Bill Introduced By: Sen

Image: https://rilegislature.gov////pressrelease/Pictures/_w/Shanley-Edwards-Burke_jpg.jpg

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Published Date: 7/8/2026 3:23 PM

Senator/Representatives: Rep. Evan P. Shanley; Rep. John Edwards; Sen. John P. Burke;

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Status: Approved

Description: STATE HOUSE — Representatives John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton), Evan P. Shanley (D-Dist. 24, Warwick, East Greenwich) and Sen. John P. Burke (D-Dist. 9​​, West Warwick) joined dozens of laborers from Rhode Island unions as Gov. Dan McKee held a ceremonial bill signing for two construction-related bills at the site of the future Pawtucket High School, the location of the former McCoy Stadium.
 
Bills (2026-H 7972A, 2026-S 2735Aaa) sponsored by Representative Shanley and Senator Burke, put in place many best practices for Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for large-scale projects, including promoting apprenticeships, preventing work stoppages, and supporting labor harmony. 
 
“Project labor agreements go a long way toward promoting the reliable supply of skilled and qualified labor,” said Representative Shanley. “We’ve seen that projects constructed under these agreements in Rhode Island are well-constructed, built safely, on time, and on budget. They tend to attract experienced, reliable contractors who bring a level of professionalism and responsibility to the jobs.”
 
Bills (2026-H 7674A, 2026-S 2822A) sponsored by Representative Edwards and Senator Burke, are designed to promote public-private partnerships (P3) in Rhode Island to make the rules for entering into these kinds of agreements clear for everyone involved.
 
“Establishing clear regulations for public-private partnerships will create an environment for building investment in Rhode Island while at the same time encouraging strong labor standards that ensure a level of professionalism, experience and responsibility,” said Representative Edwards. “These partnerships have been shown to provide states with the ability to deliver complex infrastructure projects in a timely manner.”
 
“Supporting Rhode Island workers is an absolute top priority for me, and I was proud to sponsor the legislation being celebrated today. These measures will ensure our state is more fully utilizing the quality and expertise provided by union labor, enable creative solutions for our state’s infrastructure needs, open up new career pathways, and support working families. I am grateful to everyone whose support and hard work helped pass these bills into law,” said Senator Burke.
 
Construction continues to make strong progress on the new Pawtucket High School, with site work, foundations, and concrete operations advancing on the approximately 370,000-square-foot campus. Under the McKee Administration, more than $4 billion in school construction projects have been launched to create 21st-century learning environments across the state.  

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Published Date: 6/18/2026 4:16 PM

Senator/Representatives: Rep. Brian Kennedy; Sen. Valarie J. Lawson;

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Status: Approved

Description: STATE HOUSE — Gov. Dan McKee has signed legislation introduced by House Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy and Senate President Valarie J. Lawson that criminalizes deed theft — an increasingly common practice that bold scammers use to actually steal homes and real estate. 

Deed theft typically involves forged documents, such as a quit claim deed, to record a phony transfer of property ownership. Scammers will then seek to sell either the stolen vacant land or home or even rent it to turn a profit, forcing the real owners to head to court to reclaim their property.

“These scams, which often prey upon older homeowners, are becoming increasingly more common,” said Speaker Pro Tempore Kennedy (D-Dist. 38, Hopkinton, Westerly). “It’s a particular risk to those who own unoccupied property and it can be a mess to untangle, with complicated and lengthy court hearings. This legislation would create a process to validate a person’s identity when he or she files a title deed and other real estate and personal property records.”

While still rare, it has become enough of a problem that the FBI has warned New Englanders of a “steady uptick” in the fraud, and AARP has listed it as one of its legislative priorities, since the scam tends to target older property owners.

The law (2026-H 7551aa, 2026-S 2715A) establishes the criminal offense of real estate title fraud and create penalties for violations. Additionally, it would allow municipalities to refuse to record “suspicious documents” from persons who are not trusted submitters.
 
“This bill takes the necessary and important steps to protect Rhode Island homeowners and municipalities from the growing threat of real estate title fraud,” said President Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence). “This type of fraud has become more common on the national level, and the victims are often unaware that deeds, liens or mortgages have been filed in their names. This bill provides multiple levels of protection to better safeguard what for most Rhode Islanders is our valuable asset: our homes.”

There are typically two variations of the scam. In the first, scammers will forge a deed that transfers ownership of a property to them. They file the deed with a city or town clerk, who records the sale. Then the property is quickly sold to an unsuspecting purchaser.

In the second type, crooks convince homeowners to sign a deed to transfer ownership by promising help refinancing a mortgage or paying overdue property taxes.

