Highlights from a productive session
By Victoria Gu
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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We’ve finished another legislative session! After many
nights of long committee hearings, bill sponsors and committee chairs
work on their bill edits, and June is when bills can be approved for
votes in committee and then gain final passage in the House & Senate.
New Leadership: In the past month the RI
House of Representatives also elevated Majority Leader Blazejewski to the
position of House Speaker and Majority Whip Katie Kazarian to the
position of House Whip. Congratulations to them and the outgoing Speaker
Joseph Shekarchi for their years of service.
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Shoreline Access Disclosure for Oceanfront Property
Rentals:
The House & Senate passed my bill S-2734A to help
make sure renters and short-term rental guests understand Rhode Island’s
shoreline access rights.
Part of the motivation for this bill came from seeing
some short-term rental listings advertise a “private beach,” even though
Rhode Island law protects public shoreline access up to 10 feet above the
recognizable high tide line. This bill helps make sure visitors and
tenants get clear information about those rights before they stay at an
oceanfront property.
Food is Medicine: The General Assembly has
passed my Food as Medicine bill, which creates a task force to design a
Medicaid pilot program that uses medically tailored meals or other
nutritional supports to improve the health of patients with
chronic, diet-related conditions.
Food insecurity is strongly linked to many of the most
costly preventable chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, and obesity, which drive enormous health care spending.
Medicaid accounts for about one-third of our state
budget and is growing at an estimated 6% per year. Our budget will have a
growing deficit unless we look at evidence-based programs like food as
medicine.
60 Days Advance Notice of Home Insurance
Non-Renewals: Insurance companies are being a lot more selective
about the location and the condition of the houses they insure, declining
to cover homes in coastal areas or with older roofs or water heaters. The
bill that Rep. Azzinaro and I passed requiring 60 days’ advance notice
will help homeowners find alternative insurance coverage and find
tradespeople if they need to fix something at their house in order to
continue insurance coverage.
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Spotlight: Youth Mental Health
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988 on Student & Staff Ids: Last week
the General Assembly passed a bill Rep Earl Read & I sponsored to put
suicide prevention and substance use crisis hotline numbers directly on
student and school staff ID cards. At a time when young people are
facing growing mental health challenges, we need to promote awareness of
resources like 988.
The General Assembly also passed a youth crisis response service bill that codifies
a successful pilot program into law. The program helps
kids in crisis by getting them fast, specialized care with behavioral
health clinicians (avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits) and
connecting families to ongoing support.
Thank you to constituents who wrote to me about the
importance of funding 988: This year, the Senate also advanced a
separate bill by Senator Melissa Murray to protect the long-term funding
of Rhode Island's 988 crisis line and BH Link services. More than 90% of
988 calls are resolved through phone support alone, connecting people with
trained counselors before a crisis escalates. The bill stalled in the
House, but we hope to pass it next year. More info here
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Looking ahead: Vote for the Green Bond this Nov
& Op-Ed on Managed Retreat
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We got an extra $5 million for climate resiliency
in the Green Bond which will be on the ballot in November! Annually,
each town can apply for grants from this pool of funding to strengthen
their infrastructure. One example: Westerly received funding for a flood
wall around a pump station for the wastewater treatment plant.
Managed Retreat: These photos I took in
South Kingstown show how shoreline armoring—like rock walls and elevated
structures—disrupt the dynamic beach ecosystem and make it harder for
people to walk along the beach. As sea levels rise and more coastal
property owners build hard structures to protect against erosion, the
public part of the beach gets narrower, and in these pictures, it has
become impossible to pass along the shoreline.
That's why we need to plan ahead before the next major
storm. Instead of repeatedly rebuilding in areas that face
increasing flood and erosion risks, towns can identify safer places for
homes and infrastructure over the long term. Read more about our
work to help Rhode Island communities prepare for rising seas and protect
public access to our shoreline:
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/opinion/columns/2026/04/18/rhode-islands-managed-retreat-plan-for-rising-seas-opinion/89628806007/
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- 62-65
year old early retirees will now get the same exemptions
from Social Security tax as people 65 and older. Seniors
still must have incomes under $107,000 for single filers and
$133,750 for married filers in tax year 2025, to qualify.
- Child
Tax Credit - see this press release
- Rural
Health Transformation Grant - RI received over $150 million
in the first year of this federal program and will use it to
implement innovative programs like Community Paramedicine - see this website for more information. Stay
tuned for more healthcare highlights and impacts of HR1 on our
healthcare system
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- Labor
Protections: We passed many noteworthy bills like S-2921
to give domestic workers the same protections under
the Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) as other Rhode Island workers.
- Immigration
bills: see this press release and another for protecting constitutional rights
- Education
Funding Formula: only minor changes this year by increasing
the “student success factor” - which is an additional amount of
funding for each low-income student - from 40% to 43%. We will need
to monitor the new Senate commission to study the funding formula,
specifically the one suggested by the Blue Ribbon Commission
- Status
of CRMC reform bill: The bill that passed last year
required the Governor to appoint members with expertise in coastal
matters. There are some new members that the Senate confirmed this
year with expertise with civil engineering, coastal wetlands, law,
etc. but it remains to be seen whether the political dynamic will
change and I still support the overall reform that would restructure
CRMC so it’s similar to DEM, with a staff and director making the
decisions instead of a politically appointed all-volunteer council.
- Status
of Bottle Deposit & Recycling bills: The bill that
passed last year began the first stage which is a needs-assessment
to look at our recycling system as a whole. That is still in
progress
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