R.I. Assembly concludes 2024 session with a burst of late-night lawmaking

The House and Senate wrapped up early Friday morning, as attention focused on gun storage, Citizens Bank, the corrections director, “granny flats,” and the return of the “chicken bill”

Rhode Island State House rotunda.Edward Fitzpatrick

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island General Assembly wrapped up this year’s legislative session at 1:30 a.m. Friday following a late-night burst of speechifying, gavel-pounding, sweet legislative victories, bitter legislative defeats, and watered down compromises.

Here are some of the key issues:

Gun safe storage

The State House action began with Governor Daniel J. McKee signing into law House and Senate bills that advocates say will give Rhode Island the strongest and most comprehensive gun safe storage law in the nation. McKee was joined by advocates and the legislative sponsors, Senator Pamela J. Lauria, a Barrington Democrat, and Representative Justine A. Caldwell, an East Greenwich Democrat.

South Kingstown Councilwoman Patricia Alley shared the story of how her sister used an unsecured gun to take her own life. “Today Rhode Island joins the ranks of the growing number of states with secure firearm storage laws,” Alley said. “We have achieved real change that will save lives and prevent families like mine from experiencing the tragedy of a life lost to gun violence.”

Governor Daniel J. McKee, seated center, signed gun safe storage bills into law at the State House on Thursday.Edward Fitzpatrick

Citizens Bank tax break

The House voted 62 to 2 for legislation that would give Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank the tax change it requested while threatening to move jobs and operations out of state. And the Senate approved it by a vote of 30 to 6.

Rhode Island now determines a financial institution’s taxes based on three factors — a company’s property, payroll and sales. But this legislation would let Citizens and others use only the single factor of sales to calculate corporate income tax.

Legislative leaders note that Massachusetts will shift to the single sales factor methodology in January 2025, and they say this legislation will make Rhode Island’s banking tax structure more competitive. But the change will cost the state $7.5 million in tax revenue in fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1, and about $15 million in a full calendar year.

Representative Enrique Sanchez, a Providence Democrat, opposed the bill, saying, “I never thought I’d see the day that our state government would allow itself to be extorted and blackmailed by a major corporation.” He said he doubts Citizens Bank would move out of Rhode Island when they just built a corporate headquarters in Johnston. “We are supposed to be the party of the working class not the party of the big corporations,” he said.

But Representative Charlene M. Lima, a Cranston Democrat, said Citizens is the largest bank in Rhode Island, and she said it “has been here longer than Del’s Lemonade.” She said 86 percent of Citizens employees are Rhode Islanders. “So that’s who we would be protecting — over 4,000 working Rhode Islanders who need us to protect them to keep their jobs so they can keep paying taxes in Rhode Island, they can keep shopping and spending money in Rhode Island.”

Department of Corrections director

The Senate voted 32 to 4 to confirm Wayne T. Salisbury Jr., McKee’s controversial choice to be director of the state Department Corrections.

The Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers waged an all-out campaign to scuttle his nomination, noting he had been charged with a felony that was later dismissed, and blaming him for increases in prison fights and drug use.

After the Senate vote, union President Richard Ferruccio issued a statement, saying, “The Brotherhood is disappointed that both the Senate and Governor McKee failed to conduct any kind of meaningful vetting of Wayne Salisbury and refused to lead a national search for the corrections director position like the one our neighbors in Massachusetts are leading. We remain concerned about increases in violence, drug trafficking, drug use, fights, and use of force under Director Salisbury’s leadership.”

But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Dawn Euer, a Newport Democrat, said, “Few candidates who come before us have been thoroughly and publicly scrutinized as Mr. Salisbury. He is well qualified to continue leading the Department of Corrections, and based on his tenure thus far, he will continue to grow and succeed in this role. Importantly, Mr. Salisbury has demonstrated his commitment to reducing recidivism through educational and workforce opportunities.”

Shield law for abortions and transgender care

The General Assembly passed legislation that would shield medical providers who offer transgender care and abortion services in Rhode Island from civil or criminal action by other states or their residents. Rhode Island joins 12 other states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, with similar laws.

The Senate voted 30 to 6 for the House and Senate versions of the Healthcare Provider Shield Act, which would protect health care providers who are licensed and physically practicing in Rhode Island from arrest and extradition, subpoena for testimony and documents, and professional disciplinary action taken against them in other states.

“Some states have not been content to stop at their own borders and are targeting health care providers who provide this care in states where it is legal, including Rhode Island,” Euer said. “I want to make sure we are preserving our right and our ability to regulate our health care providers and to protect them so they can continue to provide essential, standard-of-care health care to all Rhode Islanders.”

