Sen. Meghan Kallman

Maddy summaryThis Senate resolution commemorates the 50th anniversary of the State Government Affairs Council (SGAC), recognizing its decades of work fostering relationships between government, businesses, and communities. It highlights SGAC's role in promoting diversity, mentoring professionals, and supporting transparent, responsive state governance. The resolution formally honors SGAC's contributions and encourages continued support for its mission. As a ceremonial resolution, it does not create new laws or affect policy.

Allows citizens of a city or town who are at least sixteen (16) years of age to register to vote and to vote in school committee elections in municipalities where school committees are elected entities.

Increases number of members of the state crime laboratory commission 9, changes makeup of commission to include individuals with expertise in law enforcement, criminal defense, scientific research, makes chair of department of physics executive secretary.

Maddy summarySB 312 would rename the state holiday observed on the second Monday of August from "Victory Day" to "Peace and Remembrance Day" in Rhode Island law. The bill directly affects state employees and official state communications, as it amends the statutory list of state holidays in the General Laws. Key provisions include replacing the current holiday name in Section 25-1-1 and repealing a prior provision (Section 25-1-1.3) that prohibited using other names for the holiday. This change is purely procedural, altering the official designation without creating new policies or funding.

Maddy summarySB 755 designates rhythm and blues (defined as music blending pop, soul, funk, hip-hop, and electronic elements) as the state's official music. This procedural bill directly affects state symbolism and public representation, not policy or funding. The measure would take effect immediately upon passage and requires no further legislative action beyond approval. The bill is currently pending further study after a committee hearing.

Authorizes veterinarians to establish a client-patient relationship through electronic means, subject to limitations and requirements such as Vet making a good faith effort to determine if care should be provided through telemedicine instead of in person.

Develops standards of civics education in grades K-12 teaching history in the state of Rhode Island, representative government, the rights and duties of actively engaged citizenship, principals of democracy, and media literacy.

Prohibits the civil arrest of any person who is attending court either on behalf of themselves or a family or household member. Any person who violates this act shall be subject to civil suit, and for contempt of court.

Maddy summarySB 358 creates a new legal right for people injured by artificial intelligence systems developed by companies that trained or fine-tuned very high-cost AI models (costing over $100 million for initial training or $10 million for significant modifications). It holds developers strictly liable for injuries to non-users (like bystanders) caused by AI systems that behave in ways a human would consider negligent or intentionally harmful, without requiring proof of developer negligence. The bill excludes defamation claims and establishes a rebuttable presumption that AI systems meet the mental state required for certain torts if a human in similar circumstances would have acted that way. Developers can avoid liability by proving the AI met human standards of care or the harm resulted from a "capabilities failure" (where the AI underperformed but didn't act negligently).

Requires homeowner’s insurance providers to provide two months’ notice before increasing any policy more that 20%. Also caps rate increases for policy holders that are 65 years of age or older and meet certain income limits.