An Update from the State House
Pawsox Bill Moves forward
Last week the full Senate voted to pass S.2001 – the Pawsox financing legislation. The vote was
26-9 which just met the required 2/3 vote for financial pieces of legislation. Thursday afternoon
the House Democratic Caucus met, giving the Speaker the opportunity to gauge where his party
was on the issue. Following the caucus, the Speaker stated that a vote on the bill will be
forthcoming after the bill is vetted through the committee process. He stated that a number of
members are concerned over the level of state monies committed to the project and that the
S.2001 would likely be amended to place more financial responsibility on the owners of the
Pawsox.
Governor’s Budget Released
As you may have heard, Governor Raimondo released her 400 page FY2019 budget. The $9.37
billion plan includes new revenues, cuts, transfers of restricted receipts, tax and fee increases,
new programs, program eliminations and various line items in between. The Governor, called it
a “difficult” budget with “difficult decisions to make.”
Approximately 41.6% of the state expenditures are for Health and Human Service programs
($3.898 billion). Approximately 28.1% of the budget is dedicated to Education ($2.64 billion).
The remainder of the budget goes to the administration of government, economic development
programs and environmental endeavors.
The actual bill can be viewed at:
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/HouseText18/H7200.pdf
The new big ticket items in the Governor’s budget include:
$1 billion over the next 5 years for school building renovations (phase one is $250
million)
$25 million bond to renovate the Horace Mann Hall building at RI College
$45 million bond for research support as well as infrastructure improvements to the
URI Narraganset Bay Campus
$48.5 million bond for a Green Economy program to improve access to farmland,
fund brownsfield programs and to undergo programs to “adapt to weather
conditions.”
$500,00 in new funding for high school students to take college credit courses while
in high school
$4 million in capital funding for FY2019 and FY2020 for a new Education Center in
northern RI to connect the state’s colleges with business, industry and community
partners. This center is similar to the one in Westerly that has experience success.
$200,000 pilot program to pay for child care of low income parents who enroll in full-
time college. RI is one of 3 states that do not have this program
$3.6 million to fund the second year of the state’s free tuition program at CCRI.
CCRI experienced an increase in first time student enrollees last year of more than
40% ($6.4 million for both the first and second year tuition program)
$475,000 for a new economic development program called SupplyRI. The program
plans to incentivize large RI businesses to buy goods and services from local
companies in order to build the state’s supply chain
$300,000 to expand the manufacturer’s tax credit for the purchase of equipment to
increase production and employment
$500,000 in new small business loans
$500,000 for the continuation of the Main Streets initiative for sidewalks, signage and
lighting
$200,000 for a new pilot program to help cities and towns improve permitting and
zoning procedures to make them more efficient
On the revenue side, the Governor’s budget, on an initial glance appears to use $89.4 million in
new revenues and restricted receipt account scoops to balance the budget. About $22.6 million
comes from new general revenue increases; $9.6 million from restricted receipt accounts and
$57.2 million from “other funds.”
The following items account for new use of monies:
$23.5 million in revenue from sports betting
$4.1 million from a new “stadium gaming” pilot program at Twin River
$1.1 million by restructuring the Division of Taxation and, therefore improve
collections of the corporate tax
$20.4 million through the increase of sales and use taxes. $4.4 million through
increase collections by the Division of Taxation, $4.8 million from a new tax on
“software as a service (SaaS). $9.7 million from the expansion of sales tax to security
services and armored car services. $1.2 million in new licensing fees from 12 new
marijuana compassion centers that will be permitted to also sell to medical marijuana
cardholders from MA and CT. Classification of “acute pain” as a permissible
diagnosis to obtain a medical marijuana card ($125,917 in new fees). A 25 cent
increase in the cigarette tax effective August 1, 2018.
$558,142 anticipated increase from greater enforcement of laws to eliminate the
underground economy
The Governor also proposed the elimination or reduction of some licensing fees:
Elimination of the $50 per chair license fee for hairdressers
Elimination of the $160 retail frozen dessert processor fee
Reduction of the wholesale food processor fee from $500 to $300
Like last year, Under the Dome will feature a more detailed analysis of the 18 budget articles in
weeks to come. As House Finance Chairman Marvin Abney said, “our work begins.”
The following bills were filed last week:
House Bill No. 7169, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS --
PARENTAL AND FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE (Grants unpaid pregnancy leave to part-time
workers, would clarify their access to unpaid sick leave during their pregnancy, and provides
additional protections for pregnant workers who work in the medical field.)
House Bill No. 7199, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -
MINIMUM WAGES (Raises the minimum wage effective January 1, 2019, from ten dollars and
fifty cents ($10.50) per hour to eleven dollars ($11.00) per hour.)
House Bill No. 7220, AN ACT RELATING TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY - JOINT
COMMITTEE OF THE REPEALER (Creates the joint committee of the repealer in the general
assembly.)
House Bill No. 7242, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -
UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES (Prohibits an employer from inquiring about a
prospective employee's wage and salary history before an offer of employment with
compensation has been negotiated.)
House Bill No. 7251, AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -
COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE (Permits the use of fax or email transmission of the
medical certificate required for issuance of a CDL by the division of motor vehicles.)
Senate Bill No. 2045, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT --
TWIN RIVER AND THE TIVERTON GAMING FACILITY (Authorizes state-operated sports
wagering at Twin River/Tiverton facilities effective when authorized by federal law/court
decision regulated by lottery division with no wagering on RI college teams.)
Senate Bill No. 2058, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION (Establishes a surtax on the
business corporation tax for publicly traded corporations subject to SEC disclosure and reporting
requirements, if corporation's ratio of compensation for its CEO to median worker is equal to or
greater than 100 to 1.)
Senate Bill No. 2075, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION - PERSONAL INCOME TAX
(Provides for the imposition of a two (2%) tax increase on personal income over two hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).)
Senate Resolution No. 2082, SENATE RESOLUTION RESPECTFULLY URGING THE
UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION ESTABLISHING AN IMPROVED
“MEDICARE FOR ALL” SINGLE PAYER PROGRAM THAT WOULD PROVIDE
UNIVERSAL, COMPREHENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE
Senate Bill No. 2091, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- TAX SALES (Expedites the
foreclosure procedure on vacant property.)
Senate Bill No. 2099, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- LAW PRACTICE
(Requires duly admitted members of the bar of this state to acquire and maintain malpractice
insurance in the minimum amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000).)
Senate Bill No. 2102, AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY -- RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD
AND TENANT ACT (Requires a landlord to produce proof of at least $100,000 general liability
policy for persons injured on premises due to landlord's negligence before proceeding with
eviction action.)
Senate Bill No. 2103, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -
OVERTIME WAGES (Exempts certain executive, administrative, and professional employees
from overtime pay if their weekly wages exceed one thousand thirty-six dollars ($1,036), an
increase from the current two hundred dollars ($200).)
