Legislation

Though we appreciated the intent behind a piece of legislation which makes it a crime for an individual to knowingly and fraudulently represent oneself as a member of the military to obtain “money, property, or another tangible benefit,” we urged amendment to the bill.

While ensuring a healthy workplace is a laudable goal, we opposed a piece of legislation which would have created a far-reaching “civility code” and imposed liability on employers or co-workers who are, among other things, “overbearing.”

We opposed this legislation which would have carved out a new crime for the making of threats of mass violence and false reports of threats to any education or religious institution, or any social, civic, or fraternal associations.

We testified in favor of this critical legislation which would have protected net neutrality in RI and noted that open and equal access is a cornerstone of the ubiquitously used and indispensable medium of the internet.

We supported a bill which will allow for classified employees to seek nomination or become a candidate for elective state office and require their resignation from employment only if they win the election.

Though hate crimes deserve condemnation, we opposed a piece of legislation that would have expanded the scope of the Hate Crimes Sentencing Act in a way which could have established a hate crime based solely on the defendant’s speech without a finding of animus.

Noting that this bill was not only an assault on free speech but that it would inappropriately quash important teaching and conversation around such issues as institutional racism or sexism, we opposed legislation which sought to ban the teaching of “divisive topics” in public schools.

Though intended to address the issue of police misconduct, we opposed a piece of legislation introduced on behalf of the Attorney General which could have given the state more power to investigate those protesting or organizing against police abuse.

The introduction of the Rhode Island Senate rules this session prompted our initial commentary in two specific aspects.