Legislation

Despite the initial temporary nature of the power granted to the University of Rhode Island Board of Trustees to meet virtually throughout the pandemic, legislation was introduced to make this provision permanent in state law. We opposed the bill.

We strongly supported legislation that eliminates the requirement that an applicant to become a licensed clinical social worker pass a standardized written test to obtain a license.

We opposed legislation which would have inappropriately imposed a broad criminal record check requirement on individuals who seek to be engaged in the business-side of the medical marijuana industry, as well as on patients who may need this medicine to manage a health condition.

Though we support recreational marijuana legalization, we raised a number of concerns about this bill and called for amendments to strengthen the language.

We opposed legislation which would have allowed a court to appoint pro bono attorneys to act as animal advocates in animal cruelty and abuse cases.

We opposed legislation which would have increased the penalties for individuals convicted of unnecessary cruelty to an animal and would have placed a life prohibition on that individual owning or possessing an animal for life.

In a piece of legislation indicative of the way that the General Assembly often attempts to “carve out” new crimes out of offenses that already are enshrined in state statute, this legislation would have made simple assault, already a misdemeanor, a more serious felony if committed on a taxi driver.

We supported this legislation which would have required the tax administrator to prepare one-time data that shows the amount of taxes paid by individuals and entities that file taxes using an Individual Tax Identification Number rather than a Social Security Number.

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.