clothing. An employer found in noncompliance would be subject to compensatory damages and in some cases punitive damages. Testimony on either of these bills can be emailed to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov The following new bills have been filed: House Bill No. 8109 Slater, DeSimone, Perez, Batista, Diaz, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- STATEWIDE TANGIBLE PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION (Repeals the language that eff. 2025 fiscal year all cities/towns/fire districts would receive a reimbursement equal to the tangible property levy for the 12/31/22 assessment date less the tangible personal property levy for 12/31/25 assessment date.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8109.pdf Senate Bill No. 2929 (General Treasurer) Murray, Lawson, Acosta, Zurier, DiPalma, DiMario, Valverde, Cano, Lauria, Euer, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC FINANCE -- RHODE ISLAND BABY BOND TRUST (Creates the Rhode Island baby bond trust to provide investment funds to children born to families with public health insurance or no insurance living in Rhode Island.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2929.pdf Senate Bill No. 2930 (General Treasurer) Zurier, Gu, DiPalma, Sosnowski, LaMountain, Lauria, DiMario, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Provides a tax credit to individual taxpayers who convert their gas-powered vehicle into a vehicle propelled by an alternative fuel source.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2930.pdf *** ACTION ALERT ***
In a recent conversation with Legislative Leaders about legislation that could harm the business community, they remarked that they don't hear enough from business owners like you at the State House. The Chamber realizes that it is difficult to come to the state house and sit through a hearing because you are busy facing the challenges of running a business. However, you do have a unique opportunity to come to the state house Tuesday 4:30-6:30 PM for a legislative reception where you can talk to legislators. If you are unable to attend the reception, we need legislative leaders to hear from you by communicating your concern via email, phone call or personal visit to your elected officials to show them you are aware of bills being considered for passage this session. In a state like Rhode Island, standing up for your business can seem like a daunting task. But that is exactly why we need voices like yours to tell lawmakers in Providence the real-world impact of certain policy choices. If they do not hear your story, they cannot be expected to understand the impacts legislation can have on your business. Below you will find a list of this session's policies that will impact your business, many of which are moving with strong support from lawmakers. We urge you to take five minutes to tell your elected officials, Speaker Shekarchi and Senate President Ruggerio that your business will be harmed if these bills pass into law. Time Off
Labor
Health Care
NOW IS YOUR TIME TO ASK LEGISLATORS TO HELP BUSINESSES THIS YEAR BY NOT PASSING LEGISLATION THAT WILL PLACE FURTHER BURDENS AND COSTS ON BUSINESS Senators - https://www.rilegislature.gov/senators/default.aspx Representatives - https://www.rilegislature.gov/representatives/default.aspx The following new bills have been filed: Senate Bill No. 2813 (Dept. of Revenue) Britto, Tikoian, Lawson, DiPalma, LaMountain, Ciccone, Burke, AN ACT RELATING TO CORPORATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND PARTNERSHIPS -- RHODE ISLAND BUSINESS CORPORATION ACT (Makes numerous technical amendments to the statutes on taxes and corporations, associations and partnerships.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2813.pdf Senate Bill No. 2840 McKenney, LaMountain, Burke, Raptakis, Euer, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- CONSUMER ENFORCEMENT OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE WARRANTIES (Requires manufacturers of assisting technology devices to make available to independent repair providers/the owner of the device, any documentation/parts, software/other items intended for use with the equipment/parts, including updates to software.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2840.pdf Senate Bill No. 2848 DiMario, Gu, Kallman, Valverde, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- THE RHODE ISLAND CLEAN HEAT STANDARD ACT (Created the Rhode Island clean heat standards act to implement a system of tradeable clean heat credits earned from the delivery of clean heat measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2848.pdf Senate Bill No. 2850 Valverde, Murray, LaMountain, Kallman, Britto, Gu, DiMario, Miller, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- TOXIC PACKAGING REDUCTION ACT (Updates the existing Toxic Packaging Act by delaying the ban on PFAS in processing agents, until July 1, 2027, and also expands the law by banning PVC and polystyrene in packaging.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2850.pdf Senate Bill No. 2888 DiPalma, Gu, Picard, Gallo, Lawson, Bissaillon, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- AUTOMATED DECISION TOOLS (Requires companies that develop or deploy high-risk AI systems to conduct impact assessments and adopt risk management programs, would apply to both developers and deployers of AI systems with different obligations based on their role in AI ecosystem.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2888.pdf Senate Bill No. 2900 DiPalma, F. Lombardi, Miller, Ciccone, Sosnowski, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EXTREME TEMPERATURE WORKER PROTECTION ACT (Directs employers to take certain actions to protect their employees who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2900.pdf Senate Bill No. 2901 Ciccone, DiPalma, Raptakis, F. Lombardi, Burke, LaMountain, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- LABOR AND PAYMENT OF DEBTS BY CONTRACTORS (Prohibits contractors and subcontractors from paying employees the cash equivalent of any applicable healthcare benefit in lieu of actually purchasing the healthcare benefit. Violations would be subject to civil fines.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2901.pdf Senate Bill No. 2902 Cano, Mack, DiPalma, Pearson, DiMario, Zurier, McKenney, Lawson, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- CONTRACTORS BONDS (Provides that upon application, and good cause, the state may waive the bonding requirement for certified minority business enterprises or women owned businesses.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2902.pdf Senate Labor Committee Passes Family Leave Bill
On a 4-2 vote, the Senate Labor Committee recommended passage of S.2467, An Act Relating to Labor Relations – Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act. The bill increases the number of benefit weeks provided to employees from thirteen weeks every two years, to twenty-four weeks every two years. While the Chamber understands that this is unpaid leave, the employer must still keep the employee’s job waiting for the person’s return. The Chamber wishes to thank Senator Roger Picard and Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz for voting against passage of the bill. Voting in favor was Chairman Frank Ciccone, Senator Frank Lombardi, Senator John Burke and Senator Melissa Murray. S.2467 is now headed to the Senate floor for a vote March 21st. This Week At the State House Tuesday March 12th Senate Commerce Committee Self-service check outs, data privacy and deceptive trade practices are all on the agenda for the Senate Commerce Committee hearing at the Rise in room 212. S.2268, An Act Relating to Commercial Law – Grocery Stores limits the number of customer self-checkout stations to six, requires grocery stores to maintain one manual check-out station for every self-checkout station in use, and gives the Attorney General’s office the authority to impose penalties for noncompliance. The self-service check-out limitation provision in S.2268 could bring under its umbrella grocery stores, pharmacies, and certain retail stores that offer a wide array of goods. Written testimony can be forwarded to slegislation@rilegislature.gov S.2500, An Act Relating to Commercial Law – Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protection Act establishes rules for Rhode Island companies that sell or provide information to third parties for marketing purposes. S.2500 is a seventeen-page bill that is different than bills introduced in previous years. The employee responsible for collecting data for a company must provide certain information in a customer agreement or on a website. The information must include: categories of personal data collected, categories of third parties to whom the information is disclosed, explanation concerning how customers may exercise rights provided under the law, the purposes for collecting the personal data, categories of personal data shared with third parties, and an active email address or online avenue to contact the person in charge of data collection. Customers have a right to correct inaccuracies in the customer’s personal data and to delete data. They have the right to obtain a copy of the data processed and to opt out of data collected for targeted advertising purposes. If your business sells or provides information to third parties, we encourage you to carefully read the bill and submit comments. