Governor Gina M. Raimondo

July 1, 2015July 3, 2015

Advocates beg lawmakers to save Good Samaritan Act

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The General Assembly’s recess last Thursday has shown to have tumultuous effects, leaving several bills in legislative limbo. But, today at the State House, protestors made it known that for the Good Samaritan bill and those it seeks to save, anything is better than dying a preventable death.

The Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act, put into law in 2012, has three sections that help to protect those who have experienced a drug overdose. The first allows someone to admit an “opioid antagonist” to the victim. This antagonist helps to reverse the effects of an overdose, and can save lives. A popular drug that has been used under the Good Samaritan law is called Naloxone, or Narcan.

The second prevents those who have overdosed from being charged with a crime. Before the law, it was possible that someone could overdose, and nobody would call 911 out of fear of legal repercussion. The Good Samaritan Act makes it safer for them to seek medical assistance. The third portion of the act dictates that the Attorney General’s office will release a report each year that outlines the effects of the act on law enforcement.

Originally, law had a three-year sunset provision on it. But, with the abrupt recess of this year’s legislative session, the Good Samaritan Act could not be renewed, and expired today, July 1. Supporters of the act gathered on Smith Hill today to voice their concerns for Rhode Island if the bill is indeed allowed to expire, including Governor Gina Raimondo.

“Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in Rhode Island,” she said. “It’s a public health crisis and it’s time for greater action.”

Raimondo said that it is “unacceptable” that Rhode Island has the highest overdose rate in New England, and that everyone should be first and foremost focused on saving lives. Although there is not one solution, she said that the Good Samaritan Act is a step in the right direction for an “all hands on deck effort.”

“As a mother, with two little kids, I want my kids to be protected, and every kid to be protected,” she said.

Raimondo also expressed how discouraged she was with the General Assembly for simply letting the law pass them by this session, imploring that they “get to work.”

The theme of protecting families was a resounding one as supporters continued to speak, citing that nobody should fear calling 911 to save someone they love.

“We’re here today to address the need to protect families,” Holly Cekala, the executive director of Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts, said. “All families have the right to protect their family members from any illness.”

Cekala said addicts can, and do, recover. The Good Samaritan Act will not only save an addict’s life, but put them on that path to recovery as well.

“We have a feeling that families matter. You can’t get to recovery if you’re not alive,” she said.

John Prince, an organizer for the Behind the Walls Prison Committee, as well as Direct Action for Rights and Equality, related that many in his community are on parole or probation, and that they will not call 911 if they have a police record, and especially if they know they can get arrested for it.

“The General Assembly is basically saying our lives don’t matter,” he said. “The governor needs to sign an executive order to protect all victims and save lives. They need to get this thing right to have protections for all men and women. And they need to do it now.”

Rebecca Nieves McGoldrick, the executive director of Protect Families First, put the blame on Attorney General Peter Kilmartin for the act’s expiration, along with the General Assembly.

“Their actions right now, speak louder than their words,” she said. McGoldrick added that for the opinions of Kilmartin to outweigh the Good Samaritan act’s support simply isn’t right.

“To have families suffer through the loss of a loved one so that the Attorney General could add another notch to his belt of drug arrests is frankly unconscionable,” she said.

Not all members of the General Assembly wanted to see this legislation die, though. Representative Aaron Regunberg (D- District 4), said that he would like to see the body reconvene and put the bill through as soon as possible. If that were to happen, Regunberg said that he would try to rally support for the act.

“I’m certainly going to be reaching out and making sure folks up there understand how urgent it is,” he said.

The odds of a special session in September are split right now. House leadership would like to reconvene at that time, but on the Senate side they don’t. Many have urged Governor Raimondo to issue an executive order, but her office has not indicated any such plans. Either way, supporters all agree that something, anything, must be done.

June 25, 2015

Toll bill unlikely to see House floor despite bridge closure

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The prospect of Governor Gina Raimondo’s Rhode Works legislation hitting the House floor before the end of this legislation is highly unlikely, Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said today.

“Right now, I’m not planning on it coming to the House floor by week’s end,” he said. “I have substantial concerns. I’ve indicated that the House is not going to act upon this bill until the concerns of our local business community are adequately addressed.”

Speaker Mattiello also said that he believes the proposal requires more analysis, so he is not comfortable introducing it in the House quite yet.

“It’s a big proposal, a big project, and I think the calls for it to move forward thoughtfully are probably the right calls and the right way to approach this. There’s no reason to rush this, there are reasons to do it in a timely manner, but there’s absolutely no reason to rush it,” he said.

This announcement comes a day after the Park Avenue bridge in Cranston was closed by RIDOT due to safety concerns. The bridge was suffering from severe deterioration and was “in imminent danger of collapse,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said in a letter to the Governor.