“This is a crime that often has two victims,” explained Representative Kennedy. “Not only does it target homeowners, but it victimizes those who are duped into buying the property, thinking the transfer was legitimate. There was a case in Fairfield, Connecticut, where a parcel of land was bought from a man who claimed to be the owner. They started work on a 4,000-square-foot home they planned to sell. The real property owner was a Long Island doctor who only found out about the fraud when he was told that someone was building a house on his land. That case is tied up in court, and many victims can’t afford the money that comes along with a civil lawsuit.”

Deed theft has become more rampant recently. In April, newly inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani established the city’s first Office of Deed Theft Prevention. Over the last decade, thousands of deed theft complaints have been filed across New York City, with the highest concentration in Brooklyn and Queens. Black homeowners and neighborhoods have been disproportionately targeted, deepening racial wealth gaps and destabilizing communities.

The law gives municipal officials the power to temporarily delay a suspicious document, report a suspicious document to any appropriate law enforcement agency, or notify a notary public to acknowledge or verify a suspicious document.

Each municipality will have until Jan. 1, 2028, to establish a property alert notification system that allows a person to enroll real property owned by the person in the system. Any person violating the provisions of the act would be guilty of a felony and be subject to imprisonment for not more than 10 years, and a fine of not more than $50,000 or both for a first offense.

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Publicist: Tristan Grau

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Published Date: 6/3/2026 3:11 PM

Senator/Representatives: Sen. Valarie J. Lawson;

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Status: Approved

Description: STATE HOUSE — The Senate today voted to approve a resolution from Senate President Valarie J. Lawson to fund a program that provides Rhode Island Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients with additional benefits when they buy fruits and vegetables.

“Food insecurity is a critical issue in the United States and in Rhode Island, where hundreds of thousands of our residents don’t always have enough to eat or know where their next meal is coming from,” said President Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence). “It is imperative that we do our part to address this issue and provide nutritious foods for our most vulnerable populations and the Eat Well, Be Well program does just that. By expanding the purchasing power of SNAP recipients when they purchase healthy foods, this program provides an essential boost to families’ grocery budgets at a time where federal cuts threaten to make food insecurity even more common. I want to thank my Senate colleagues, especially Senator Jonathon Acosta, for supporting this program and my colleagues in the House, especially Speaker Blazejewski, for including funding for Eat Well, Be Well in the budget approved by the House Finance Committee last week. I also want to thank all the advocates who have been involved with this program from the beginning, including the Nourish Rhode Island Coalition led by Dr. Amy Nunn, and the Department of Human Services for so ably administering this program since its inception.”

The SNAP Eat Well, Be Well Rewards Program was created by legislation sponsored by President Lawson in 2022 and launched as a pilot program in 2024. The first statewide program of its kind in the country, it provides SNAP recipients with up to $25 a month in additional benefits for purchasing eligible fruits and vegetables. With the initial funding for the pilot running out at the end of June, President Lawson and her Senate colleagues pushed to keep the program running with this resolution (2026-S 3312).

The proposed House budget (2026-H 7127A), which was approved by the House Finance Committee May 29, added $4.1 million in funding to the Department of Human Services to continue the program.

“We thank Senate President Lawson for being an incredible champion for this highly effective initiative, and House Speaker Blazejewski for his commitment to investing in proven safety net programs that help Rhode Islanders in need. At a time when the cost of healthy food continues to increase and federally funded food assistance programs remain under threat, it is critical for Rhode Island to be proactive when it comes to ensuring all Rhode Islanders can put healthy food on their tables. This proposed measure meets the moment,” said Amy Nunn, CEO of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute.

Research by the Rhode Island Public Health Institute showed that since the program launched, it has delivered $10 million in additional SNAP benefits to over 140,000 Rhode Islanders. 70% of users reported it helped them eat more fruits and vegetables, and 61% said it helped them save money in their monthly budgets, allowing them to spend more on groceries.

The most recent report on hunger from the Rhode Island Food bank found that 34% of households are food insecure, an increase of 8.8 percentage points since 2020.

Under the program, SNAP customers receive an additional 50 cents in benefits to their EBT card for every SNAP dollar spent on eligible fresh fruit and vegetable purchases. These reward incentives are applied to customers’ Electronic Benefit Transfer cards immediately after the purchase is complete and can subsequently be used to purchase any SNAP eligible item. SNAP recipients will receive this incentive automatically at the cash register after purchasing eligible fruits and vegetables.

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Publicist: Meredyth R. Whitty

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Published Date: 7/7/2026 2:33 PM

Senator/Representatives: Rep. Michelle E. McGaw; Sen. Tiara T. Mack;

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Status: Approved

Description: STATE HOUSE – A new law sponsored by Rep. Michelle McGaw and Sen. Tiara T. Mack will encourage and sustain small and urban farms in Rhode Island by allowing them tax relief similar to what is provided to larger agricultural operations in the state.

