Advocacy in Action

Legislative Break Next Week

The General Assembly will observe the annual February legislative break next week.  


This Week At the State House

Tuesday, February 11th

Advertising Prices of Goods and Services

The House Corporations Committee has H.5247 on its agenda Tuesday At the Rise (approximately 4:30pm) in Room 101. (https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5247.pdf)  The bill, An Act Relating to Commercial Law, declares advertising a price of a good or service that does not include all related fees or charges, a violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.  H.5247 does exempt government taxes and fees as well as shipping charges.  All other related charges must be disclosed or the provider/retailer is subject to a civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation, or a private or class action suit.  Testimony should be emailed to HouseCorporations@rilegislature.gov 

Data Breach Procedural Changes

The House Committee on Innovation, Internet & Technology Committee is meeting at the Rise on Tuesday in Room 136 to discuss proposed changes to Rhode Island’s Data Breach law.  H.5301, An Act Relating to Criminal Offenses – Identity Theft Protection Act of 2015, expands the data breach law to any entity or person “that maintains or stores, but does not own or license, data” that includes personal information.  A business would be required to notify the licensor of the breach of security along with the date and approximate time of the breach and steps taken to minimize the breach once discovered.  The notification must be made “without unreasonable delay,” a term not defined in the legislation.  H.5301 seems to expand the notification to breaches affecting less than 500 Rhode Island residents, something that is exempt under current law.  Testimony for H.5301 (https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5301.pdf) may be emailed to HouseInnovationInternetandTechnology@rilegislature.gov 


Cause of Action for Artificial Intelligence

The Chamber anticipates the introduction of many bills that relate to the use of AI; H.5224 is one of the first to receive a hearing.  H.5224, An Act Relating to Courts and Civil Procedure – Causes of Action (https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5224.pdf) creates a cause of action for individuals injured by artificial intelligence.  If you are using AI, the Chamber encourages you to read this legislation and provide feedback so that we can respond appropriately.  The bill addresses AI developers that perform “the initial training of a covered model either by training a model using a sufficient quantity of computing power and cost, or by fine-tuning an existing covered model or covered model derivative using a quantity of computing power…”  H.5224 calls for strict liability of developers under most scenarios.  The bill will be heard Tuesday in the House Judiciary Committee, At the Rise, in the House Lounge.  Written testimony may be emailed to: HouseJudiciary@rilegislature.gov  


Wednesday, February 12th

House Labor to Take Testimony – Warehouse Employees, Workplace Bullying

At the Rise (approximately 4:30 pm), the House Labor Committee will be taking testimony on a couple bills of interest.  The hearing will be held in room 101 and written testimony can be emailed to HouseLabor@rilegislature.gov 

H.5047 covers workers in a warehouse environment.  The bill, An Act Relating to Labor Relations – Warehouse Worker Protection Act, requires employers, with 100 or more employees at a single site or 1,000 employees in total, to provide each employee of a warehouse distribution center, at the time of hiring, a written description of quotas related to the employee with defined time periods and any adverse actions that may happen should the employee fail to meet the quota.  Employees may also request from the employer a copy of the employee's own speed data as well as the aggregated work speed data for comparable employees working in the facility; however, nothing requires the employer to collect and use speed data.  Employers cannot set quotas that prevent an employee from taking meal and restroom breaks.   https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5047.pdf 

H.5132 is the 2025 version of the workplace bullying bill.  This legislation establishes an obligation on employers to keep employees safe from psychological abuse in the workplace. The definition of "psychological abuse" under this bill includes actions such as “mistreatment that has the effect of hurting, weakening, confusing, or frightening a person mentally or emotionally.”  These terms are very subjective. They can mean different things to different people, leaving everyone wondering what they can and cannot do or say in the workplace.  An employee may use both direct and circumstantial evidence to prove a violation occurred.  The legislation does include an affirmative defense for employers.  To qualify the employer must show it took all steps contemplated in the statute.  Presumably that includes:  (1) adopting a policy against psychological abuse and anti-retaliation policies; (2) training all managers, supervisors and “representative employees” as to handling complaints of abusive behavior, (3) Posting employees’ rights, (4) Implementing an investigation policy for complaints; (5) Annually filling out the workplace climate survey with OSHA or DLT; (6) Annually reporting the number of employee complaints, disciplines, workers compensation claims, absenteeism rates, stress leave rates, attrition rates, discrimination complaints, investigation rates, follow-up actions; (7) Show employer and representative employees didn’t know or should not have known about the activities.  In the event an allegation is deemed to fit the definitions outlined in the legislation, that employee is entitled to economic, compensatory, and punitive damages or $5,000, whichever is greater.  The employer is also responsible for the employee’s attorney fees, expert witness fee, and costs.

