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5/19/2025
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MEDIA ADVISORY: House Finance Committee to meet three times this week to consider and hear legislation
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STATE HOUSE – The House Finance Committee will be meeting three times this week to consider and hear testimony on a variety of legislation.
On Tuesday, May 20, at the RISE of the House (approximately 5 p.m.) in Room 35 of the State House the committee will consider several local bond bills. The committee will also hear testimony on various pieces of legislation.
Among the legislation scheduled to be heard are the following bills:
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2025-H 5759, sponsored by Rep. Anthony J. DeSimone (D-Dist. 5, Providence), allows a deduction from federal adjusted gross income for interest payments on outstanding student loans.
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2025-H 5984, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown), establishes the Medical Primary Care Scholarship Program to be administered by the commissioner of postsecondary education.
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2025-H 5989, sponsored by Rep. Matthew S. Dawson (D-Dist. 65, East Providence), provides for a 2.3% increase of provider reimbursement rates for intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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2025-H 5996, sponsored by Rep. June S. Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol), creates the Rhode Island Individual Market Affordability Act of 2024 to help reduce out-of-pocket costs for low- and moderate-income consumers enrolled in the health insurance coverage through the Rhode Island health benefits exchange.
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2025-H 6325, sponsored by Rep. Terri Cortvriend (D-Dist. 72, Portsmouth, Middletown), establishes a new high-cost special education fund to pool resources and generate income to support excess costs associated with providing service to special education students.
On Wednesday, May 21, at 4 p.m. in Room 35 of the State House, the committee will hear testimony on a variety of legislation.
Among the bills scheduled to be heard are the following pieces of legislation:
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2025-H 5405, sponsored by Rep. David Morales (D-Dist. 7, Providence), establishes a restricted receipt account for the benefit of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, funded by sales taxes collected from ride-share companies, which said sales taxes would be exempt from indirect cost recovery provisions.
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2025-H 5468, sponsored by Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett), adjusts the motor fuel tax for inflation every two years based on the inflation that has occurred in the previous two years.
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2025-H 5475, sponsored by Rep. Arthur Handy (D-Dist. 18, Cranston), exempts new or used bicycles from sales and use tax.
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2025-H 5776, sponsored by Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick), directs the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority to design a safety barrier or netting system on the several bridges within its authority. Any newly constructed bridges with a deck height of over 100 feet would be required to have safety barriers of safety netting.
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2025-H 6290, sponsored by Rep. Brandon Potter (D-Dist. 16, Cranston), imposes a wealth tax on Rhode Island individuals and entities at a rate of one percent of worldwide wealth.
On Thursday, May 22, at the RISE of the House (approximately 5 p.m.) in Room 35 of the State House, the committee will hear testimony on several bills.
Among the bills scheduled to be heard are the following pieces of legislation:
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2025-H 5281, sponsored by Rep. Grace Diaz (D-Dist. 11, Providence), creates the Rhode Island Childcare Assistance Program that governs both family eligibility for the state's childcare subsidy program and expands eligibility for the program to meet the federal eligibility benchmark.
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2025-H 5995, sponsored by Representative Morales, provides a $3,000 stipend to a qualified applicant who successfully completes the job training program of the Department of Human Services or Department of Children, Youth and Families.
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2025-H 6044, sponsored by Rep. Mary Duffy Messier (D-Dist. 62, Pawtucket), requires any remaining funds in the enacted budget from the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship program or the Rhode Island Hope Scholarship program to be reimbursed to the Onward We Learn for any scholarships paid on behalf of Rhode Island College students.
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2025-H 6128, sponsored by Rep. Mary Ann Shallcross Smith (D-Dist. 46, Lincoln, Pawtucket), establishes a core state behavioral health crisis services system, to be administered by the director of the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals.
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2025-H 5528, sponsored by Rep. Deborah A. Fellela (D-Dist. 43, Johnston), requires the school district of a child in the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families to pay all the educational costs of the child if the child is placed in another school district.
The meetings will be televised by Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox channel 61, on i3Broadband channel 15 and on Verizon channel 34. It will be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.
For more information, contact:
Larry Berman, Communications Director for the Office of the Speaker
State House Room 322
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2466
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