Adds "providing for residential development in all or some of the areas encompassing commercial districts" as a purpose a zoning ordinance must address.
Maddy summaryThis bill makes technical updates to how Rhode Island towns and cities manage local planning boards and commissions. It requires board members to complete floodplain and sea-level rise training every two years, limits annual amendments to comprehensive plans to four, and clarifies procedures for reviewing land development projects and filing public access requests. These changes directly affect municipal planning boards across the state by defining their duties for preparing community plans, handling zoning matters, and coordinating with other agencies. The bill streamlines processes for plan adoption, public input, and board operations without altering land use regulations or development standards.
Requires the employers of unionized public school teachers, municipal employees and state employees, to provide the union, at least once every 120 days, a list of all their employees in their union, as well as their personal and demographic information.
Allows for the enactment of the dietitian licensure compact permitting a licensed dietitian from another state to become licensed within the state, and also permitting a dietitian licensed by the state to become licensed in another compact state.
Eliminates the "until June 30, 2025" sunset on the increase in the total amount of earnings a partial-unemployment insurance claimant can receive before being entirely disqualified for unemployment insurance benefits.
Maddy summaryHB 5235 caps interest rates on medical debt owed to healthcare providers. It limits interest to the weekly average one-year Treasury yield (with a minimum of 1.5% and maximum of 4% annually), as reported by the Federal Reserve. This applies only to new medical debt incurred after the bill takes effect, directly affecting consumers with unpaid medical bills. The law aims to prevent excessive interest charges on healthcare costs without altering existing debt.
Maddy summaryHB 5421 requires all school buses in the state to be equipped with live digital video monitoring systems that record license plates, location, time, and date of traffic violations. School districts must install these systems on new buses starting July 1, 2027, and on all buses by July 1, 2032. The systems enable remote monitoring of drivers passing stopped school buses, with violations documented through video evidence and processed via traffic tribunals. This directly affects school bus operators, drivers who violate stop-arm laws, and local governments handling enforcement and fines.
Clarifies roles and regulatory authority for the administration of the program involving the repurposing of vacant schools for housing, extends the deadline for conducting feasibility studies and expands access to all municipalities.
Permits the division of unclaimed property within the office of the general treasurer to accept miscellaneous intangible property belonging to Rhode Island residents.
Authorizes the town of West Warwick to issue not more than $71,000,000 bonds and notes to finance the acquisition, construction, improvement, renovation, furnishing and equipping of schools and school facilities.
