Legislation

The legislature overwhelmingly approved an ACLU bill specifying that domestic partner health insurance benefits are not taxable income for state income tax purposes, and explicitly entitling state employees and their partners to the protections of COBRA and to the state’s Family Medical Leave Act.

A new law, promoted by the ACLU, will limit the phone call charges that can be imposed on inmates.

The ACLU, the R.I. Disability Law Center and the R.I. Council of Community Mental Health Organizations helped persuade the Governor to veto a bill that would have allowed the Mental Health Advocate to petition the court to involuntarily transfer inmates from the ACI to the custody of MHRH.

A series of bills with civil liberties implications did not make it out of committee this session.

2006 legislative session highlights.

2006 legislative session lowlights.

Before enacting a bill providing tax credits for the production of movies and television shows in Rhode Island, the General Assembly took heed of ACLU censorship concerns.

The General Assembly passed an ACLU-drafted bill barring the state or municipalities, including schools, from making use of radio frequency identification (RFID) devices on students, employees, or clients.

As the result of a major push by Providence city officials, the General Assembly approved legislation authorizing the installation of “red light cameras,” but only after accepting a bevy of ACLU amendments designed to mitigate some of the organization’s civil liberties concerns.