Legislation

In appreciating the legitimate interest in creating a legislative commission to study and provide recommendations on school safety protocols for Rhode Island schools, we urged that this resolution also include a provision that will set an openness standard for that commission.

We supported a bill which would have comprehensively updated Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act for the first time in over a decade.

We supported this legislation which would have made two major changes to the Open Meetings Act.

As one of only two states without a process for the certification and de-certification of law enforcement officers, we strongly supported this legislation which would have instituted such oversight over these public-facing personnel.

We supported legislation which would have required public bodies to establish a plan for providing translation services at public meetings, ensuring that access to these meetings is not inhibited because an individual does not fluently speak the language that the meeting is conducted in.

We supported legislation which would have clarified the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) to ensure that the public can access the final reports of internal investigations of police misconduct.

We opposed this resolution which would have called for a federal constitutional convention with the goal of passing constitutional amendments that would “impose restraints on the federal government.”

We strongly supported legislation which would have required cities and town to disclose basic information on their website about litigation in which they are involved.

We opposed a bill which would have allowed any member of a public body who is 65 years of age or older to participate in meetings of the body remotely, by phone or video.