Speaker Mattiello finds the closure curious considering the bridge was examined nine months ago, and was deemed structurally deficient, but safe for travel.

“Where I call for an investigation is, you have the DOT making an assessment that it requires a high degree of corrective action in order to stay open, and no action is taken for nine months,” he said. His main concern is that Cranstonians, and especially safety vehicles, are now incredibly inconvenienced, because no steps were taken to prevent the closure.

“If they knew nine months ago that it was going to require a high priority of corrective action, why wasn’t any corrective action taken? That is something an investigation by DOT, I’d like to know what they’re doing.” he said.

Speaker Mattiello added that DOT is at fault for the closure, as they did not do what they are called to do for the community.

“You can’t just let a bridge go to the point of failure and say ‘Sorry, we’re shutting it down because we failed.’ That’s what they’re doing. They didn’t ask for anything, they didn’t tell us they had any concern.”

However, the Speaker did note that he agrees with RIDOT’s decision, but wishes that they take corrective action to have the bridge open back up as soon as possible.

Currently, there are nine bridges throughout the state undergoing investigations, and 17 that have been completed through RIDOT’s accelerated inspection program, which Alviti ordered in early May.

The timing of the closure did not work in Rhode Works’ favor. Minutes after the bridge was closed, Senate Finance unanimously approved the bill, and later that night it was approved on the Senate floor in a 33-4 vote. If the closure was a stunt to get Mattiello’s attention, he was not impressed.

“I can tell you it’s not going to force my hand on Rhode Works,” he said. “That’s not the right way to get my attention.”

June 19, 2015June 20, 2015

Tax breaks for truckers in new Senate toll bill

The Senate Lounge was standing room only before and during the hearing.

A Senate version of Governor Raimondo’s truck toll proposal, also known as Rhode Works, contains tax breaks for truckers.

The new version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Dominick Ruggerio (D- District 4), and heard by the Finance Committee Thursday, includes $13.5 million in tax credits and rebates for truckers. They would receive tax credits on their registration fees, rebates on their gas and property taxes, as well as $3 million in grants for those who frequent TF Green Airport and Quonset Business Park.

RIDOT has also slightly reworked their funding formula for the proposal, asking for $500 million in revenue bonds, rather than $700 million. According to Director Peter Alviti, the difference would be bridged by refinancing some of the debt the Department already owes the state, which would give them another $120 million. Without that $80 million to complete the funding, Alviti said the Rhode Works program would be extended over a longer period of time, 30 years, to achieve the same goal. With this new schedule, RIDOT’s interest would increase, and they would eventually pay back $1 billion to the state. According to RIDOT, the total funding for the project would be over $4 billion.

The proposal is based on a serious need to repair Rhode Island’s bridge and road infrastructure, which is ranked 50^th in the United States. During the hearing, Alviti stressed safety as one of the main reasons for Rhode Works’ existence.

“This is becoming a more frequent problem, and it will become more frequent in the days and weeks coming unless we do something now,” he said.

The program would also create 11,000 job years in the construction industry. RIDOT also anticipates $60 million each year in revenue from the proposed tolls, $38 million of which would be put towards fees owed to the state. Any other revenue from tolls would directly go towards the repair of bridges and roads. RIDOT plans to reconstruct 155 bridges using this money, as well as upkeep others that are currently in fair condition. The tolls would only charge tractor-trailers, costing them $.69 per mile in Rhode Island, while most other states in the northeast are $1 or more per mile.

“It’s understandable that there’s a certain amount of resistance to the changes we’re proposing. But it’s a fair cost,” Alviti said.

Jonathan Wormer, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, also gave testimony in support of Rhode Works, and explained how much these tolls will end up costing the trucking companies. There are 123 trucks that drive explicitly in Rhode Island all day, whose tolls would be capped at $60 for the whole day, costing the company just under $1.8 million. The 3,111 interstate trucks that come through the state would be capped at $30 per day, and cost $14.9 million. Such toll costs are only about two percent of what companies spend per year. Fuel is considerably more, at 39 percent.

These fees would be collected via EZ Pass, which many truckers that pass through the state already have. If they do not, RIDOT would also implement camera technology that would charge the owner of the license plate. Alviti stared during the hearing that they would not build any tollbooths that would hold up traffic. There are 17 possible locations that the department is looking to install these gantries.

Although most of this information has been revised from the previous bill, Christopher Maxwell, the President of the Rhode Island Trucking Association, said it’s still not ready to become law. “The debate and dialogue should continue, it should not end now. It should begin now that we have all the information,” he told Senate Finance members.

Maxwell believes that directly tolling tractor-trailers will violate the commerce clause in the United States Constitution, and discourage interstate commerce. He stated that no other state is exclusively tolling trucks.