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2500.pdf S.2503, An Act Relating to Commercial Law – General Regulatory Provisions – Deceptive Trade Practices attempts to address what is often referred to as “junk fees.” The legislation creates a new section to the unfair deceptive practices act, stating it is an unfair practice to offer goods or services to the public and to fail to include a notification disclosing any mandatory fees including the “nature and purpose” of those fees. S.2503 creates significant ambiguity by using language that does not distinguish between fees that are fixed and determinable upfront versus fees that vary based on consumer choices during the ordering process. For example, some web-based companies will charge fees based on the amount of items purchased, or a percentage of the cost of an item or service. These fees are eventually disclosed to the consumer, but cannot be calculated until the order is about to be completed. The language in the legislation would cause this practice to be declared illegal. Additionally, there is no language in the bill to clarify a length of time between the displaying of a price and the customer’s purchase triggering an unfair practice violation. It is possible for a business to advertise a price for an item, and then the corresponding fees change prior to the customer ultimately making a purchase. Lastly, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is working on this very issue now. The Chamber believes it is prudent to allow that process to move forward before the State promulgates proposed regulations covering the same subject matter. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2503.pdf S.2505, An Act Relating to Commercial Law – Deceptive Trade Practices, is another difficult bill to dissect for meaning. This one-sentence bill states, “Any term or condition in any agreement which unnecessarily burdens a person's effective vindication of rights under this chapter [the Deceptive Trade Practices Law] shall be null and void.” If passed, the bill will provide business to attorneys, as the courts attempt to determine what activities are covered under the new provision. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2505.pdf Senate Judiciary Committee The Senate Judiciary Committee is also meeting at the Rise on Tuesday to hear testimony on S.2672, An Act Relating to Criminal Procedure – Identification and Apprehension of Criminals. The bill prohibits the state or any agency, from denying any person employment based on a prior criminal conviction and prohibits the state from disqualifying any person from engaging in any occupation for which a license, permit or certificate of registration is required based on a prior conviction. Unless a particular state law or federal law requires an employer to ask about prior convictions, any state or private employer may not ask about criminal history “until such prospective employee has been deemed otherwise qualified for the position.” At that point, a state entity or agency can deny employment or licensure, registration or permit if the crime is related to the occupation and after taking into consideration the degree of rehabilitation and the time that has elapsed since the conviction. The bill does not specifically state that a private employer cannot deny employment; but it does say “If a conviction of a crime is used as a basis for rejection of an applicant, such rejection shall be in writing and specifically state the grounds presented and reasons for rejection. A copy of such rejection shall be sent by registered mail to the applicant.” One last provision of the bill states that once an individual completes a suspended sentence, a probationary sentence or deferred or suspended sentence, and that person is not subject to sexual offender registration, then the Department of Probation and Parole must issue to the person a certificate of rehabilitation which can be used when applying for employment. S.2203, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations - Fair Employment Practices Act creates individual liability for any person, employer, or employees who directly or indirectly commit any act declared to be an unlawful employment practice. This bill seems to be aimed at overturning a 2017 Rhode Island Supreme Court decision - Mancini vs City of Providence. The case involved a Providence Police Sergeant who alleged he was illegally denied a promotion based on discriminatory factors; and he attempted to sue then Chief of Police, Hugh Clements, Jr. personally. The Rhode Island Supreme Court stated, “allowing for the possibility of individual liability would have a predictably chilling effect on the discretionary management decisions of supervisory employees.” The Chamber encourages members of human resource staffs to submit testimony for the Tuesday hearing at SLegislation@rilegislature.gov Wednesday, March 13th The Senate Labor Committee H.2121, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Temporary Disability Insurance, increases the weekly dependance allowance provided under TDI/TCI to increase from $10 to $20 or 7% of the benefit rate, whichever is greater. The bill also expands the TCI benefit to cover employees who wish to take time to care for a sibling (including half-siblings and foster siblings), a grandchild or a “care recipient.” A “care recipient” is defined as “a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety related care, including, but not limited to, helping the person obtain diagnostic, preventive, routine, or therapeutic health treatment.” Lastly, the TCI benefit increases to 12 weeks in a benefit year beginning January 1, 2025. This benefit was first extended to employees in 2014 at 4 weeks. It increased to 5 weeks in 2022 and to 6 weeks in 2023. The employer is required to hold the job for the employee that is on leave. The Chamber strongly encourages you to contact your legislators on this bill, as well as the House version – H.7171. Both bills are being pushed heavily by the advocates and are under consideration. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2121.pdf S.2783, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Employment Security – Benefits proposes to change who is entitled to unemployment benefits during a labor strike. Under current law, an employee is not entitled to unemployment benefits during a strike unless the individual is not a member of the striking union. If an employer locks out striking employees, those employees are entitled to benefits unless the employer is a member of a multi-employer collective bargaining group and the lockout is in response to a strike at another member’s location. S.2783 allows all striking workers to collect unemployment benefits during a strike, meaning an employer is ultimately paying its employees to refuse to work during contract negotiations. S.2783 upsets the delicate balance of power during negotiations which is designed to encourage both sides to work toward compromise. