Advocacy in Action

This Week At the State House

Tuesday, February 4th

Retail Holiday Requirements for Juneteenth 

The House Corporations Committee, in Room 135 At the Rise (approximately 4:30 p.m.) will hear H.5250, An Act Relating to Businesses and Professions – Holiday Business.  The bill adds Juneteenth National Freedom Day to the holiday requirements for retail establishments.  In 2023, the General Assembly passed a law naming Juneteenth a Rhode Island recognized holiday.  Employees who work on the holiday must be paid holiday pay.  H.5250 adds Juneteenth to the retail holiday rule requirements.  A local license is required to open unless the specific retail industry is exempt under law (the Governor’s budget proposes to remove the license requirement for all holidays).  Employees asked to work must be scheduled to work at least four hours, or be compensated for four hours.  The fine for violating the law is up $500 for the first offense and up to $1000 for each subsequent offense.  If you wish to submit written comment, please email it to HouseCorporations@rilegislature.gov  Keep in mind that House testimony is posted on the website, so please do not include any telephone numbers, etc. that are private.  Do include your name, company (if applicable) and address.


Interest on Overdue Commercial Property Taxes

The House Committee on Municipal Government & Housing, in Room 101 At the Rise (approximately 4:30 p.m.) will take testimony on H.5269, An Act Relating to Taxation.  The bill allows municipalities to waive up to $500 in interest on overdue taxes for commercial properties.  Since 2003, cities and towns have had the authority to waive interest on residential properties.  H.5269 adds commercial properties that fall into the same category: (1) The property subject to the overdue payment is the property of the taxpayer and has been for the five (5) years immediately preceding the tax payment which is overdue; (2) The request for a waiver of interest is in writing, signed and dated by the taxpayer; and (3) The taxpayer has made timely payments of taxes to the city or town for the five (5) years immediately preceding the tax payment, which is overdue.  Testimony can be submitted at: HouseMunicipalGovernmentandHousing@rilegislature.gov 

Wednesday, February 5th

House Fiscal Staff Budget Briefing

At 4:00 p.m., the House Finance Committee scheduled the annual staff briefing on the Governor’s Budget proposal.  This is a great opportunity to hear detailed breakdowns on the various budget articles.  The briefing will be televised by Capitol Television on: Cox Communications, channels 15 and 61 for high definition; i3Broadband on 15 and Verizon, on channel 34.  Livestreaming is available https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv



Thursday, February 6th

Clean Heat Standard Act

H.5167, An Act Relating to Health and Safety – The Rhode Island Clean Heat Standard Act, will be the topic of discussion in the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Room 101, At the Rise (approximately 4:30 p.m.).   The bill directs the EC4 Committee to implement a program to force the phase out of fossil fuels by setting targets the heating sector must meet.  Obligated parties – the gas company, the electric company, petroleum terminals, and companies such as heating fuel companies that pick up fuel in MA or CT for delivery in RI – would be required to reduce their carbon fuel use by switching clients to alternative fuels (for which they receive credit), or buying credits from another entity that has excess credits. Renewable natural gas and hydrogen are not permitted to be used as an alternative fuel.  The cost of the credit is set by the EC4 Committee.  If the obligated party fails to comply, that party may have to pay a noncompliance payment of three times the amount established by the EC4 committee for timely credit payments. To date, no cost analysis has been completed for this program.  Massachusetts passed a similar program that is set to take effect in 2026.  H.5167 can be read in its entirety at: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5167.pdf 
To submit written comments, email the document to: HouseEnvironmentandNaturalResources@rilegislature.gov 


Digital Advertising Tax

The Senate Finance Committee is soliciting testimony concerning the Governor’s digital advertising gross revenue tax, Thursday, At the Rise (approximately 4:30 p.m.) in Room 35.  A digital advertising service is defined as including “advertisement services on a digital interface, including advertisements in the form of banner advertising, search engine advertising, interstitial advertising, and other comparable advertising services.”  The 10% tax is applicable to persons or entities with annual gross revenues exceeding $1 million; and it cannot be passed on directly to a customer who purchases digital advertising services via a separate fee, surcharge, or line-item.  To submit testimony, send it to SenateFinance@rilegislature.gov  Written testimony must be submitted prior to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, 2025 in order for it to be provided to the committee members.