“This does clearly put interstate commerce, and these carriers that you’re not giving breaks to, at a disadvantage,” he said. So much of a disadvantage, that Maxwell added that his association could provide legal proof that such a toll would violate the commerce clause.

“We want to be part of the solution, we are not part of this bill,” he added, citing that the association does have ideas on what RIDOT should do, but did not offer an explanation of what those ideas are at the hearing.

Local truckers came to speak out against the bill as well. Frank Nardone, one truck driver, explained that he avoids tolls in almost all of his routes, and Rhode Island would be no different.

“I don’t like to pay tolls, I don’t think they’re necessary,” Nardone said. According to Nardone, tolls are not the way to make money, especially because Rhode Island truckers already have to pay $388 for the road use tax.

“I think I’m being taxed enough,” he said.

Ed Alfredi owns a trucking company based in Smithfield, and in his testimony, said that Rhode Works makes it impossible to figure out exactly how much the tolls would cost his business.

“If I was to try and sit down, and see what this was going to cost me and my company, it’s very difficult, because there’s no facts,” he said. “It’s going to have an effect, and we should be able to have an exact figure of what these tolls are, where exactly they’re going to be.”

Time is of the essence for the governor’s proposal. While those opposed want more, those in support keep pressing forward, wanting to pass the legislation as quickly as possible. If their efforts fail, Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello has hinted at a special fall session in order to fully consider the bill.

June 10, 2015

House Finance approves budget bill, full chamber to vote Tuesday

The House Finance Committee considers the FY 2016 budget.

After much deliberation, the House Finance Committee gave a unanimous 19-0 vote on the FY 2016 budget late on Tuesday night, which included $37.7 million more than the proposed budget given by Governor Gina Raimondo back in March. The legislative budget proposal is for $8.67 billion dollars, with $3.55 billion from general revenue contributing to that.

“We concur with many of the governor’s initiatives for economic development,” House Finance Chairman Raymond Gallison (D-District 69) said in a press briefing tonight.

According to Gallison, the committee, in large part, accepted Raimondo’s budget, but there were some key provisions that saw change, including Social Security, Medicaid, and sales taxes to businesses.

Those who made between $80,000 and $100,000 will be exempt from paying social security income tax. These tax cuts will give retired Rhode Islanders $9.3 million in tax relief. Businesses are also now exempt from paying the sales tax on corporate utilities. Governor Raimondo had originally proposed phasing it out over five years, but will instead be taken out all at once this year. The earned income tax credit for middle to low income households has also increased from 10 percent to 12.5 percent.

The budget outlines a 2.5 percent Medicaid cut for hospitals, and a 2 percent cut for nursing homes. Gallison said this provides more protection for nursing homes. The House budget cuts Medicaid roughly $67 million, a far cry from the $90 million that the governor had proposed, but the hospital license fee has been increased to 5.862 percent, which would bring in $13 million in additional revenue.

“Funding to maintain HealthSource RI is included in the budget,” Gallison said, outlining the distribution changes to its funding. Now, individuals will pay a surcharge of 2.86 percent on their monthly premiums, and businesses will pay a .59 percent surcharge. The budget allocates $2.6 million for HealthSource RI going into FY 2016. There is also no more additional surcharge for outpatient and imaging services.

Full-day kindergarten is another key provision, with the governor allocating $1.4 million from general revenue to fund programs in the seven communities that don’t offer full-day kindergarten yet. Educational aid was increased by $35.8 million in order to pour money into the educational funding formula. There was also $20 million added for school construction purposes.

Higher education saw an increase of $7 million. The Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority is being downsized, with its responsibilities now being transferred to the Council of Post Secondary Education and the Office of the General Treasurer.

Other major provisions within the bill include cuts to all eight local tourism bureaus, a $2 million increase for RIPTA, and a $0.25 increase in the state sales tax on cigarettes, bringing it up to $3.75 per pack. The tax increase is estimated to bring in $1.7 million in revenue.

What is absent from the budget is just as significant as what is present.

“This budget does not contain anything whatsoever to do with a proposal for a stadium, or any tolls on trucks as proposed by the governor,” Gallison said during the hearing. Also notably absent is the “Taylor Swift tax” on million dollar homes in the state.

Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello has gone on the record saying that the proposed budget is business friendly, and will allow for economic development in the state.

“The budget that’s going to be voted on tonight is very pro-business, pro-economy. It’s going to serve as a catalyst for existing businesses as well as working to attract new businesses to the state of Rhode Island,” he told members of the media on Tuesday.

Gallison agreed with that sentiment, giving his own statement at the beginning of the hearing.

“We continue to move Rhode Island onto an economic path to enable businesses to continue to grow,” he said.

The bill is scheduled to go to the House of Representatives floor next Tuesday.