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2783.pdf S.2785, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Labor Relations Act, proposes to protect the free speech rights of employees in the workplace, but it also limits the first amendment rights of employers. S.2785 would prohibit employers from requiring non-managerial employees to attend a meeting to learn about legislative proposals or regulatory matters as well as meetings to provide information concerning labor organization efforts. If enacted, this legislation would severely limit an employer’s ability to educate employees about legislation, including legislation that would materially impact the business’ operations or the employee’s day-to-day job responsibilities. The bill can be viewed at: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2785.pdf S.2473, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Workplace Psychological Safety Act will be heard once again. The bill begins by stating that employees have a right to a physically safe work environment and to a psychologically safe workplace. Employers have a “general duty” to provide a work environment free from all forms of psychological abuse and to ensure that all employees are treated respectfully and with dignity. “Psychological abuse” is defined as “mentally provocative harassment. Mistreatment that has the effect of hurting, weakening, confusing, or frightening a person mentally or emotionally.” Within six months of enactment, all employers must adopt policy procedures to comply with the law and train managers and supervisors to handle complaints. S.2473 includes an annual reporting process. Employers are liable for failing to take appropriate measures to provide employees with a psychologically safe work environment. Penalties include economic, compensatory and punitive damages. Any person who aids, abets, incites, or coerces another person in an action not permitted under the legislation is also guilty. A person who experiences psychological abuse may present a case using direct and circumstantial evidence, and if successful may request public notification of the case outcome without disclosing the plaintiff’s name. The bill can be read in its entirety at: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2473.pdf Testimony concerning bills on the Senate Labor agenda can be emailed to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov Thursday, March 14th House Environment & Natural Resources H.7617, An Act Relating to Health and Safety – Building Decarbonization Act of 2024, is an 18- page bill that addresses new residential and commercial buildings, renovations to certain properties and the collection of energy and water use data from commercial entities including housing properties. Beginning March 31, 2026, a single building with more than 25,000 sq. ft., condominium properties with more than 25,000 sq. ft., or two buildings served by the same electric or gas meter that together have more than 25,000 sq. ft. will be required to submit energy information to the Office of Energy Resources (OER) on an annual basis. The information will be used by OER to create benchmarks for meeting the Act on Climate requirements. As benchmarks are adopted, buildings will have to be renovated to meet the benchmarks. H.7617 bans municipalities from issuing permits for the new construction or the alteration of residential, commercial, or mixed-use buildings that are not “electric-ready” if the application or the permit was submitted after December 31, 2024. An exemption can be issued by the municipality if it is determined that the requirement is physically or technically infeasible. Financial considerations are not sufficient to allow for an exemption. No permits for new commercial, residential or mixed-use buildings would be issued after December 31, 2026, unless the building is all-electric. The bill can be viewed at https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7617.pdf Testimony should be submitted to HouseEnvironmentandNaturalResources@rilegislature.gov The following new bills have been filed: House Bill No. 8055 (Secretary of State) Voas, Giraldo, Stewart, Solomon, Casimiro, Kazarian, AN ACT RELATING TO CORPORATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND PARTNERSHIPS -- RHODE ISLAND BUSINESS CORPORATION ACT (Allows the sharing of certain information between the division of taxation and the secretary of state's office regarding an entity's tax status as compliant or non-compliant.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8055.pdf House Bill No. 8059 Baginski, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- RHODE ISLAND NONCOMPETITION AGREEMENT ACT (Prohibits noncompete agreements except for noncompete agreements between a seller and buyer of a business; creates civil action for an employer for the violation of an agreement by employee regarding disclosure or wrongful utilization of trade secrets.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8059.pdf This Week At the State House
Tuesday March 12th House Committee on Health & Human Services H.7694, An Act Relating to State Affairs and Government – RI Individual Market Affordability Act of 2024 will be heard in room 135 at the Rise (approximately 4:30pm). H.7694 establishes a new program entitled “The Rhode Island Individual Market Affordability Program” and funds it through a 2% assessment on private insurance premiums starting in 2025. The funds can be used to reduce cost sharing for individuals (eligible for subsidies) enrolled in health insurance coverage through the RI Health Exchange; provide payments to carriers to increase affordability of insurance on the individual market for lower household income families; and pay for administrative costs related to the new program. A 2022 study by KFF revealed our state has the 6th highest average employer-paid health insurance premium costs in the United States. New York is highest in cost, followed by Washington DC, Alaska, Vermont, Connecticut and then Rhode Island. Massachusetts ranked 11th. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/single-coverage/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Total%20Annual%20Premium%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D As premiums increase, it becomes more difficult for businesses to provide health insurance benefits to employees; it makes our state less competitive in attracting economic development to the state and pushes current employees into the individual marketplace. The Chamber, together with other business organizations, have been advocating for the creation of a health care mandated benefits review committee. The committee would be charged with evaluating, on a use and cost basis, all proposed new health care mandates and programs, and then providing that information to the General Assembly before the legislature votes to change the system. Other states have independent bodies, agencies, or designated entities to perform such studies. Certain states require proponents to submit a complete study (contents of the study are stated in statute) with the request to introduce legislation. So far in 2024, sixty-two bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to add new benefits to the health care system. It is an increasing trend that is detrimental to the state’s economy. Wednesday, March 13th Senate Labor Committee Three bills of interest will be heard in the Senate Labor Committee at 4:00 in room 212. S.2467, An Act Relating to Labor Relations – Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act increases the number of benefit weeks provided to employees from thirteen weeks every two years, to twenty-four weeks every two years. While the Chamber understands that this is unpaid leave, the employer must still keep the employee’s job waiting for the person’s return. Employers are having an extremely difficult time attracting employees. Finding temporary workers can be even more challenging. Should S.2467 pass, employers will be looking for replacements for almost six months, at a time when they cannot find employees for a full year. This is a very high burden at a time when businesses are least able to adapt. Additionally, should the proponents of the expansion of the state’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance (TCI) program be successful, the expansion of Family Leave, together with the expansion of TCI would leave employers trying to find replacement employees for up to nine months. The Chamber strongly encourages you to contact your legislators about this proposal as well as the proposal to expand the TCI program (S.2121 and H.7171). Testimony on S.2467 can be emailed