The nearly $14 billion state budget

Just after midnight on Friday, the Senate voted 32 to 1 for the $13.963 billion state budget. Last week, the House voted 69 to 5 to approve the budget, as Democrats hailed funding for public bus routes and cost-of-living adjustments for public retirees, while Republicans railed against film tax credits and the corporate minimum tax.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Louis P. DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat, said the budget increased education funding by $73 million over last year, and it boosted Medicaid reimbursement rates in one year rather than over three years as proposed by McKee. Also, he noted that the budget includes a $120 million housing bond, and it provides cost-of-living adjustments for some public retirees. “We have in front of us a very good budget,” he said.

As the legislative session concluded at 1:30 a.m. Friday, Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat, thanked colleagues and staff for filling in for him as he battled health problems.Edward Fitzpatrick

Paid family leave

The Senate voted 32 to 3 to provide final approval for legislation increasing paid family leave in Rhode Island from six weeks to eight weeks over the course of two years.

But senators made clear they were unhappy with how much the House watered down the original legislation — introduced by Senate Majority Whip Valarie J. Lawson, an East Providence Democrat — which would have doubled maximum family leave from six weeks to 12 weeks.

Senator Jonathon Acosta, a Central Falls Democrat, said, “The reality is we passed a really good bill and we got back scraps. This is barely an improvement on where we are currently at.”

Rhode Island officials often talk about how they want to emulate Massachusetts, but in this case Massachusetts provides 12 weeks of family leave and Rhode Island is choosing to provide less, Acosta said. “When we passed the original bill years ago, we were a leader. We are a follower at this point. We are just has-beens in this regard.”

Accessory dwelling units

In March, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, announced a 15-bill legislative package focused on combatting the state’s housing crisis and promoting development of new housing. And most of those bills passed.

Last year, the Senate did not pass a bill that would provide homeowners the right to develop an accessory-dwelling unit, or “granny flat,” on their property. But the “granny flat” legislation passed Friday, with the Senate voting 21 to 15. Senator Victoria Gu, a Charlestown Democrat, introduced the bill, saying it is the top legislative priority of the AARP.

The legislation faced opposition from Senate Minority Whip Gordon E. Rogers, a Foster Republican, who said he’s concerned that the bill does not limit accessory dwelling units to owner-occupied homes. He said he fears the bill will lead investors from Boston and New York to buy up properties in Rhode Island. “This will negatively impact single-family neighborhoods and will do little to the lower cost of housing,” he said.

The Senate also amended a bill, introduced by Senator David P. Tikoian, a Smithfield Democrat, to say towns and cities “may,” rather than “shall,” allow manufactured homes as a type of single-family home on lots zoned for single-family use.

Sex worker immunity bill

The House on Tuesday voted 66 to 0 for a bill that would provide immunity for sex workers who witness certain crimes if they agree to try to cooperate with police investigations. But the Senate did not take up the bill.

Representative Edith H. Ajello, a Providence Democrat, introduced the bill, which advocates said would provide incentive for sex workers who are assaulted or robbed to come forward and testify without fear of being prosecuted for prostitution. But opponents warned the bill could impede criminal investigations into prostitution and sex trafficking, and said it could be a step toward returning Rhode Island to a time when prostitution was legal.

Constitutional convention

The Senate voted 36 to 0 for a resolution to place a question on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters: “Shall there be a convention to amend or revise the Constitution?” The Senate also unanimously approved a resolution to create a 12-member bipartisan commission that will assemble information on constitutional questions in preparation for the Nov. 5 ballot question.

The House had already approved those resolutions. Every decade, Rhode Islanders get a chance to change the state constitution. The debate about whether the state should take that step is already underway, as advocates and opponents raise the possibility of constitutional changes on issues ranging from abortion rights to education rights, from term limits to the line-item veto.

Human composting

After a spirited debate, the House on Tuesday voted 51 to 21 for a bill that would allow the natural organic reduction of dead bodies — better known as human composting — as an alternative to traditional burial in a coffin or cremation. But that legislation died peacefully in the Senate, without coming to a vote.

The “chicken bill”

In 2015, the legislative session ground to a halt over a bill that mandated bigger cages for chickens. And the “chicken bill” was back on Thursday when the Assembly approved legislation delaying that mandate until 2030. Senator Gu argued that chicken battery cages are “the most extreme form of animal confinement.” But Senator Rogers said the mandate would hurt the Foster farm that is the state’s only commercial egg producer.

“Forever chemicals” banned

The Assembly passed legislation introduced by Senator Meghan E. Kallman, a Pawtucket Democrat, and Representative Terri Cortvriend, a Portsmouth Democrat, that bans the addition of PFAS “forever chemicals” to most consumer products sold or manufactured in Rhode Island by Jan. 1, 2027. That includes carpets, cookware, and cosmetics. The legislation also bans the use of Class B firefighter foam containing PFAS by Jan. 1, 2025.