East Providence's Assembly delegation remains active early in 2023 session

Boylan, Lawson, Kazarian submit bills aiming to assist local constituencies

Posted 3/29/23

PROVIDENCE — Members of the East Providence delegation in the General Assembly continued to be active in recent weeks, including freshman State Representative Jennifer Boylan.

Boylan …

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East Providence's Assembly delegation remains active early in 2023 session

Boylan, Lawson, Kazarian submit bills aiming to assist local constituencies

Posted

PROVIDENCE — Members of the East Providence delegation in the General Assembly continued to be active in recent weeks, including freshman State Representative Jennifer Boylan.

Boylan (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence) has introduced a bill that would require most new construction in the state to include solar panels as part of the initial construction. Homes constructed with solar panels can save homeowners money on their monthly bills, even if the additional labor and equipment costs are factored into their mortgage.

But contractors and developers often do not often consider future savings on electric bills when constructing new homes. Additionally, many architects and contractors don’t factor in solar when they design and build. This sometimes leads to decisions, such as placing HVAC equipment or chimneys on south-facing roofs, that prevents future owners from going solar as efficiently. Boylan’s bill (2023-H 5851) would require most new construction to include solar panels.

It would instruct the Rhode Island Building Code Commission to create different regulations for single-family dwellings, multi-family dwellings, large commercial buildings and parking lots over 16,000 sq. ft.

Developers could apply for an exemption if they can demonstrate solar would be impractical, if they provide alternative forms of renewable energy generation or if they are constructing affordable housing and don’t have sufficient funding. California passed a solar requirement for new home construction in 2018, and other states, including neighboring Massachusetts, are considering similar bills.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, builders are eligible for a 30% tax rebate from the federal government to help pay for solar installation. Advocates say requiring solar on new construction will help create jobs, add resiliency to the electrical grid and prevent forests from being cut down to make room for solar.

Legislative grants

Boylan and the Democratic Party District Committee 66 want to make sure local Barrington and Riverside organizations are aware of state legislative grant opportunities. Legislative grants have existed in Rhode Island for many years. In District 66, Boylan intends that the legislative grants support the work of non-partisan, non-profit organizations providing benefit to the community.

In an effort to bring transparency and fairness to the process. Boylan has given her District Committee the responsibility of gathering and evaluating grant requests, and making recommendations to her.

All who wish to be considered on behalf of an organization for one of this year’s legislative grants should send a brief (one- or two-page) letter that includes: Your name, Organization, Contact information, Organization’s mission, How the grant would help and/or be used. All requests should be sent to the District Committee for R.I. House 66 at DistCommHouse66@gmail.com by April 28.

Lawson's submits Medicare bill

Sen. Valarie Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence) has introduced legislation to protect seniors from being denied supplemental Medicare coverage or charged higher rates based on pre-existing conditions. Most individuals over 65 years old are eligible to enroll in Medicare, a health insurance plan from the federal government.

Medicare has four parts, A, B, C and D. Medicare Part A covers hospitalizations and some other inpatient services. Medicare Part B covers doctors’ visits and some other outpatient services. Both are administered directly by the federal government and include costs such as deductibles, copays and coinsurance.

Medicare supplement plans, also known as Medigap, is sold by private companies to cover costs that Medicare Parts A and B do not cover such as copays, coinsurance and deductibles. Seniors who wish to enroll in Medigap coverage must do so during an initial open enrollment period (when they first become eligible for Medicare) or after a qualifying life event such as a move or loss of a job.

Seniors wishing to make changes later on may be subject to a complex underwriting process including health screenings and blood work. Seniors can be denied due to pre-existing conditions.

The bill (2023-S 0583) would prohibit insurers from subjecting seniors to this underwriting process, denying them coverage or charging higher rates due to pre-existing conditions. Other states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, have similar legislation.

House passes Kazarian's truck legislation

The House of Representatives passed Majority Whip Katherine S. Kazarian’s (D-Dist. 63, East Providence, Pawtucket) bill (2023-H 5206) that would ban heavy commercial trucks from traveling on Pleasant Street in Rumford.

The act would prohibit commercial motor trucks, with a gross weight rating of 26,001 lbs. or more, from traveling on Pleasant Street / Route 114A in East Providence from between Pawtucket Avenue and the Massachusetts state line. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Kazarian's proposes social worker bill

Kazarian and Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman V. Susan Sosnowski have introduced a bill that would bring more highly needed social workers into our schools.

The legislation (2023-H 5396, 2023-S 0258) would require all public schools, throughout grades K-12, to have at least one full-time certified school social worker for every 250 students.

The bill would also direct the General Assembly to appropriate $2 million in the FY 2024 state budget to be used by the various school districts and municipalities to employ additional school social workers.

Whip Kazarian’s bill has been referred to the House Finance Committee and Chairwoman Sosnowski’s bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Lawson, Kazarian introduce wineries bill

In 2018, winemakers James Davids and Marissa Stashenko left the wine mecca of California in search of a more fulfilling lifestyle. Their journey brought them to Rhode Island where they opened a winery in Rumford to partner with family farms to produce small batches of artisan wine.

But unlike breweries and distilleries, which source their ingredients from around the world, wineries in Rhode Island are not allowed to sell their product on site unless the fruit was grown in Rhode Island. Some of the grapes used at Anchor and Hope winery in Rumford are grown in Rhode Island, but some are from out of state.

As a result, the winemakers cannot sell their product onsite. Lawson and Kazarian hope to change that with a bill (2023 S-0039, 2023 H-5232) that would allow wineries to sell up to three five-ounce glasses and three 750-ml bottles per customer per day on site.

To Davids and Stashenko, the legislation would be a great way to grow their business and become more integrated in the East Providence community.

“We’re grateful to Senator Lawson and Representative Kazarian for introducing this legislation, which would enable us to hire more people and grow our business,” Stashenko said. “We’re just asking to be treated the same as the breweries and distilleries. How great would it be for our community if our neighbors could have a glass of wine with friends right here at their local winery?”

— The preceeding  notes on the East Providence delegation in the Rhode Island General Assembly were compiled by The East Providence Post's staff with contributions from the Legislative Press and Public Information Bureau.

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