to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov The bill can be reviewed in its entirety at https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2467.pdf S.2123, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Payment of Wages, changes an employer’s responsibilities as it relates to providing employees with statements of earnings. Today employers must include the hours worked, deductions from gross earnings and an explanation of those deductions. The legislation adds items such as the last four digits of the social security number, deduction explanations in the employee’s preferred language, the employer’s address and name, and output information if pay is based on quantity. It also requires employers to keep these records for an undisclosed period of time. Today, employers must keep records for three years. S.2123 eliminates that provision in its entirety, suggesting the employer must keep the records until it winds up its business activity. S.2123 also requires employers to provide a type of “mini employee handbook” to employees in each employee’s primary language. The information includes items such as: wage information, benefits, holiday information, sick time, and travel and expense policies. DataUSA reports that 22.4% of Rhode Island households report speaking a primary language other than English. While the most common non-English language spoken in Rhode Island is Spanish followed by Portuguese, there are reportedly forty-one languages spoken as a primary language in the State. Some families are fluent in both their primary language and English, others are not. This bill would require employers to be prepared to provide information in multiple languages, a very high burden for Rhode Island businesses. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2123.pdf Businesses in the warehouse industry are encouraged to submit testimony on S.2478, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Warehouse Worker Protection Act. S.2478 requires employers in the warehousing industry to provide employees with a written description of quotas an employee is required to meet within a defined period and any penalties that could be levied as a result of failing to meet the quota. If the quota changes, employees must be notified within two business days of the change. Each time a penalty is levied, the employer must provide the employee with “an applicable quota.” It is unclear whether this last provision mentioned, refers to a written description of the failure to meet the quota established, or if an existing quota will have to be adjusted to meet the employee’s “under performance.” Section 28-60-4 of the bill states, “An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods or use of bathroom facilities, including reasonable travel time to and from bathroom facilities.” This language seems to imply that the employer must go to each station and attempt to determine how long a “reasonable person” would need to walk to the bathroom and back. As employees move around the warehouse, the employer would have to keep track of the constant location of the employee and re-calculate the time needed in order to avoid the penalties that are contained in S.2478 and to keep the necessary records outlined in S.2478. Under the bill, employers are required to keep records on the following items: (1) Each employee's own personal work speed data; (2) The aggregated work speed data for similar employees at the same establishment; and (3) The written descriptions of the quota such employee was provided. Lastly, S.2478 provides a private right of action by an employee for injunctive relief, costs and attorney’s fees. If the employer took any action that might be deemed to be retaliatory by the employee, the employer could be subject to penalties of $10,000 or three times the unpaid wages and benefits, whichever is greater. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2478.pdf Thursday, March 14th Senate Committee on Housing & Municipal Government Owners of certain multi-family residential properties should take note of S.2631, An Act Relating to property-Community Opportunity to Purchase Act. S.2631 will be heard in committee Thursday, at the Rise in room 212. This legislation creates a right of first offer for non-profit organizations wishing to purchase certain privately-owned real property with five or more residential rental units (whether or not the property also includes non-residential uses). Rhode Island Housing would be responsible for determining which nonprofit organizations qualify for this special treatment, and for posting a list of those entities on a website. Private owners of multi-family residential properties that were constructed twenty (20) years ago or more, would be required to notify eligible non-profits of the desire to sell the property prior to notifying the general public. The normal sales process could not begin until the initial notification is complete. Those non-profits are given at least sixty (60) days to submit offers to purchase. Every seller must submit a signed declaration of compliance with this proposed law within fifteen (15) days of the sale of the building. It is signed under penalty of perjury. Should the seller fail to file the declaration, the seller is subject to a fine of up to $5,000. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2631.pdf Testimony should be emailed to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov The following new bills have been filed: Senate Bill No. 2711 Bissaillon, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES (Prohibits credit reporting, executions, attachments against a principal residence for judgments based on medical debt. Defines medical debt as an amount for the receipt of health care services, products, or devices.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2711.pdf Senate Bill No. 2738 Kallman, Gu, DiMario, Miller, Valverde, LaMountain, Acosta, McKenney, Burke, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- TERMINATION OF SERVICE TO PERSONS WHO ARE DISABLED, SERIOUSLY ILL, OR IN ARREARS OF PAYMENT (Extends the forbearance of utility terminations for customers with serious illness certifications and would amend various provisions related to the termination of utility services for persons who are disabled, seriously ill, or in arrears.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2738.pdf Senate Bill No. 2772 (Secretary of State) Quezada, Mack, Zurier, Lauria, Tikoian, Ujifusa, AN ACT RELATING TO CORPORATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS -- UNIFORM PARTNERSHIP ACT (Requires certain limited liability partnership providing professional services to carry liability insurance.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2772.pdf Senate Bill No. 2783 Bissaillon, Burke, Mack, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY -- BENEFITS (Allows unemployment benefits for workers who are on strike or are locked out of their workplaces by their employer due to a labor dispute.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2783.pdf Senate Bill No. 2785 LaMountain, Bissaillon, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT -- EMPLOYEE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS (Protects employees free speech regarding political or religious matters.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2785.pdf House Bill No. 7927 Solomon, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- TAXATION OF BANKS (Provides banks with an election to use the allocation and apportionment method of income for purposes of taxation.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7927.pdf House Bill No. 7928 Casey, Finkelman, Solomon, Phillips, Fenton-Fung, J. Brien, Chippendale, Dawson, Costantino, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- BUSINESS CORPORATION TAX (Repeals the corporation minimum tax.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7928.pdf House Bill No. 7929 Casey, Finkelman, Solomon, Phillips, J. Brien, Chippendale, Dawson, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Authorizes a retroactive tax credit for tax yr 2022/thereafter/allowing investment tax credits to be passed through to the personal income tax returns of eligible Sub-S corporation shareholders/limited liability company members who meet certain conditions) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7929.pdf House Bill No. 7940 Voas, Alzate, Potter, Kazarian, Hull, Marszalkowski, DeSimone, Finkelman, Caldwell, Slater, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- SENIOR SAVINGS PROTECTION ACT (Prohibits the charging of any fees to a senior citizen who is 65 years of age or older for a hard-copy paper bill, invoice or statement. The violation of this provision would be a deceptive trade practice subject to a ($500) fine.