Woonsocket Radio News Room

This week at the

General Assembly

 

STATE HOUSE — Here are the highlights from news and events that took place in the General Assembly this week. For more information on any of these items visit http://www.rilegislature.gov/pressrelease

 

§  House passes Shekarchi legislation for emergency housing options

The House of Representatives passed legislation (2025-H 5100A) sponsored by Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) to enable cities and towns to allow for temporary emergency housing structures, Supportive and Versatile Emergency units (“SAVE units”), for people experiencing homelessness during severe weather and/or natural or man-made disasters. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Sen. Jacob E. Bissaillon (D-Dist. 1, Providence) has introduced the legislation (2025-S 0501).

Click here to see news release

 

§  House OKs ban on PFAS chemicals in firefighters’ gear
The House of Representatives approved legislation sponsored by Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol) to prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of any firefighting personal protective equipment containing intentionally added PFAS chemicals in Rhode Island beginning Jan. 1, 2027. The bill (2025-H 5019) now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Walter S. Felag Jr. (D-Dist. 10, Warren, Bristol, Tiverton) is sponsoring its Senate companion (2025-S 0241).
Click here to see news release.

 

§  House OKs Fellela bill that would require AEDs on golf courses
The House of Representatives approved the David Casey Act (2025-H 5083A) introduced by Rep. Deborah A. Fellela (D-Dist. 43, Johnston) that would mandate automatic external defibrillators on public and private golf courses. The measure now moves to the Senate, where similar legislation (2025-S 0475) has been introduced by Sen. Andrew R. Dimitri (D-Dist. 25, Johnston).
Click here to see news release.

 

§  Legislation would permit public utilities to purchase clean nuclear power
Sen. David P. Tikoian (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, Lincoln, North Providence) and Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) have introduced legislation (2025-S 0318, 2025-H 5575) that would allow public utilities that provide electric and gas distribution to purchase clean, safe nuclear power at a competitive cost from out-of-state facilities.
Click here to see news release.

 

§  Bill would acknowledge grief in lawsuits regarding negligent death of pets
Rep. Thomas E. Noret (D-Dist. 25, Coventry, West Warwick) and Rep. Jon D. Brien (I-Dist. 49, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) have introduced a bill (2025-H 5926) that would create a cause of action for the intentional or negligent injury or death of a pet.
Click here to see news release.

 

§  Healthy School Meals for All Act introduced
Rep. Justine Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich) and Sen. Lammis J. Vargas (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence) have introduced the Healthy School Meals for All Act (2025-H 5742, 2025-S 0430) to provide all public-school students access to breakfast and lunch at no cost, regardless of family income, to ensure they are fed and prepared to learn.
Click here to see news release.

§  Ujifusa, Stewart bills would lower prescription and Medicaid costs
Legislation filed by Sen. Linda L. Ujifusa (D-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol) and Rep. Jennifer A. Stewart (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket) would curb the harmful activities of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), private corporations that work on behalf of insurers and make enormous profits as middlemen, driving up prescription costs. The bills (2025-S 0173, 2025-H 5498, 2025-S 0117, 2025-H 5463) would ban PBMs from engaging in “spread pricing,” wherein they charge health plans and payers more for a prescription drug than what they reimburse to the pharmacy — and then keep the difference or “spread.”
Click here for more information.

 

  • Boylan, McKenney bill would keep guns out of hands of hate crime perpetrators
    Rep. Jennifer Boylan (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence) and Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick) have introduced legislation (2025-H 5652, 2025-S 0530) to reduce gun violence by prohibiting those sentenced to a hate crime from purchasing and possessing guns.

Click here to see news release.

 

  • Gu, Carson introduce bill to set liability standards for artificial intelligence
    Sen. Victoria Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown) and Rep. Lauren H. Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport) are sponsoring legislation (2025-S 0358, 2025-H 5224) to ensure that victims of accidental harm caused by artificial intelligence systems have legal recourse.

Click here to see news release.

 

  • Murray, Furtado introduce bill to address mental health crisis in schools
    Chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Melissa Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield) and Rep. Jenni A. Furtado (D-Dist. 64, East Providence, Pawtucket) have introduced legislation (2025-S 0256, 2025-H 5532) to provide additional support to schools to fund mental and behavioral health support for students.

Click here to see news release.

 

  • Legislators, advocates rally in support of freedom to read

Rep. David Morales (D-Dist. 7, Providence) and Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick) were joined by the Rhode Island Library Association, the American Library Association, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and local authors and advocates at a State House event Thursday to call for the passage of legislation (2025-H 5726, 2025-S 0238) to protect libraries and their patrons from partisan or doctrinal book-banning efforts.

Click here to see news release.                                              

The House is passing a six-month funding bill to prevent a government shutdown. The bill narrowly passed 217-to-213 on Tuesday, with all but one Republican supporting the six-month stopgap measure. The proposal now heads to the Senate, where its fate remains uncertain. The government shutdown deadline is Friday night.        The Department of Education is being gutted. Staff received an email Tuesday notifying them they had to vacate the department's headquarters by 6 p.m. The email said the closure was "for security reasons." Just a few hours later, a senior department official announced over 13-hundred staffers received notifications that they're being fired.        Oklahoma is the latest state to report positive cases of measles. The state's department of health says two people began showing symptoms after being exposed to measles cases associated with the outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico. Texas has reported over two-hundred cases of the highly contagious disease, while New Mexico is up to 33.        Protestors in Chicago and New York City want a Columbia student to be released. Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was taken into custody by ICE agents over the weekend who told him his green card was being revoked. More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the Trump administration today also demanding Khalil's release. President Trump said yesterday that Khalil's arrest is the first of many to come.        A federal judge is blocking Louisiana's first nitrogen gas execution. Lawyers for Jessie Hoffman Jr. have argued the method of execution would violate his constitutional rights. Since Hoffman is a Buddhist, his team argued the use of a face mask to deliver the nitrogen gas "substantially burdens" his ability to engage in his religious breathing practices and causes unnecessary "pain and suffering."        Seasons one through seven of Donald Trump's long-running reality show "The Apprentice" will now be available on Amazon. The idea of the show was to gather hopeful candidates to compete to become an apprentice at The Trump Organization for a 250-thousand dollar salary. The series originally aired on NBC and now can be found on Prime Video with new episodes every Monday.       

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