Here are the highlights from news and events that took place in the General Assembly this year. This will be the final edition of summaries from the General Assembly for 2014, as the Assembly has recessed. For more information on any of these items, visit www.rilin.state.ri.us/News.

BUDGET
l The 2015 state budget bill cut the corporate tax rate from 9 percent to 7 percent, and raised the credit on the estate tax from $921,655 to $1.5 million, eliminating the cliff provision so families will pay taxes only on the amount above that threshold. The $1.5 million credit will be adjusted annually for inflation.
l It eliminated tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge while creating a new fund for maintenance of roads and bridges. Vehicle-related fees will be gradually redirected from the state’s general fund to the new infrastructure fund over the next five years.
l The budget fully funds the continued implementation of the state’s education aid formula, adding $33.4 million over the Fiscal Year 2014 level.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/BUSINESS
l The Assembly passed a central component of the Senate’s “Rhode To Work” legislative action plan, repositioning and empowering the Governor’s Workforce Board to administer and coordinate all workforce development in the state. The new Workforce Board replaces the Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council and will be charged with breaking down barriers, bottlenecks and other challenges to provide a unified, cohesive and responsive training system.
l Legislators gave final passage to legislation that would stop the state from taking a 10 percent cut from the employer-paid Job Development Fund, or JDF. The JDF, which provides money for workforce training, is subject to a 10 percent indirect cost recovery charge that most of the state’s restricted receipt accounts pay to the general fund. The initiative is part of the Senate’s “Rhode To Work” legislative package and is featured in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget.
l Lawmakers passed a regulatory reform bill that amends the process for submission of economic impact statements, eliminates a number of exclusions in the existing statute and improves the procedure for adoption of proposed regulations. The Assembly also approved another bill synchronizing the Office of Regulatory Reform’s upcoming regulatory reviews with the Secretary of State’s re-file process.

PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE
l The General Assembly passed legislation recommended by a 20-member legislative task force that conducted a review of current law regarding the state’s participation in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as it pertains to mental health. Under legislation stemming from the panel’s findings, the District Court would submit limited information to NICS about individuals who are involuntarily committed for mental health treatment and pose a threat of violence to themselves or others. 
l The General Assembly approved a measure requiring the collection of DNA samples from any person arrested for a crime of violence, with the assurance that the sample will be expunged if the person is found or proven innocent.
l Lawmakers additionally approved legislation authorizing judges and magistrates to prohibit individuals adjudicated of driving under the influence from operating vehicles that are not equipped with ignition interlock systems.

EDUCATION
l Lawmakers put a three-year moratorium on using standardized assessments to determine a student’s ability to graduate, beginning with this current school year when students were assessed using the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). This would affect seniors graduating prior to 2017.
l The General Assembly approved bills stating that any teacher who is, upon an initial evaluation, rated “highly effective” or given a number “4” mark or the equivalent would only need to be evaluated once every three years. A teacher rated as “effective” or given a number “3” mark would need to be evaluated only every two years. Any teacher who scores a lesser rating could be subject to annual evaluations.
l The General Assembly approved legislation to provide full education aid funding for children enrolled in full-day kindergarten, beginning with the 2016-17 school year.

ENVIRONMENT
l Lawmakers approved the creation of the Climate Change Council charged with coordinating efforts to ensure the state is doing everything in its power to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions while advancing the public’s understanding of changes in sea level, severe weather events and critical infrastructure vulnerability.
l Legislators expanded the distributed generation program, which will encourage the development of small-scale commercial and residential renewable energy projects around the state.
l Under legislation passed this year, beginning in 2016, institutions that are large producers of food scraps will be required to dispose of them by composting onsite, sending them to be used agriculturally, such as for as animal feed, or by having them processed by a composting or anaerobic digesting facility, if such a facility is available within 15 miles.

HEALTH
l The Assembly approved several measures to address the region’s opioid overdose epidemic, strengthening parity in coverage of mental health and substance use disorders, requiring insurance coverage for methadone and opioid overdose treatment and better hospital discharge plans for patients with substance abuse disorders, and encouraging more widespread use of the state’s electronic prescription drug monitoring program.
l The General Assembly approved several bills to better integrate behavioral health and primary care, including a bill calling upon the Department of Health and the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to scrutinize the state’s laws and regulations to ensure that those with behavioral health care needs receive the services they require, and another for the creation of a pilot project to integrate health promotion and primary and behavioral healthcare.
l The General Assembly approved legislation designed to help expedite the Department of Health “certificate of need” process and to help open doors for domestic medical tourism companies to locate in Rhode Island.

CONSUMER/QUALITY OF LIFE
l The General Assembly voted to raise the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015. That’s a $1 per hour increase over the current minimum wage of $8, which went into effect at the beginning of this year.
l Lawmakers approved legislation that will aid in preventing foreclosing owners from evicting tenants in one- to four-family dwellings without “just cause.” The bills spell out the circumstances under which an eviction may take place and require notices to tenants 30 days prior to any foreclosure sale.
l Passed by the legislature and signed into law was legislation to permit the use of electronic proof of auto insurance coverage, in any format that can be displayed on any mobile electronic device.

ELECTIONS AND GOOD GOVERNMENT
l The General Assembly passed legislation requiring Rhode Island’s quasi-public agencies to carry out their government missions effectively and to exemplify a commitment to transparent, accountable and effective government. All 20 quasi-public agencies and subsidiaries of Commerce RI would also be required to conduct a performance audit every five years beginning in 2015.
l Lawmakers passed legislation that will eliminate the “master lever,” or straight-party voting option, on all non-primary Rhode Island elections beginning after Jan. 1, 2015.
l Legislation was passed and signed by the governor to put a question on the November ballot, asking voters if they wish to call a convention to consider revisions to the state’s constitution.

VETERANS AND MILITARY
l Legislation passed by the Assembly will allow disabled veterans who are permanent residents of Rhode Island and who are eligible for waivers for free admission into competitive college programs to register for classes during the regular enrollment period.
l The legislature OK’d bills to allow honorably discharged veterans and National Guard reservists to use the skills they learned during their military service to fulfill requirements when they seek apprenticeships in various trades.
l The Assembly approved and the governor signed legislation to create a commission to study the establishment of a Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial at the Veterans’ Cemetery in Exeter. Also approved by the Assembly was legislation to place inside the State House a POW/MIA Chair of Honor to pay tribute to those who were prisoners or war or listed as missing in action.

GAMING
l Rhode Island voters will be asked two questions on November’s ballot concerning Newport Grand, under legislation approved by the General Assembly. One would amend the state constitution to specify that no gambling facility may change locations within its city or town without an affirmative vote from the citizens of that city or town. The other would allow Newport Grand to expand to offer table games, but only with the approval of voters statewide and in Newport, and only if the other question is also approved statewide.
l Lawmakers allowed Twin River in Lincoln to offer lines of credit of up to $50,000 to patrons, and stipulated that no casino may place a lien on a person’s real estate as a result of such a marker.
l The budget included funding, effectively $1.1 million, to boost Twin River’s marketing efforts at a time when the Lincoln gaming facility could soon face increased competition from expansion of gaming in Massachusetts.