Thursday, February 13th

Job Development Assessment Expansion

The Senate Finance Committee scheduled a hearing at 4:00 p.m. Thursday in Room 211.  The topic of discussion is the Governor’s proposal to extend the job development assessment of 0.21 percent to include non-profit, non-governmental employers of 500 or more employees beginning July 1, 2025 (Article 5, Section 1).  According to the fiscal staff analysis, this is estimated to impact 20 to 30 employers annually, and generate approximately $2.6 million. The Governor proposes that $2.3 million of the additional funding be used to support Real Jobs Rhode Island, with the remainder for core unemployment services consistent with the current split of this assessment to other employers.  Written testimony may be emailed to SenateFinance@rilegislature.gov 


The following new bills have been filed:

House Bill No. 5301  Phillips, Serpa, Fellela, Casey, J. Brien, Cruz, O'Brien, Batista, Costantino, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES-IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION ACT OF 2015 (Expands responsibilities of agencies, persons or entities that store, own, collect, process, maintain, acquire, use, or licenses data, who experiences a security breach, include providing additional information to persons affected and law enforcement)
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5301.pdf

House Bill No. 5304  Hull, Perez, J. Lombardi, Bennett, Biah, O'Brien, Fogarty, Diaz, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- THE COMMUTER TRANSPORTATION BENEFITS ACT (Establishes the commuter transportation benefit chapter. Employers with five hundred (500) or more employees would be required to establish a pre-tax commuter transportation fringe benefit program.)  
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5304.pdf 

House Bill No. 5305  Morales, Furtado, McNamara, Stewart, Shanley, Casimiro, Alzate, McEntee, Potter, Cruz, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- DIVISION OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH (Requires employers to protect employees from extreme temperatures through rest breaks, PPE, training, and equipment, and mandates quarterly supervisor training, to recognize and mitigate heat- and cold-related risks.) https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5305.pdf 

House Bill No. 5314  Kislak, Diaz, J. Lombardi, Hull, Ajello, Slater, Batista, Biah, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- THE PARKING SERVICES TAXATION ACT (Grants municipalities the authority to impose a parking services sales tax on parking lots and parking structures that charge for parking services through an ordinance.)
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5314.pdf 

House Bill No. 5316  Finkelman, Solomon, Shanley, Morales, Dawson, Noret, Phillips, Batista, Caldwell, Voas, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- HOUSING FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT ACT OF 2025 (Establishes the Housing Flexible Spending Account Act of 2025 allowing Rhode Island employers to contribute pre-tax income into a housing flexible spending account (H-FSA), for employees to be used for qualified housing expenses.)
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5316.pdf 

House Bill No. 5403  Casey, Solomon, Corvese, J. Brien, Chippendale, Newberry, Finkelman, Santucci, Phillips, Baginski, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- BUSINESS CORPORATION TAX (Repeals the corporation minimum tax.)
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5403.pdf

Senate Bill No. 185  Sosnowski, Murray, Zurier, Valverde, Kallman, DiMario, Gu, Ciccone, Pearson, Britto, 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.)
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0185.pdf

Senate Bill No. 215  Mack, Ciccone, Murray, Kallman, Lauria, Valverde, Thompson, Quezada, Acosta, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Commencing January 1, 2026, this act would increase the minimum wage for employees receiving gratuities from the current $3.89 to $6.75 per hour.)
https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0215.pdf