Agenda growing for this week's R.I. Assembly session
1:25 PM Mon, Oct 26, 2009 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- With the first committee hearings just a day away, the agenda is growing by the hour for this week's two-day General Assembly session. On Friday evening, R.I. legislative leaders posted a series of high-profile bills scheduled to be heard Tuesday afternoon before the House Judiciary Committee, including a compromise bill that would close a loophole in state law that makes indoor prostitution legal. All the bills posted for hearing are ultimately expected to pass both chambers of Assembly by the end of the week on their way to becoming law, according to Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker William J. Murphy. The list grew substantially Monday. A series of committee agendas outlining dozens more proposals have been posted on the the calendar section of legislature's Web site, including legislation that would: - outlaw text messaging while driving There was also a noticable ommission. The House Labor Committee agenda did not include a controversial bill allowing binding arbitration for teachers' contracts. That doesn't mean the issue is "dead," said House spokesman Berman, who warned that committee agendas are subject to change. But the omission may reflect vocal opposition -- including that of Labor Committee Chairman Arthur J. Corvese, D-North Providence -- to the labor-backed measure. Other key bills scheduled for hearing include new laws to: - allow voters to decide whether to remove the word "plantations" from Rhode Island's official state name Committee hearings are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, while the full House and Senate are scheduled to convene Wednesday and Thursday. The floor calendars have not yet been posted, but whatever is ultimately posted Monday will change substantially before the end of the week. Assembly leaders have "suspended the rules," which normally require 48-hour notice of all committee and floor action. That means committee hearings can be held with a few minutes notice in unusual places, such as State House balconies and hallways, just as has happened in the final days of recent Assembly sessions. "We're trying to abide by the rules as much as possible, but we may need some leeway," Berman said. The floor calendars, too, change substantially as bills passed by committee are immediately moved to the House or Senate calendars for immediate passage. 
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Mr. Berman, the bill allowing binding arbitration for teachers' contracts had better be dead. We are watching!!!
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And, Are they also, first, going to discuss the deplorable conduct of the two, so-called, leaders of the Senate.... Senator Daniel Connors and "What's Her Name" and ask for their resignations?
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...Really - let's suspend the rules for committee hearings and floor calendars just as is done at the end or REGULAR legislative sessions. That way people's business can be railroaded through at a moment's notice, preventing proper input from all parties.
Promoted as "expediency", the entire porcess is given short shrift so that private legislative agendas can be pushed through.
Our state legislature is a farce and a joke.
Bill are passed "en masse" at the end of the session, or in "special" situations such as this.
It's irresponsible.
Then the citizens are told after all the dust settles what a good and fair job their representative did.... well, save for the fact that they often don't have a CLUE what they just passed.
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"strip the governor of his power to appoint replacements to fill Congressional vacancies" Are we going to be like Mass where they change the law on a whim depending on the Governor's Party affiliation? Senators Jabour, C Levesque, DeVall, Crowley, and Cote we are watching you. Stop manipulating the system to suit your party needs.
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How can this (see below) possibly be legal or constitutional? Where is the ACLU? Ridiculous.
"Assembly leaders have "suspended the rules," which normally require 48-hour notice of all committee and floor action. That means committee hearings can be held with a few minutes notice in unusual places, such as State House balconies and hallways, just as has happened in the final days of recent Assembly sessions."
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We will be watching these sessions. If any legislators try to pull a fast one, they will not be re-elected - we will do all in our power to defeat each and everyone of them. It is time for our legislators to do the work of the electorate and not just of the special interests.
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This is what our General Assembly is going to focus on, changing the state name? prostitution, text messaging, saltwater fishing lic????
HEY, MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NEWS FLASH!!!!!
The state is going BANKRUPT, TAXES ARE OUT OF CONTROL, UNEMPLOYMENT IS OUTRAGEOUS, BUSINESS, THE WEALTHY, OUR COLLEGE GRADUATES ARE LEAVING THE STATE....CAN YOU READ????
Please someone, tell me why we need these idiots at all.
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Full agenda? I'm not worried. I'm sure the General Assembly will act in the best interests of the citizens of Rhode Island. (Wait for it ...) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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TELEVISE these entire sessions...and citizens take
note.
We'll watch those personal agendas unfold as the economic issues are ignored.
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