Rep. Julie Casimiro

Maddy summaryHB 8114 requires the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) director to share a child’s school enrollment information with the child’s school nurse when that child is placed in foster care. This directly affects school nurses, DCYF staff, and children in foster care who attend public schools. The key provision mandates DCYF to proactively provide this enrollment detail to school nurses to ensure continuity of care. The bill aims to improve communication between child welfare and school staff for foster youth.

Requires courts and bail commissioners to issue no contact orders against any person arrested for cruelty or neglect of a child, child abuse or child endangerment and to issue orders upon any finding of guilty. Violations of order would be a misdemeanor.

Maddy summaryHB 8185 amends pension benefits for Rhode Island State Police members. It directly affects both current officers still serving and former members who have retired. The bill modifies the existing pension benefit structure, though the abstract does not specify the exact nature of the changes to the benefits. This is a policy change focused on retirement compensation for state police personnel.

Prohibits handcuffing children twelve (12) or under at initial police contact unless needed for public safety or if the child is using or threatening physical force against an officer.

Increases the yearly amount of money that retired teachers, who had been certified driver education teachers, could earn from fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), without a reduction in their retirement benefits.

Maddy summaryHB 7132 prohibits judges from imposing life without parole sentences on individuals convicted of homicide who were 21 years old or younger at the time of the offense. The bill directly affects juvenile defendants (ages 21 and under) in homicide cases by requiring alternative sentencing options, such as lengthy prison terms with parole eligibility. It changes sentencing guidelines to ensure youth offenders are not subject to irreversible life sentences. This policy shift applies specifically to homicide convictions under the state's criminal code.

Maddy summaryHB 7162 would modify Rhode Island's personal income tax calculation by allowing the exclusion of public pension benefits administered by the Employees Retirement System from federal adjusted gross income. This change directly affects state and local government retirees who receive pensions through the Employees Retirement System. The key provision adjusts how these pension payments are treated for tax purposes, effectively reducing taxable income for eligible recipients. The bill is currently pending in the House Finance Committee after its January 16, 2026, introduction.

Changes the teacher and state employees' retirement benefit calculations' cutoff date from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2012, for all retirement members eligible to and who retire on or after the new July 1, 2012, cutoff date.

Reinstates, for all teachers and state employees who retired after July 1, 2012, their annual cost of living adjustment for retirement plan year 2026.

Creates "Harter's Law" to extend the civil statute of limitations, for injuries resulting from first degree child abuse, to thirty-five (35) years and cap civil damages recovery at five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).