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7940.pdf House Bill No. 7942 Craven, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES (Makes any term or condition in any agreement that unnecessarily burdens a person's vindication of rights under this section null and void.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7942.pdf House Bill No. 7981 Giraldo, Speakman, Biah, Henries, Voas, Kislak, Batista, Diaz, Alzate, Kazarian, AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES (Amends the provisions relative to permitted uses within residential, industrial and commercial zoning use districts.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7981.pdf House Bill No. 8044 Hull, J. Lombardi, Fogarty, Handy, Shallcross Smith, Ajello, Ackerman, Slater, Azzinaro, Bennett, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WORKPLACE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY ACT (Protects bullying/psychological abuse in workplace inflicted upon employees by employers/co-employees/provides civil remedies to affected employees/fines against employers/imprisonment/fines against co-employees.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H8044.pdf This Week At the State House
Tuesday, March 5th House Finance Committee The House Finance Committee has scheduled several hearings on the Governor’s proposed budget. As reported last week, the committee is scheduled to take testimony on sections of Article 6 – Tax Article at the Rise (approximately 4:30). Article 6 sections 3, 6 and 16-20 affect businesses engaging in the sale of e-cigarette and vaping products. The budget includes a tax on these products equal to 80% of the wholesale cost (an exemption exists for research products). Article 6 sections 14 and 15 propose to increase the cigarette tax by $.25 a pack for a total tax of $4.50 per pack. The language also calls for an age verification process to be adopted by online retailers of tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery systems. Article 6 section 11 – Under current law, each year, the Tax Administrator is required to prepare and publish a list of the top 100 delinquent taxpayers in the state. The Governor’s budget expands the requirement so that the annual list will include all taxpayers who owe at least $50,000 in state taxes. Article 6, section 21 eliminates the $50 filing fee for estates of decedents with a death on or after January 1, 2025 Written testimony can be emailed to HouseFinance@rilegislature.gov by 1:00, March 5th. House Labor Committee The House Labor Committee is meeting in Room 135 of the State House at the Rise (approximately 4:30 p.m.) with many bills of interest on the list. H.7457, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Payment of Wages – Frequency of Payment, requires all employers to pay employees on a weekly basis unless an employee’s wages are fixed at a biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly or annual rate. H.7457 provides an exemption for state and municipalities as well as any nonprofit organization with less than 25 employees. In 2013, the business community fought hard to pass biweekly pay for all employees. The compromise reached allowed the Department of Labor and Training to authorize biweekly pay for businesses with an average payroll equal to 200% of the state’s minimum wage, a surety bond equal to the highest two weeks payroll exposure, and no history of labor violations. H.7457 removes the 2013 compromise language. Today, Rhode Island has one of the strictest “frequency of payment” laws in the country. (CA requires weekly pay for agricultural workers; NY requires weekly pay for manual workers although large employers may apply for an exemption; VT requires weekly pay although permits biweekly pay if employers provide written notice of the policy change). https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7457.pdf H.7319, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act, creates a new definition of “workweek” for employers with more than 500 employees. Any employee of a large employer must be paid time and a half if that employee works more than thirty-two hours in a week. The employer must also pay the same amount to the employee for the thirty-two hours as the employee received for forty hours prior to the passage of the bill. After seeming to create an exemption for businesses with less than 500 employees, H.7319 goes on to specifically define the work week as 32 hours for employees in food establishments and individuals under the age of 18, employees paid on a biweekly basis, employees of a national voluntary health nonprofit, mechanics, and vehicle and farm equipment salespersons. The bill can be read in its entirety at: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7319.pdf H.7580, An Act Relating to Corporations – Workers’ Cooperatives, provides exclusive benefits to cooperatives. Established in 2017, the General Assembly passed a law allowing the creation of an entity where individuals could complete a probationary period as a part-time or full-time employee and become a voting member of the company. The entity is taxed as a corporation. The law also states, “To the extent that a workers’ cooperative has shareholders (owners) who are employees (members), the workers’ cooperative shall be subject to the provisions of title 28 related to employees including, but not limited to: department of labor and training payroll taxes, temporary disability insurance, state unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation insurance.” H.7580 adds a new operational model for cooperatives. It allows co-ops to adopt, in its bylaws, the ability to furnish skilled labor from its members to other entities and to treat those members as independent contractors for that purpose – not as an employee of the co-op. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7580.pdf H.7650, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Fair Employment Practices – Extreme Temperature Employee Protection, requires employers to take special precautions when employees are working in temperatures above 90 degrees or below 32 degrees, including employees that are required to stay in vehicles under these conditions. Employees would be entitled to paid rest breaks, adequate shade, warming or cooling stations, drinking water, protective equipment and clothing. An employer found in noncompliance would be subject to compensatory damages and in some cases punitive damages. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7650.pdf H.7790, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Payment of Wages changes an employer’s responsibilities as it relates to providing for employees with statements of earnings. Today employers must include the hours worked, deductions from gross earnings and an explanation of those deductions. H.7790 adds items such as the last four digits of the social security number, deduction explanations in the employee’s “understandable” language, the employer’s address and name, and output information if pay is based on quantity. H.7790 also requires employers to provide a type of “mini employee handbook” to employees in English (this is a change from last year’s bill). The information includes items such as: wage information, benefits, holiday information, sick time, and travel and expense policies. