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5/9/2022
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MEDIA ADVISORY: House Finance Committee meets three times this week to hear a variety of legislation
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STATE HOUSE – The House Finance Committee will be meeting three times this week to hear testimony on a variety of legislation.
On Tuesday, May 10 at the RISE of the House (approximately 5 p.m.) in Room 35 of the State House, the committee will be meeting to hear testimony on several bills.
Among the legislation being heard are the following bills:
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2022-H 7340, sponsored by Rep. Joseph M. McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston), establishes the RI Early Childhood Innovation Act and authorizes the Department of Human Services to fund programs for at-risk kindergarten children.
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2022-H 7488, sponsored by Rep. Gregg Amore (D-Dist. 65, East Providence), requires school lunch service contracts to provide for payment to school-lunch workers and aides for 180 days or the length of the contract for the school year, whichever is longer.
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2022-H 7546, sponsored by House Majority Whip Katherine S. Kazarian (D-Dist. 63, East Providence), provides for an appropriation by the General Assembly in the amount of $2 million to the various school districts and municipalities to employ additional social workers.
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2022-H 7915, sponsored by Rep. Julie A. Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter), provides funding for afterschool, summer learning and workforce development programs for students in grades K-12.
On Wednesday, May 11 at the RISE of the House (approximately 5 p.m.) in Room 35 of the State House, the committee will hear testimony on a variety of bills, including:
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2022-H 7280, sponsored by Rep. John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton, Portsmouth), amends the definition of public works so that it would include any public works projects performed for any city or town or quasi-municipal entity and the state and any quasi-state entity.
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2022-H 7630, sponsored by Rep. Raymond A. Hull (D-Dist. 6, Providence, North Providence), provides that adjunct faculty members at any state college or university who teach at least 50 percent of the hours regularly worked by full-time faculty in a semester would be eligible for the same medical benefits as other state employees.
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2022-H 7925, sponsored by Representative Edwards, increases the maximum state and municipal small purchase limits from $10,000 to $25,000 for construction projects and from $5,000 to $10,000 for all other state and municipal purchases.
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2022-H 8206, sponsored by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett), removes the requirement that five percent of the hotel tax be paid to the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau and redistributes the tax to the regional tourism district where the hotel or residential unit is located.
On Thursday, May 12 at the RISE of the House (approximately 5 p.m.) in Room 35 of the State House, the committee will hear testimony on a variety of bills, including:
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2022-H 7180, sponsored by Representative Casimiro, requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, assisted by a 24 member advisory committee, to provide review and recommendations for rate setting and ongoing review of social service programs licensed by state departments, agencies and Medicaid.
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2022-H 7390, sponsored by Rep. Evan P. Shanley (D-Dist. 24, Warwick), requires state contracted human services providers to pay their employees a starting hourly wage of no less than $21 per hour and to include wage incremental raises for existing employees.
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2022-H 7490, sponsored by Rep. Jean Philippe Barros (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket), allows SNAP recipients to receive a minimum of $0.50 credit on their EBT card, for each dollar spent on fruits and vegetables. It also creates a separate SNAP fund to allocate funds from the general fund to effectuate this act.
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2022-H 7628, sponsored by Rep. Joshua J. Giraldo (D-Dist. 56, Central Falls), directs the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to increase Medicaid rates for the Early Intervention and First Connections programs allowing for payment of competitive wages for qualified professionals.
Individuals may testify in person before the committee at the State House. Sign-up sheets are available in/outside the hearing room.
Written testimony is strongly encouraged and may be submitted via HouseFinance@rilegislature.gov. Testimony will be posted on the General Assembly website: http://www.rilegislature.gov/Special/comdoc/Pages/HFIN.aspx.
The meetings will be televised live on Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox on Channels 15 and 61, on i3Broadband on Channel 15 and on Channel 34 by Verizon subscribers.
They will also be live streamed at http://rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Pages/default.aspx.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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