Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Rhode Island Senate passed two bills Tuesday to improve school safety, but they also make safety plans exempt from public records. What do you think? Should these plans be made public?
School safety is on everybody's mind, especially after the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT, which was deemed the worst school shooting in recent U.S. history. On Tuesday, the Rhode Island Senate passed two bills aimed at improving school safety. The first bill, 2013-S 0800A, introduced by Sen. Hanna M. Gallo (D- Cranston, West Warwick), directs the commissioner for elementary and secondary education to certify annually that all school safety plans and school emergency response plans have been reviewed and updated as appropriate. The second bill, 2013-S 0801A, sponsored by Gallo, requires all schools to perform a school safety assessment in conjunction with local police, fire and school safety teams within 30 days of passage of the …
Monday, May 20, 2013
Recent goings on at the Rhode Island State House.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, May 20
General Assembly launches easy-to-use bill tracking email system Members of the public who want to track the progress of certain bills throughout the legislative session can now use the General Assembly website to sign up for email updates. After a simple registration process, a member of the public can subscribe to up to 50 bills of his or her choice. Using the new tool, one can search for bills by committee, category, sponsor, range of bill numbers or individual bill numbers. Users will receive email updates regarding the change in status of these bills hourly, daily, or weekly, depending upon their preferred settings. Senate passes legislation banning gender rating in health insurance market Falling into step with the federal …
Monday, May 13, 2013
Here are the highlights from news and events that took place in the General Assembly this week.
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Monday, May 13
Primary offense for seatbelt violations in Rhode Island remains in place With the 2011 seatbelt law set to expire on June 30, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the sunset provision so that failure to wear seatbelts by adults will remain a primary offense in Rhode Island. The House passed the bill (2013-H 5140), sponsored by Rep. Anastasia P. Williams (D-Providence). Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Cranston, Providence) sponsors the Senate companion bill (2013-S 0352). Click here to see news release. Senate OKs Crowley bill to use technology to catch Medicaid waste and fraud The Senate approved legislation (2013-S 29A) sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth A. Crowley (D-Central Falls, Pawtucket) to require the state to use technology to screen …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Rep. Dennis Canario talks about recent gun legislation.
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Saturday, May 11
The following is an op-ed submitted by Rep. Dennis Canario. In the wake of the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the General Assembly leadership joined with Gov. Lincoln Chafee, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and law enforcement officials to introduce a package of gun legislation, including several bills that seek to strengthen existing laws dealing with firearms violations. Since the introduction of those bills, the House Committee on Judiciary, on which I serve, has held a lengthy hearing. Over the course of about eight hours, many people testified on the various bills. There was clearly a great assortment of opinions, from strong support to strong opposition. I am writing to share with my constituents …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
State representative-elect promises to work on making community stronger and prouder.
- ELECTIONS
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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
With the elections fully behind us, I felt the need and obligation to first and foremost thank the entire Bristol and Warren community for utilizing their Constitutional right to vote. Please thank a veteran for that right. Every day I have tried to respect your opinion via your voices and words, and recognize that every two years your vote represents your feelings. Having accepted the results, I would like to publicly announce that I believe that this election has enriched me personally by gaining a better appreciation for the political race, but more importantly, the benefit of having met a new Bristol family and friend in my competition, Michael Donahue. I realized early on that both he and Warren's John Hanley were in the race for …
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Sen. Christopher Ottiano reflects on his first term and looks toward future.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012
As I enter the last few months of my first term in the State Senate, I would like to take this opportunity to both review and refocus. First of all, it has been my honor to serve the people of Portsmouth and Bristol. As many of you know, the learning curve is steep if someone wants to do the job well. There is little time to waste as our state has been facing and will continue to deal with substantial budget issues. I am thankful to my colleagues — Senators Bates, Felag, DiPalma, and the Senate President Paiva-Weed — for helping me learn the legislative process, from drafting through passage. While there were times we did not all agree, I never felt that my input or my contributions to debate were subject to party politics. I am sure that…
Thursday, July 5, 2012
The freshmen senator is running unopposed in the next election.
Senator Christopher S. Ottiano, (R-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol), announced today that he has declined the 3.2 percent legislative pay increase. Legislative pay is governed by the state Constitution, and increases are tied to changes in the cost of living as determined by the U.S. government. “I cannot in good conscience accept additional pay when so many Rhode Islanders are out of work,” said Ottiano. “Even though this is a relatively small increase, I feel it is a simple matter of respect.” Senator Ottiano said weighing so many difficult spending decisions during the legislative session underscored the significance of declining the raise. The taxpayers’ money would be better spent, he said, funding things like education, …
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The former House Minority leader was arrested Saturday for marijuana possession, his second arrest in less than a year.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
State Rep. Bob Watson was arrested Saturday in South Kingstown for possession of marijuana, his second such arrest in less than a year. Watson, a Republican from East Greenwich,"appeared highly intoxicated" and was slurring his words, according to a police report, when officers encountered him just before midnight at Washington County Veterinary Hospital in South Kingstown. The representative had apparenly collided with a snow bank, and his car was missing its front, driver's side tire. Officers saw a pipe commonly used to smoke marijuana in his car, according to the report, and also allegedly found a plastic bag containing the substance. In April 2011, Watson was charged in New Haven, CT, with possession and driving under the influence. …
Bear Hunter 401
2:55 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013
The bill introduced by O'Grady makes sense. But I think the state has to eliminate this thing they have about putting every dime into the General Fund then doling it out to each department. There is no way that $ earmarked for different projects like the gas tax for infrastructure maintenance all goes where it's supposed to. Just like to new tolls for the Sakonnet River Bridge won't all go to … more ›