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7790.pdf If you wish to submit written testimony on any of these bills, the appropriate email address is HouseLabor@rilegislature.gov Senate Commerce Committee Self check-out lines at grocery stores are once again on a hearing schedule – this time in the Senate. S.2268, An Act Relating to Commercial Law – Grocery Stores, limits the number of customer self-checkout stations to six, requires grocery stores to maintain one manual check-out station for every self-checkout station in use, and gives the Attorney General’s office the authority to impose penalties for noncompliance. The penalty amount is not defined. The self-service check-out limitation provision in S.2268 could bring under its umbrella grocery stores, pharmacies, and certain retail stores that offer a wide array of goods. Written testimony can be forwarded to slegislation@rilegislature.gov Data Breach, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence Legislation If your company has any expertise in these areas, we want to hear from you. Many bills have been recently introduced (see the list below) and the Chamber is looking for input. Please contact the Chamber by email at: ____________ The following new bills have been filed: Senate Bill No. 2500 DiPalma, Euer, DiMario, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- RHODE ISLAND DATA TRANSPARENCY AND PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT (Creates the Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protect Act for data privacy protections for the personal data of the citizens of Rhode Island.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2500.pdf Senate Resolution No. 2502 DiPalma, Zurier, JOINT RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2502.pdf Senate Bill No. 2503 LaMountain, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES (Prohibits misrepresentation of the total costs of goods and services by omission of notification to consumers of any mandatory fees from advertised prices and failure to disclose the nature and purpose of any fees.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2503.pdf Senate Bill No. 2504 Gu, DiPalma, Valverde, Miller, Murray, AN ACT RELATING TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS -- CURRENCY TRANSMISSIONS -- VIRTUAL CURRENCY KIOSKS (Establishes guidelines for the operation of virtual currency (crypto) kiosks.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2504.pdf Senate Bill No. 2505 Gallo, Cano, Lawson, LaMountain, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES (Makes any term or condition in any agreement that unnecessarily burdens a person's vindication of rights under this section null and void.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2505.pdf Senate Bill No. 2506 de la Cruz, Rogers, DeLuca, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (Requires the public utilities commission (PUC) to produce a report by January 1, 2025 and each January 1 thereafter, on the ability for the current electric grid to handle the electrification load need to power cars, buildings, and heating of homes.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2506.pdf Senate Bill No. 2507 Paolino, de la Cruz, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY FAIRNESS IN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES (Expands the duties of the small business ombudsman, by also having the ombudsman serve as the Rhode Island commerce corporation's small business advocate.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2507.pdf Senate Bill No. 2535 Euer, Mack, Miller, Cano, DiMario, Murray, Quezada, Lauria, Bissaillon, Zurier, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ACT (Establishes requirements which would have to be met by an applicant prior to the issuing of permits for an activity that would have an environmental impact on or would increase the cumulative impacts on an environmental justice area.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2535.pdf Senate Bill No. 2548 Ujifusa, DiPalma, Acosta, Ciccone, Mack, Kallman, Valverde, Murray, Bell, Quezada, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- RHODE ISLAND NEW QUALIFIED JOBS INCENTIVE ACT 2015 (Sunsets/discontinues the Jobs Development Act rate reduction as of July 1, 2024.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2548.pdf Senate Bill No. 2591 DiMario, Miller, Lauria, Cano, Valverde, Lawson, AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM (Creates the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority which would allow eligible individual to discharge student loan debt.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2591.pdf Senate Bill No. 2596 Kallman, Acosta, DiMario, Miller, Gu, Cano, Ujifusa, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX -- CAPITAL GAINS (Amends the capital gains tax rates and holding period from 5 years to 1 year. Imposes a non-owner occupied tax on homes assessed at more than $1,000,000.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2596.pdf House Bill No. 7759 Kazarian, Dawson, Boylan, Knight, Speakman, Donovan, Cortvriend, McGaw, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (Directs the department of transportation to prepare a monthly snapshot report on the progress of repairs and other actions pertaining to the Washington Bridge.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7759.pdf House Bill No. 7782 Cortvriend, Carson, Boylan, Speakman, McGaw, Fogarty, Kislak, Handy, Tanzi, Bennett, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- THE RHODE ISLAND CLEAN HEAT STANDARD ACT (Created the Rhode Island clean heat standards act to implement a system of tradeable clean heat credits earned from the delivery of clean heat measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7782.pdf House Bill No. 7785 Noret, Casey, Phillips, J. Brien, Chippendale, Dawson, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DIGITAL ASSET KEYS--PROHIBITION OF PRODUCTION OF PRIVATE KEYS (Prohibits the compelled production of a private key as it relates to a digital asset, digital identity or other interest or right.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7785.pdf House Bill No. 7786 Baginski, Finkelman, Boylan, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- AUTOMATED DECISION TOOLS (Requires companies that develop or deploy high-risk AI systems to conduct impact assessments and adopt risk management programs, would apply to both developers and deployers of AI systems with different obligations based on their role in AI ecosystem.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7786.pdf House Bill No. 7787 Shanley, Batista, Donovan, Edwards, Solomon, Voas, Dawson, Craven, Vella-Wilkinson, Handy, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- RHODE ISLAND DATA TRANSPARENCY AND PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT (Creates the Rhode Island Data Transparency and Privacy Protect Act for data privacy protections for the personal data of the citizens of Rhode Island.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7787.pdf House Bill No. 7788 Shanley, Batista, Voas, Dawson, Craven, Vella-Wilkinson, Handy, Cardillo, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Creates new definition for the term "employee", for purposes of wages, workers' compensation, temporary disability and unemployment insurance benefits, which deems a worker to be an employee, as opposed to an independent contractor.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7788.pdf House Bill No. 7793 Giraldo, Morales, Stewart, Alzate, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- RHODE ISLAND PARENTAL AND FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (Increases the amount of unpaid parental or family leave available to an employee, from thirteen (13) weeks to twenty-six (26) weeks, in any two (2) calendar years.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7793.pdf House Resolution No. 7817 Casey, Noret, Phillips, J. Brien, Chippendale, Finkelman, Marszalkowski, Dawson, JOINT RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION TO STUDY BLOCKCHAIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY (Creates a 5 member commission to recommend legislative proposals for blockchain and cryptocurrency, and submit an interim progress report by January 5, 2025, and a final report by January 5, 2026, and expire on February 5, 2026.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7817.pdf House Bill No. 7851 (General Treasurer) Giraldo, Alzate, Morales, Stewart, Henries, Cruz, Voas, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC FINANCE -- RHODE ISLAND BABY BOND TRUST (Creates the Rhode Island baby bond trust to provide investment funds to children born to families with public health insurance or no insurance living in Rhode Island.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7851.pdf This Week At the State House
