Cooperation made for productive session

Legislative achievements cited

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 6/23/15

As the General Assembly nears adjournment, Warwick legislators’ hard work is paying off.

Last week the House passed bills introduced by Representatives Joseph McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, …

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Cooperation made for productive session

Legislative achievements cited

Posted

As the General Assembly nears adjournment, Warwick legislators’ hard work is paying off.

Last week the House passed bills introduced by Representatives Joseph McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston), Joseph Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick), and David Bennett (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston) while the Senate approved measures introduced by Senators William Walaska (D-Dist. 30, Warwick) and Erin Lynch (D-District 31 Warwick, Cranston).

Some of that success comes from the solidarity of Warwick’s legislators.

Rep. K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-District 23, Warwick), who was a co-sponsor on many of the bills passed, said he couldn’t remember a time when he and the rest of the Warwick team didn’t vote similarly.

“We work well together, we have a great mix of legislators both seasoned and new with different expertise and experiences to bring to the table,” Shekarchi said.

Shekarchi said the cooperation has not only proven beneficial to Warwick, but also the state as a whole.

“When Warwick speaks, the assembly listens,” he said. “We have a lot of clout in the assembly.”

Lynch and Bennett worked with both Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello and Governor Gina Raimondo on legislation Raimondo signed into law Monday, which raises the minimum wage from $9 to $9.60.

Governor Raimondo said in a press release that she is committed to seeing Rhode Island’s economy make a comeback and this legislation is “an important step forward in our efforts to make work pay for the hardworking men and women of Rhode Island.”

Bennett said by putting more money in the pockets of hard working Rhode Islanders, that money is spent in Rhode Island only furthering economic improvement.

Similarly, Lynch noted that when families have more income, they rely less on government assistance.

Solomon, who is finishing up his first session as a representative, said it’s a team effort and Warwick legislators have been great mentors for him.

A bill introduced by Solomon and approved by the House sets standards for the treatment of dogs in extreme temperatures.

The bill makes keeping a dog tethered outside for more than 10 hours or in temperatures exceeding those set forth by the Tufts Animal Care and Condition Weather Safety Scale a violation punishable with anything from a warning to upwards of 11 months of imprisonment.

A measure introduced by Bennett and approved by the House would equip school nurses with narcan and the training to administer it.

Narcan is a medication that can be given in an injection or nasal spray to reverse the effects of opiod overdoses.

The bill requires public school nurses in schools grades 6 to 12 to be trained in the use of narcan.

Bennett said in a press release that the epidemic of overdoses in Rhode Island, and most of the country, does not exempt teenagers, and this would be one step in helping to save their lives were something to happen on school premises.

“But if they don’t have the tools they need,” Bennett said, “they might have to just stand there and watch helplessly as a person passes away, waiting for someone else with narcan to arrive. We know that overdoses are a real problem here, so we should do everything we can to make sure all the professionals who might need it have the proper access.”

He said that although many first responders are equipped with narcan kits, every minute counts when it comes to an overdose, and it makes sense to have inexpensive kits readily available on school premises.

The bill also provides protection from penalties and civil action to those who administer the drug and the school itself.

Although the bill would urge nurses to get the training, Bennett said the hope is that other staff within public schools will want to educate themselves as well.

On the Senate side, Lynch had legislation pass that would streamline the permitting process when it comes to freshwater buffers by creating statewide standards for buffers and setbacks.

This legislation also strengthens the authority of state agencies in wetlands protection.

In 2013 a task force was established to create standards for residents and businesses and now the Department of Environmental Management and the Coastal Resources Management Council will enforce the standards.

Lynch said, “These standards are good for residents, they are good for businesses and they are good for the environment. The task force that was formed two years ago delivered excellent recommendations on how Rhode Island can be streamlined and efficient for our businesses and residents while also protecting our glorious natural resources within the state.”

Walaska’s legislation to change the requirement for municipal property revaluations from every three years to five years in an effort to save both municipalities and the state money passed the Senate unanimously.

According to Walaska, the bill could potentially save the state $7 million and possibly more for individual cities and towns over 15 years.

This legislation would have full property revaluations every 15 years instead of every nine, meaning that previously, a city or town would go through and have to pay for four revaluations in just under a decade.

“My home community of Warwick contracted for its recent revaluation at a cost of $1.2 million,” said Walaska. “That’s a significant amount of money a community like mine must spend every few years and four times in the space of a decade.”

Walaska said that when things were booming, the three-year system made sense, but because the state and municipalities are struggling economically, a five-year cycle would be better.

Where Walaska’s bill is aimed at saving money, a bill sponsored by McNamara would try to save lives.

The Rhode Island Terminally Ill Patients Right to Try Act of 2015 would allow for terminally ill patients to access experimental drugs in the process of being approved by the FDA but not yet publicly available.

McNamara said the approval process for drugs can take upwards of 15 years and there have been many cases where the terminally ill leave the country for treatment because they are still considered experimental in this country.

The bill passed in the House 70-1 and now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Rhode Island wouldn’t be the first to pass this type of legislation, as it joins Colorado, Michigan, Arizona and Louisiana. Seventeen other states are also considering passing similar legislation.

McNamara said because “Hope” is the state motto, “it is the least we could do as a state to make sure even those who are given the worst news possible can have access to hope.”

This legislation also provides protections for all parties involved, including the patients, medical professionals, and even insurance companies.

“Terminal patients do not have the time to wait for the kinds of delays associated with federal bureaucracy,” said McNamara. “Terminal patients just want the chance to try something – anything – that might help. It is my desire, through this legislation, to give them hope and, perhaps, to extend or save some lives.”

Both Bennett and Shekarchi were co-sponsors for the bill.

McNamara said the Warwick legislators are often co-sponsors of each other’s legislation because, “We work very closely together, assisting and supporting each other especially when it comes to matters affecting our district.”

McNamara’s performance funding bill was also unanimously passed in the House and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

This bill would establish goals for all the public colleges and universities that would need to be met for additional state funding.

The hope is that with this legislation, the schools will increase graduation rates to help bolster Rhode Island’s workforce.

“Our state’s top elected officials, from the governor to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, are committed to improving our state’s economy and one prime means to do that is to ensure we have an educated population,” said McNamara.

Similarly, the data collected for this legislation would help to establish and implement strategies to improve for college preparation and enrollment.

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