Legislative Update March 7

LWVRI Weekly Legislative Alert

No League Testimony Scheduled; Report on Past Week’s

Hearings—Voting and Elections, Open Meetings

Coming Up: Gun Safety Bills

As of Friday, March 4, there were no bills on which the League will testify scheduled for hearings on March 8 and 9, and the Committee calendars had not been posted for March 10. When the calendar is posted, if there are items of interest to the League for which we will need your support, we will post more information and send a supplemental Call to Action. Meanwhile, here’s the report for the past week.

On Tuesday, March 1, LWVRI President Jane Koster,  the League’s chief lobbyist, presented testimony in support of five bills. The first four related to voting and elections.

•  H 7416, which would prohibit state vendors from making political contributions to candidates that if elected, would have the authority to award state contracts to them.
•  H 7146, which would prevent a person from being a candidate for public office who owes fines, fees, or penalties of ($2,000) or more for campaign finance violations, unless that person is currently compliant with a state board-approved repayment agreement.   
•  S 2513 which would establish a system for the electronic registration of voters. 
•  S 2358, which would create a procedure for in-person early voting for all general, primary and special elections.

All were held for further study except for S 2513, the electronic legislation of voters, which was recommended for passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The companion bill in the house, H 7024, was already passed.

The fifth bill, H 7601, concerned open meetings. This bill would exclude  weekends and state holidays from the calculation of the 48-hour public notice requirement for a meeting of a public body. It was also held for further study.

This past week, March 1-3, two new bills of interest the League related to gun safety to were introduced in the house and referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  Both were submitted at the request of the Attorney General.  They are:

• H 7850, which would make it unlawful to carry a rifle or shotgun in a vehicle or on one's person, visible or concealed, except at one's residence, place of business or land. This bill was sponsored by Representatives Diaz, Shekarchi, Almeida, and Maldonado
• H 7583, which would make it illegal for any person, entity, or dealer to sell, loan, transfer or acquire a firearm from any person, entity or dealer with the intent to avoid the application/disclosure process . This bill was sponsored by Johnston and Canario.

These bills have not yet been scheduled for a hearing.