Passing of Senator Frank Lombardo, III The Senate has a very limited schedule this week as the entire General Assembly honors the passing of Senator Frank Lombardo, III of Johnston. As stated by the Senate leadership, “First elected to the Senate in 2010, Frank represented the Town of Johnston in the Rhode Island Senate with great distinction for more than a decade. He was a champion for his constituents, and especially for the small businesses that make up the backbone of our state’s economy. A small business owner himself, he believed deeply in the power of entrepreneurship and the need to open doors of opportunity to all Rhode Islanders. In 2019, he was named Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing & Municipal Government, a role in which he provided outstanding leadership.” Senator Lombardo was a friend to the Chamber of Commerce and will be missed greatly. Tuesday, February 27th Once again, the House Corporations Committee will take testimony on self-service check-out lines; although this year’s bill is slightly different from the bill introduced last year. H.7230, An Act Relating to Commercial Law – Grocery Stores limits the number of customer self-checkout stations to six, requires grocery stores to maintain one manual check-out station for every self-checkout station in use, and gives the Attorney General’s office the authority to impose penalties for noncompliance. The penalty amount is not defined. The self-service check-out limitation provision in H.7230 could bring under its umbrella grocery stores, pharmacies, and certain retail stores that offer a wide array of goods. Written testimony can be forwarded to HouseCorporations@rilegislature.gov Next Week At the State House March 5th The House Finance Committee has scheduled a number of hearings on the Governor’s proposed budget. On March 5th, the Committee will be hearing particular sections of Article 6 – Tax Article. Article 6 sections 3, 6 and 16-20 affects businesses engaging in the sale of e-cigarette and vaping products. The Governor proposes to change the licensing process to include these sales in the same license as regular tobacco products. Any products sold without a license would be subject to confiscation by the state starting October 1, 2024. The budget also includes a tax on these products equal to 80% of the wholesale cost (an exemption exists for research products). Article 6 sections 14 and 15 propose to increase the cigarette tax by $.25 a pack for a total tax of $4.50 per pack. The language also calls for an age verification process to be adopted by online retailers of tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery systems. Article 6 section 11 – Under current law, each year, the Tax Administrator is required to prepareand publish a list of the top 100 delinquent taxpayers in the state. The Governor’s budget expands the requirement so that the annual list will include all taxpayers to owe at least $50,000 in state taxes. Article 6, section 21 eliminates the $50 filing fee for estates of decedents with a death on or after January 1, 2025 The following new bills have been filed: Senate Bill No. 2496 DiPalma, Valverde, Burke, Miller, Felag, Bissaillon, Pearson, Lawson, Murray, Acosta, AN ACT RELATING TO THE CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (Authorizes the submission of proposals for several bonds to the people of the state at the general election to be held in November, 2024. These bonds relate to capital development and the "green economy.") http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2496.pdf House Bill No. 7700 Speakman, Donovan, Morales, Carson, Cotter, Spears, Cortvriend, Potter, Fenton-Fung, AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- ADVERTISING OF RHODE ISLAND PRODUCTS -- LOCAL FOOD (Defines what local means as it pertains to certain food types being sold and advertised in Rhode Island.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7700.pdf This Week At the State House
The legislature is on break this week. The House bill filing deadline has been extended to February 27th. Both the House and Senate will resume hearings and floor sessions Tuesday, February 27, 2024. US Chamber Asks for Your Help In 2017, Congress passed a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. To ensure that pass-through businesses like sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations (i.e., the overwhelming majority of small businesses) weren’t put at a tax disadvantage relative to C corporations, Congress created a new 20% deduction for qualified business income. This deduction is codified at section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code. Unlike the permanent reduction for C corporations, however, the 20% deduction for pass-through businesses is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. This 20% deduction effectively operates as a rate reduction for pass-through businesses, with some limitations. If a business owner's income exceeds a certain threshold ($383,900 for joint filers and $191,950 for other filers in 2024), the benefit of the 20% deduction may be limited based on the amount of wages paid to non-owner employees (W-2 wages). Generally speaking, the more W-2 wages a business pays, the greater the deduction that business’s owner(s) can claim. According to data obtained by the US Chamber, Rhode Island's percentage of employment at pass-through businesses is 53.82%. Rhode Island's percentage of employment at large pass-through businesses (over 100 employees) is 30.2%. The collective tax benefit of this deduction in Rhode Island is $486,454,000. The US Chamber is asking all businesses to contact members of the Congressional delegation and ask them to enact the “Main Street Tax Certainty Act,” which would make the 20% pass-through deduction permanent. RI Office of Energy Resources Announces Programs for Commercial Buildings Net Metering The net-metering program is one of two solar programs available to homeowners and businesses interested in going solar. Customers can choose to have a net-metered system, OR an REG system (see below), but not both. The decision is binding for the lifetime of the contract. Net-metering is a mechanism for crediting the power produced by renewable energy systems installed behind a customer meter. Net-metering allows customers with eligible renewable energy systems to receive bill credits for all power generated up to 125 percent of the on-site consumption during a billing period. To participate in net metering, a renewable energy system must be sited on the customer’s premises. Eligible customer-sited net metering systems must be sized to meet on-site loads, based on a three-year average of electricity consumption at the property. For more information on net-metering, visit: https://energy.ri.gov/renewable-energy/wind/net-metering Renewable Energy Fund (REF) Commercial Scale Solar Program Business’s, nonprofits, academic institutions, municipal/state buildings or other large facilities are eligible for the Commercial Scale solar program. The grant payment will go to whoever the applicant or grantee of the project is. Your selected solar installer will apply to the REF on your behalf. This grant is available for Net-Metered systems only. After the solar PV system is installed, the grant will go directly to the installer after the completion paperwork is processed and a quality assurance evaluation of the system is complete. If using the REF Small Scale program, make sure the turnkey contract with your installer clearly shows how much the grant is for and includes a clause with an option for cancellation in case the grant program becomes fully subscribed. This is a popular program with a limited annual amount of funding. · Funding: Commercial Scale: Starts at $.70/watt and progressively goes down as the size increases (see a checklist for full incentive calculator $400,000 cap · Energy storage Adder Incentive: $.50/watt, max $40,000 per project · Round 24-1 Commercial Scale: Friday, March 1, 2024; 9am Flyer Solar Installers can access the application using the following link: https://commerceri.