Under The Dome: 4/28/2025

Revenue Estimating Conference Continues This Week

 

Each year the fiscal staffs of the House, Senate and Governor meet in the Spring to debate and reach consensus on the State’s fixed expenses as well as revenues for the upcoming year.

 

Last Friday, the twice a year conference of budget officials convened and heard testimony on Caseloads for Cash Assistance, Services for Private Community Developmentally Disabled, and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

 

Today’s Economic Overview and Testimony has been rescheduled to tomorrow, as the General Assembly attends services for the passing of Senate President Dominick Ruggerio.

 

Below is an updated agenda of the remaining meetings:

 

Tuesday, April 29, 2025 – Economic Overview and Testimony

 

9:00 A.M. US and RI Economic Forecasts – Moody’s Analytics

RI Labor Market Conditions – Department of Labor and Training

Consensus Economic Forecast

10:30 A.M. Lottery Receipts - Department of Revenue, Division of Lottery

Commerce Corporation Tax Credits – RI Commerce Corporation

 

Monday May 5, 2025 – Caseload Estimates and Testimony

 

9:00 A.M. Caseload Estimating Conference

2:00 P.M. Tax Collections – Department of Revenue, Division of Taxation

Accruals – Department of Administration, Office of Accounts and Controls

 

Friday, May 9, 2025 – Revenue Estimates

 

9:00 A.M. Revenue Estimating Conference (this meeting is an all-day meeting)

To watch the Revenue Estimating Conference go to: https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv/

Meeting Materials will be made available on the General Assembly website at https://www.rilegislature.gov/Special/rcc/Pages/rcec.aspx or http://omb.ri.gov/REC

 

 

Wednesday, April 30rd

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday

 

The Senate Committee on Labor & Gaming will meet at 4:00 in room 212, to conduct a hearing on S.988, https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0988.pdf, which would adds Dr. Martin Luther King to the list of holidays requiring premium pay for those employees working on the holiday as a part of their normal 40-hour work week. As previously

mentioned, Rhode Island is the only state in the country with this requirement. Testimony may be submitted to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov

 

 

Packaging and Paper Recycling

 

S.939, An Act Relating to Health and Safety – Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Paper Act https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0939.pdf will be heard in the Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture at 4:00 in the Senate Lounge. This bill is one of three bills related to the debate over the adoption of a bottle redemption bill. For two years, a joint House and Senate commission has been meeting to debate the pros and cons of adopting a bottle deposit and redemption bill. The members of the commission did not reach consensus, so three bills were introduced last week – a bottle deposit bill with a ten-cent fee per can/bottle; a bottle deposit combined with an extended producer responsibility program for most types of packaging (EPR); and a bill focusing only on EPR. S.939, which focuses only on EPR was put forward by the beverage industry. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0939.pdf

 

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging is a policy approach that holds producers of packaging materials responsible for managing the waste generated by their products throughout their lifecycle. This includes funding the costs of collecting, sorting, treating, and recycling packaging waste

 

Under S.939, packaging is considered material – regardless of recyclability – intended for short-term use and is used for the “containment, protection, handling, or delivery of products to the consumer at the point of sale, including through an internet transaction.” It includes paper, plastic, glass, metal, cartons, flexibles, foams, rigid packaging or other materials or combinations of materials. It specifically exempts packaging that is not sold to residential households, is used solely in transportation or distribution to non-consumers, is exclusively used in industrial or manufacturing processes, is sold outside the state, is exempt as a medicine or research product, or is considered long-term storage packaging for at least five years. If a bottle bill were to pass at any time, those containers would also be exempt under this proposal.

 

S.939 establishes an advisory board to provide advice to a Producer Responsibility Organization that represents the interests of the all the packaging producers, which in most cases will be companies with brand names on the products or the entity responsible for bringing the product into the state first. Other entities could be considered producers under certain circumstances; however, an exemption exists for entities with less than $5 million in gross total revenue or less than one ton of covered materials. The Organization would be charged with submitting a five-year packaging material collection plan by December 31, 2027 and submitting it to the advisory council for consideration. Minimum recyclable standards would be set. The bill states “A person shall not charge any kind of point-of-sale or point-of-collection fee to consumers to recoup its costs” in implementing the program. This would mean the cost of the product would have to include costs related to the producer’s obligation.

Testimony on this 33-page bill should be submitted to SLegislation@rilegislature.gov

 

 

Last Week At the State House

 

Last Thursday, the House Judiciary conducted a hearing on H 6212, which would add the crime of larceny to anyone that acquires or retains a gift card of less than $1,500 with the intent to use the card without the owner’s permission. A potential fine of up to $1,000 may also be assessed. Higher penalties exist for cards valued over $1,500 or for multiple violations in any six-month period. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H6212.pdf. The matter received support from the business community and opposition from the public defender, and was held for further study.

 

Some hearings postponed last week have not yet been rescheduled to this week, including:

 

- S 627, which would establish regulations with the intent to ensure the ethical development, integration, and deployment of high-risk Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, particularly those influencing consequential decisions in areas like employment, education, lending, housing, healthcare, and legal services. It would require developers, integrators, and deployers to use reasonable care to prevent algorithmic discrimination, implement risk management policies, conduct regular impact assessments, and provide transparency regarding the use of AI systems. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0627.pdf

 

- S 285, which would prohibit employers from asking questions about a job applicant’s financial history as part of a job interview or application, as well as the use of credit checks in the hiring process, with exemptions for otherwise legally required review. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0285.pdf

 

- S 211, which would sunset/discontinue the Jobs Development Act rate reduction as of July 1, 2025. The Rhode Island Jobs Development Act provides tax incentives for businesses that meet certain criteria, such as creating new jobs and investing in new capital. Essentially, the program is intended to encourage economic growth by offering companies tax benefits in exchange for their investment in the state's economy. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0111.pdf