The legislation (2026-H 7242, 2026-S 2827) exempts farms under five acres or within urban areas and their owner/operators from state sales taxes, real, tangible and personal property taxes and income taxes. The bill will help level the playing field for farms that are too small to qualify for the state’s farm, forest and open space tax incentives, which were enacted over three decades ago.

“Urban and small farms provide a multitude of benefits to our state, making fresh, healthy food available in people’s own neighborhoods, creating green spaces in places that need them and playing a key role in diversifying and strengthening our food supply chain. They are models of know-how and efficiency, because they survive by maximizing productivity in limited space and usually with minimal resources. They deserve the same tax benefits as other farms, particularly since they primarily serve hyperlocal needs,” said Representative McGaw (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton).

Said Senator Mack (D-Dist. 6, Providence), “With this new law, we are adapting to the way farming is evolving in Rhode Island. Our state has some of the most expensive land in the nation to farm. We may not have a lot of industrial-size farms, but fortunately, there’s a growing community of very dedicated small-scale farmers who love what they do, who work hard to make it economically feasible, and who are providing healthy local food and so much more. Urban farmland and farmers are a critical part of our state’s food system, especially as families see grocery store prices rise. In communities like Providence, urban farmers grow culturally relevant foods, sustaining cultural connections from many continents and creating fresh food in food deserts. They are fostering connection – among neighbors who visit and buy their products and between those neighbors and the earth that sustains us. Supporting small and urban farms is supporting those valuable connections and cultivating a better quality of life in our neighborhoods.”

Rhode Island is home to about 80 urban farms, as well as about 120 farms that are smaller than five acres.

The law includes provisions to ensure the tax breaks are available only to farms that are actively being used for agricultural or horticultural purposes.

The legislation, which was approved by the General Assembly June 11 and signed into law June 19, was supported by the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, the Environment Council of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Land Trust Council, Conservation Law Foundation, the Northern Rhode Island Conservation District, Eat Drink RI, Zero Waste Providence and numerous representatives of small farms.
 

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Published Date: 7/1/2026 4:40 PM

Senator/Representatives: Sen. Melissa A. Murray; Rep. Stephen Casey; Sen. Brian J. Thompson;

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Status: Approved

Description: STATE HOUSE – Woonsocket Senators Melissa Murray and Brian J. Thompson and Rep. Stephen M. Casey joined Gov. Daniel J. McKee in Woonsocket today for a ceremonial signing of their bill to ban deed restrictions prohibiting grocery stores.

The bill (2026-S 2644, 2026-H 8106) bans a practice that large retailers employ to stifle competitors, sometimes resulting in the creation of food deserts where fresh food is not easily accessible.

Joining the sponsors and the governor for the signing were Rep. Robert D. Phillips (D-Dist. 51, Woonsocket, Cumberland), Woonsocket Mayor Chris Beauchamp and Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, who pushed for the bill as part of her Fair Price Grocery Agenda. The event also included Erin Spaulding, executive director of Connecting for Children and Families, and Alberto Duran, owner of Save-a-Lot Supermarket. 

Frequently when a grocery chain closes a location and sells the property, the deed includes a covenant restricting the property’s use as a location for another grocery store, often for 30 years or longer, to prevent a competitor from opening a store there. In some cases, the owners or affiliates of supermarket chains have even purchased properties and added restrictive covenants without ever building a market at the location.

“When a big supermarket closes and prevents any other fresh food retailer from opening on the property, it can leave the neighborhood without a grocery market for miles, deliberately creating a ‘food desert.’ For the many people struggling to get by, especially those without adequate transportation, that means more of their food is coming from convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. It’s going to be less healthy and more expensive. Grocery stores are a vital public health need. Our state should not allow anyone to impose such a restriction on any property,” said Senator Murray (D-Dist. 24, Woonsocket, North Smithfield, who serves as chairwoman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill signing was held at the Woonsocket Education Center because Woonsocket has been significantly affected by the practice. The city used to have several grocery stores but now has only one, located on its border with Massachusetts, away from most residential neighborhoods. City officials have been working for years to address the situation, but have been hampered by restrictive covenants that have been placed on several of the appropriate available lots.

“Major grocery store chains use these restrictive covenants when they relocate to prevent competition springing up in their old location or neighborhood. This has happened twice in Woonsocket, leaving us with a single grocery store for the entire city,” said Representative Casey (D-Dist. 50, Woonsocket), who is chairman of the House Municipal Government and Housing Committee. “While this practice might be good for the bottom line of these multimillion-dollar companies, it leaves many residents — especially those with limited mobility or access to reliable transportation — without convenient access to the essential neighborhood resource that is a grocery store. Ending this practice will be a great benefit to Woonsocket and all the communities across Rhode Island that are suffering from the same situation.”