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/REF-Commercial-Scale-Application-10.15.21.pdf Renewable Energy Growth Program The Renewable Energy Growth (REG) Program, administered by Rhode Island Energy, supports the development of distributed generation projects in Rhode Island. The program enables customers to sell their generation output under long-term tariffs at fixed prices. Participants sign a 20-year long-term contract with a fixed electricity price and a Production-Based Incentive (PBI) payment. Participants receive bill credits on their electricity bill up to the amount owed, and any excess generation is compensated to the customer in the form of a direct deposit. You must be an RI Energy customer to use this program. Eligible technologies include wind, solar, small-scale hydropower, and anaerobic digestion. To learn more about this program, please visit https://energy.ri.gov/renewable-energy/wind/renewable-energy-growth-program-reg-program. You can learn more about the 2022 REG program by visiting https://ngus.force.com/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?file=0156T00000FLwcH. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) is a financing program that allows commercial property owners to repay the costs of energy efficiency or renewable energy projects in conjunction with their property tax payments. Municipalities must opt-in to C-PACE in order to participate. The list of participating communities can be found here: https://riib.org/solutions/programs/commercial-property-assessed-clean-energy/ The following new bills have been filed: Senate Bill No. 2268 Lawson, Lauria, DiMario, Euer, Zurier, Cano, Kallman, Murray, Mack, Bissaillon, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- GROCERY STORES (Requires grocery stores to specifically limit the number of self-service checkout units to six (6) units per location. The consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general would have authority to enforce these restrictions.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2268.pdf Senate Bill No. 2273 Euer, LaMountain, Burke, Bissaillon, DiMario, Gallo, Lawson, Cano, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- UNFAIR SALES PRACTICES (Requires businesses that offer automatic subscription renewals/continuous service offers to provide consumers with notice to the consumer prior to their engagement in the contract along with notice of renewal of subscription/cancellation info. eff. 1/1/25) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2273.pdf Senate Bill No. 2276 Tikoian, Raptakis, Quezada, Ciccone, Murray, F. Lombardi, Britto, Burke, Rogers, Felag, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- VEHICLE BARRIERS-THE CHARLOTTE A. VACCA ACT (Requires commercial property owners to install vehicle barriers at their retail establishment locations when construction/renovations are being done and permits insurers to consider the installation to provide a discount on the owner's insurance policy.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2276.pdf Senate Bill No. 2279 Zurier, Acosta, Britto, Murray, AN ACT RELATING TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS -- CONSUMER CHECKING ACCOUNTS (Establishes Rhode Island consumer checking accounts to insure the availability of low-cost, low-volume basic checking services for citizens of the state.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2279.pdf Senate Bill No. 2282 Bissaillon, Ciccone, Cano, Gallo, AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION -- CURRICULUM (Establishes "workplace readiness week". It requires all public high schools, including charter schools, to annually observe that week by providing information to students on their rights as workers and specifies the topics that must be covered.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2282.pdf Senate Bill No. 2292 Mack, Euer, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE GREEN JUSTICE ZONE ACT (Establishes the first Green Justice Zone, a model that may be replicated in future years to ensure that all communities throughout the state have clean air and clean water.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2292.pdf Senate Bill No. 2347 Euer, Acosta, Bissaillon, Mack, DiMario, Zurier, Gu, Murray, Bell, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- TAX ON GAINS FROM THE SALE OR EXCHANGE OF REAL PROPERTY (Creates new tax on gains from sale or exchange of real property held for short periods of time, 6 years or less, establishes a comprehensive framework to calculate and implement enforcement and provides imprisonment and/or fines for those who evade taxes.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2347.pdf Senate Bill No. 2350 Tikoian, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION (Exempts from taxation real and tangible personal property classified as industrial and would extend the exemption period from ten (10) years to twenty (20) years.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2350.pdf Senate Bill No. 2355 Murray, Lawson, Euer, Cano, Ciccone, Britto, Acosta, Gu, Mack, Bissaillon, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Creates an additional Rhode Island personal income surtax of 3% on taxable income over $1,000,000, with the existing three-bracket personal income tax structure remaining in place.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2355.pdf Senate Bill No. 2366 Sosnowski, Euer, Miller, Ujifusa, Acosta, DiPalma, Kallman, Britto, Ciccone, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- DUTIES OF UTILITIES AND CARRIERS (Creates an income-sensitive tiered subsidy program to ensure that home energy utility costs are affordable for eligible low-income households.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2366.pdf Senate Bill No. 2467 Cano, Lawson, Acosta, Mack, Britto, Bell, Valverde, Miller, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- RHODE ISLAND PARENTAL AND FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (Increases the amount of parental or family leave available to an employee from thirteen (13) weeks to twenty-four (24) weeks in any two (2) calendar years.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2467.pdf Senate Bill No. 2475 Ciccone, Burke, Britto, F. Lombardi, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Sets the minimum wage for 2025 at seventeen dollars ($17.00) per hour and for 2026 at twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2475.pdf Senate Bill No. 2477 Ciccone, Acosta, F. Lombardi, Britto, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- PAYMENT OF WAGES -- FREQUENCY OF PAYMENT (Eliminate all exceptions to the provision that all employees are to be paid weekly except for employees of the state and its political subdivisions, municipal governments, and non-profit organizations with less than twenty-five (25) employees.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/SenateText24/S2477.pdf House Bill No. 7607 Nardone, Place, Shallcross Smith, Quattrocchi, Rea, Roberts, Cortvriend, AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- SMALL EMPLOYER HEALTH INSURANCE AVAILABILITY ACT (Amends the definition of "small employer" for purposes of the small employer health insurance availability act to mean a business employing less than one hundred (100) employees rather than fifty (50) employees.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7607.pdf House Bill No. 7617 Kislak, Cortvriend, Fogarty, Carson, Speakman, McEntee, Spears, Morales, McGaw, Felix, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- BUILDING DECARBONIZATION ACT OF 2024 (Establishes a program for the energy and water benchmarking of large buildings in Rhode Island and a standard for their energy performance.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7617.pdf House Bill No. 7650 Morales, Slater, DeSimone, McGaw, Henries, Handy, Fogarty, Bennett, Stewart, McNamara, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES -- EXTREME TEMPERATURE EMPLOYEE PROTECTION (Directs employers to take certain actions to protect their employees who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures and failure to implement or perform any of those actions would be an unlawful employment practice.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7650.pdf House Bill No. 7660 Costantino, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION (Exempts from taxation real and tangible personal property classified as industrial and would extend the exemption period from ten (10) years to twenty (20) years.) http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText24/HouseText24/H7660.pdf |
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