Establishes an opportunity for employee ownership where the owner notifies all current full-time and part-time employees and provides them with a 30-day window in which to initiate a process to potentially purchase the business as a workers' cooperative.
Establishes the Healthy Kids Act whereby restaurants would be required to offer at least two (2) healthy versions of children's meals, or twenty-five percent (25%) of the children's meals on its menu, whichever is greater.
Requires state use actual residences of persons in government custody for redistricting purposes. Information would be collected by the department of corrections and forwarded to the division of statewide planning, to be utilized for redistricting.
Establishes the Ranked Choice Voting for Rhode Island Presidential Primaries and provides for new sections on ranked choice voting tabulation and results reporting.
Requires that insurance policies for property damage, personal injuries, and indemnification other than payment of compensation for workers compensation, state policy limits and no amount of the policy may be used to pay costs to defend a claim.
Maddy summaryHB 7854 updates condominium laws to improve transparency for condo owners and management. It requires clearer financial reporting and communication about building decisions, such as maintenance costs and rule changes. The bill also establishes a neutral ombudsman position to help resolve disputes between condo owners and board members. This directly affects all condominium associations and their residents across the state.
Precludes a legal entity from owning property whose value is over $25,000,000. If the property value exceeds $25,000,000, then the entity must divest a graduated yearly amount over the next 10 years, until value is less than $25,000,000.
Maddy summaryHB 7232 establishes fusion voting in Rhode Island, allowing candidates to run as nominees of multiple political parties for the same office. Candidates must formally accept each party's nomination in writing, and ballots will display their name under each participating party line. Voters can select the candidate using any party line they appear on, with all votes combined into a single total for the candidate. This directly affects candidates seeking multi-party nominations and voters casting ballots in elections for state and local offices. The bill requires ballot designs and voting equipment to clearly display fusion voting options while preventing duplicate votes.
Allows an owner or owners of real property to execute a deed that names one or more beneficiaries who will obtain title to the property at the owner's death without the necessity of probate.
Maddy summaryHB 7004 establishes the Rhode Island Climate Superfund Act of 2026, requiring fossil fuel producers responsible for over one billion tons of emissions during 2000-2025 to reimburse the state and municipalities for climate adaptation costs. It directly affects major fossil fuel companies (coal, oil, gas producers) determined to have caused significant climate-related damages. The bill creates a fund to cover "climate change response work," including coastal protection, infrastructure upgrades, and heat mitigation projects, using scientifically verified emission attribution methods aligned with IPCC standards. Funds will offset taxpayer costs for climate resilience efforts already underway, following the "polluter pays" principle.