Said Senator Thompson (D-Dist. 20, Woonsocket, Cumberland), “Restrictive covenants are a corporate ‘scorched earth’ policy that harms communities. It’s a problem that very disproportionately affects people at the bottom of the income scale, who already face food insecurity and don’t have the resources to go somewhere else for healthy, affordable food. Grocery stores are a desperately needed resource in so many neighborhoods today, so we must not allow anyone to prohibit future development of grocery store on land they no longer own.”

"For too long, restrictive covenants have blocked grocery stores from opening in communities that need them. This law changes that, helping prevent food deserts, strengthen local businesses, and expand access to fresh, healthy food,” said Governor McKee. “I was proud to sign this bill into law, and I want to thank Lt. Governor Matos, Senator Murray, and Representative Casey for their leadership.”

 

IN PHOTO: Rep. Robert D. Phillips, Sen. Brian J. Thompson and Sen. Melissa Murray with the signed bill.

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NewsYear: 2026

Bill Introduced By: Rep

Image: https://rilegislature.gov//pressrelease/Pictures/_w/tanzi-dipalma-reed-roger-wheeler-beach-web_jpg.jpg

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Published Date: 7/1/2026 10:10 AM

Senator/Representatives: Sen. Louis DiPalma; Rep. Teresa Tanzi;

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Status: Approved

Description: STATE HOUSE – Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi, Governor Dan McKee, Senator Jack Reed, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Director Terry Gray and Narragansett Town Manager James Tierney celebrated the new bulkhead and boardwalk at Roger Wheeler State Beach.

The project includes an additional 1,200 feet of new boardwalk, along with guardrails, shade structures, sidewalks, foot-washing stations, concrete benches, and ADA-compliant access ramps. These improvements are supported by a new concrete retaining wall extending from both sides of the existing beach pavilion, strengthening the resilience of the beach facility’s infrastructure to the increasing impacts of climate change. The project also included relocating a section of the Town of Narragansett’s existing water main that crossed the site.

The over $11.1M project was primarily funded by $3.1M in federal funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the RI voter-approved 2021 Beach, Clean Water and Green Economy Bond.

"As Chairman of the Senate’s Finance Committee, I am focused on utilizing public resources wisely, and that includes making smart investments in our state’s present and future needs,” said Senator Louis P. DiPalma (D-Dist. 12, Middletown, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton). “I have been especially proud to support the Green Bond because I believe strongly in the importance of protecting our natural resources, enhancing our public spaces, and building a more sustainable, resilient future. The project we are celebrating here today demonstrates our commitment to those goals, and to ensuring Roger Wheeler continues to thrive as a destination for Rhode Islanders.”

“Roger Wheeler was already one of New England’s best beaches for families, and with the completion of this project it is better than ever,” said Representative Teresa Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett). “The improvements to the boardwalk will make this beach more accessible and welcoming to a wider number of visitors, and with the proactive emphasis on coastal resiliency in this project, we can all look forward to years of happy summer beach days.”

“These upgrades will provide a more modern and family-friendly experience at the ever-popular Roger Wheeler State Beach,” said Governor Dan McKee. “The completion of this project is a win for both accessibility and climate resilience.”

“Many Rhode Islanders had their first swim in the ocean at Sand Hill Cove,” said Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee. “It’s a special place. That is why I worked at the federal level to make federal funding available for these family-friendly upgrades and amenities so future generations can enjoy coming here, splashing around, playing in the sand and making memories together.”

“We are really excited about the new boardwalks at Roger Wheeler State Beach. Wheeler is one of Rhode Island’s most popular family beaches, offering safe swimming, educational opportunities, and a welcoming space for beachgoers,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “This project was supported in part by the 2021 Green Bond, highlighting how important these bond funds are for improving our amazing state parks and beaches. We are committed to modernizing our public facilities across Rhode Island and investments like this create a much more enjoyable day at the beach, strengthen Rhode Island’s resilience, and help keep treasured spaces safe and accessible for years to come.”

“The Town is excited about this robust investment into this beautiful family friendly beach, and we thank our State and Federal partners for their generous support of this project,” said Narragansett Town Manager James Tierney. “Additionally, we thank RI DEM for their continuing partnership as we work together to improve all public facilities and draw people from all over to enjoy Rhode Island’s and Narragansett’s beautiful coastline.”

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter/X (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Sign up here to receive the latest press releases, news, and events from DEM's Public Affairs Office to your inbox.

Photo - From the left: U.S. Senator Jack Reed, Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi and Sen. Louis P. DiPalma at Roger Wheeler State Beach

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