The following new bills have been filed:


Senate Bill No. 85  Lawson, LaMountain, 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.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0085.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 91  Kallman, Sosnowski, DiMario, Euer, Lawson, Britto, Gu, Gallo, McKenney, Valverde, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- BUILDING DECARBONIZATION ACT OF 2024 (Establishes the environmental justice advisory board (EJAB) to implement standards for buildings that emit greenhouse gases.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0091.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 92  Kallman, Ciccone, Britto, Sosnowski, Murray, Acosta, Mack, Euer, Appollonio, AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- RIDESHARE OR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY VEHICLE SURCHARGE (Imposes a seventy-five cent (0.75) surcharge on fares charged by rideshare companies as well as an account to benefit RIPTA from the payment of sales taxes collected from rideshares.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0092.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 101  de la Cruz, Ciccone, Burke, Rogers, Tikoian, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- BUSINESS CORPORATION TAX (Repeals the corporation minimum tax.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0101.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 104  Valverde, Kallman, Vargas, Euer, McKenney, Gu, DiMario, Sosnowski, Lauria, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- COMPOSTING AND ORGANIC WASTE DIVERSION (Establishes Compost Fund to award grants related to reducing the amount of solid waste generated in the state.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0104.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 111  Ujifusa, DiPalma, Ciccone, Euer, Bell, Felag, Acosta, Zurier, DiMario, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- RHODE ISLAND NEW QUALIFIED JOBS INCENTIVE ACT 2015 (This act would sunset/discontinue the Jobs Development Act rate reduction as of July 1, 2025.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0111.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 123  Burke, Tikoian, LaMountain, Felag, McKenney, Appollonio, Raptakis, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- LEVY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL TAXES (Permits municipalities to enact ordinances that provide them the authority to organize local tax amnesty events once every three (3) years.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0123.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 124  Ciccone, Patalano, Burke, LaMountain, Appollonio, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT (Expands the definition of "employee". It also modifies how the state's labor relations board operates and aids in enforcement of the board's orders.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0124.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 125  Burke, Tikoian, LaMountain, Felag, McKenney, Appollonio, Britto, Vargas, DiMario, Bissaillon, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Sets the minimum wage for 2026 at $16 per hour, 2027 at $17 per hour, 2028 at $18 per hour, 2029 at $19 per hour and for 2030 at $20 per hour.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0125.pdf 

Senate Bill No. 126  LaMountain, Dimitri, Thompson, Vargas, Patalano, Urso, Appollonio, Bissaillon, Murray, Ciccone, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- LABOR RELATIONS ACT -- EMPLOYEE FREE SPEECH RIGHTS (Protects employees free speech regarding political or religious matters.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0126.pdf 

House Bill No. 5245  Slater, Morales, Potter, Diaz, DeSimone, Stewart, Voas, Cruz, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (Creates an income-sensitive tiered subsidy program to ensure that home energy utility costs are affordable for eligible low-income households.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5245.pdf 

House Bill No. 5247 Potter, Ajello, Diaz, Furtado, Handy, Fogarty, Kislak, Giraldo, Voas, Kazarian, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES (Provide that advertising goods that don't include a price referencing all mandatory fees and charges shall be a deceptive trade practice.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5247.pdf 

House Bill No. 5250  Biah, DeSimone, Hull, Abney, Sanchez, Cruz, Morales, Giraldo, Kislak, AN ACT RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- HOLIDAY BUSINESS (Adds Juneteenth National Freedom Day to the definition of "holidays" to the chapter governing retail business.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5250.pdf 

House Bill No. 5256 Casimiro, Noret, Read, McEntee, Spears, Shanley, Morales, AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE POLICIES--EQUAL PAY FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS (Provides for equal pay for healthcare providers.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5256.pdf 

House Bill No. 5269  Noret, Casimiro, Finkelman, Corvese, Shallcross Smith, Nardone, Place, Speakman, Costantino, Read, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- LEVY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL TAXES (Allows the waiver of interest on overdue taxes for commercial properties.)  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5269.pdf