Gay marriage, tolls, 38 Studios drive RI session
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 8:18 am, Thursday, July 4, 2013
The House and Senate waffled on bridge tolls, first voting to delay much-protested tolls for the Sakonnet River Bridge, only to decide to impose one a week later. [...] the hangover from the state's failed gamble on Curt Schilling's 38 Studios wore on, with insurgent lawmakers challenging leadership over the need to pay back some $90 million the state lost on the deal. Defaulting on the loans could have had potentially disastrous effects on the state's finances, but debate about a $2.5 million debt payment due next year ended up dominating discussion on the state's $8.2 billion state budget. Rank-and-file lawmakers pitched their own ideas, ranging from the complete elimination of the state sales tax to a proposal to highlight the state's fishing industry by making Rhode Island-style calamari the state's official appetizer. Some of the bills that passed will directly affect the lives of workers and business owners, including one to allow people to collect unemployment while participating in job training or another that allows more businesses to pay their workers biweekly instead of weekly to cut administrative costs. For lawmakers who wanted to see more ambitious proposals relating to tax policy, education investment, business incentives or workforce training, the bureaucratic changes don't mean much. [...] late in the session Fox faced a serious leadership challenge when, in a rare act of defiance, rank-and-file House members rebelled against a budget provision that would have skipped a $12.9 payment to the state pension system. [...] he acknowledged that few pieces of legislation could ever be as significant as the gay marriage law, which will give same-sex couples access to hundreds of rights and benefits previously unavailable to them. Reported by SeattlePI.com 2 days ago.
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 8:18 am, Thursday, July 4, 2013
The House and Senate waffled on bridge tolls, first voting to delay much-protested tolls for the Sakonnet River Bridge, only to decide to impose one a week later. [...] the hangover from the state's failed gamble on Curt Schilling's 38 Studios wore on, with insurgent lawmakers challenging leadership over the need to pay back some $90 million the state lost on the deal. Defaulting on the loans could have had potentially disastrous effects on the state's finances, but debate about a $2.5 million debt payment due next year ended up dominating discussion on the state's $8.2 billion state budget. Rank-and-file lawmakers pitched their own ideas, ranging from the complete elimination of the state sales tax to a proposal to highlight the state's fishing industry by making Rhode Island-style calamari the state's official appetizer. Some of the bills that passed will directly affect the lives of workers and business owners, including one to allow people to collect unemployment while participating in job training or another that allows more businesses to pay their workers biweekly instead of weekly to cut administrative costs. For lawmakers who wanted to see more ambitious proposals relating to tax policy, education investment, business incentives or workforce training, the bureaucratic changes don't mean much. [...] late in the session Fox faced a serious leadership challenge when, in a rare act of defiance, rank-and-file House members rebelled against a budget provision that would have skipped a $12.9 payment to the state pension system. [...] he acknowledged that few pieces of legislation could ever be as significant as the gay marriage law, which will give same-sex couples access to hundreds of rights and benefits previously unavailable to them. Reported by SeattlePI.com 2 days ago.