From the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce Coalition

​New Senate Leadership Emerges
 
Senator Teresa Paiva Weed stepped down as President of the Senate after agreeing to take the job as President of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island.  Rumors of the impending change surfaced Tuesday, followed by an announcement on Wednesday, and a leadership vote Thursday.   Paiva Weed served 24 years in the State Senate, representing the people of Newport; and she stated that she plans to resign her senate seat this week.  State law requires a special election to be held between 70-90 days following the day of her resignation. 
 
Dominick Ruggerio, D-North Providence, was elected the new President of the Senate while Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick, was elected Majority Leader of the Senate.  President Ruggerio, currently an administrator for the Laborers International Union, joined the Senate in 1985 and is the senior member of the Rhode Island Senate. Leader McCaffrey, first elected to the senate in 1994, works as an attorney and served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The elevation of Leader McCaffrey leaves a vacancy in the Judiciary Chairmanship, which should be filled early this week.
 
IMPORTANT  -- MARCH 30TH HEARING – TIME FOR ACTION
 
The House Labor Committee will be holding a hearing on four key issues to the business community:  mandatory paid sick/safety leave (H.5413), tipped wage (H.5315), overtime wage threshold (H.5596), and an increase in the minimum wage (H.5057 and H.5595).  The hearing will be held at the State House – in the House Lounge – At the Rise.  “At the Rise” means following the House floor session.  The hearing could start anywhere from 4:30 to 5:30.  If you can attend, please come by 4:00 as we expect many proponents of the bill to be in attendance.  If you would like to testify, please contact the Chamber so that that staff can assist in signing you up properly.  You can also attend without testifying in order to show support for the business community.  Finally, if you cannot attend the hearing, please contact your State Representative and express your concerns about these bills.
 
 
H.5413, An Act Relating to Labor Relations – Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act.            The bill requires every employer to provide employees with 1 hour of paid sick and safe leave time for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 56 hours a year.  If an employee is not an hourly employee, then it is assumed that the employee is working 40 hours a week in order to calculate sick/safe leave.  Leave begins to accrue on the first day of employment; and employees can start taking time off after 90 calendar days.

          Unused sick/safe time must be carried over to the following year, unless the employer choses to pay the employee for the unused time.  However, no employee can accrue more than the maximum 56 hours in any year.  Additionally, if the employee moves to another division of the company, or if the employee is seasonal and comes back to the employer within a year, the unused sick times carries over as does the accrual of time.  If a company is sold to another entity, that entity must honor the sick/safe time accrued.

          So what can the time be used for….1) an employee’s illness, preventive care appointments 2) care of a “family member” illness or preventative care appointment 3) closure of the employer’s business due to a public health emergency or caring for a child whose school or day care was closed for a public health emergency 4) time off needed when an employee or employee’s family member is a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking.

         The key is the definition of “family member.”  It applies to any child, step-child or foster child regardless of age; parent, step-parent or legal guardian; spouse or domestic partner; and “Any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.”

         Lastly, employees are required to give the employer notice of the leave if it was reasonably foreseeable; otherwise, an employer can ask for a doctor’s note or proof of domestic violence after the passage of 3 consecutive work days missed by the employee.  The doctor’s note cannot state the details of the reason for absence, and an employer may not ask.  In reality this means an employee could be absent from work for 3 days without giving the employer notice, and once that employee returns on day 4, the employer would have to keep the employee – No show, no call, no problem!

H.5315 – An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Minimum Wage – Gratuities,
          Raises the minimum wage for tipped workers by fifty cents ($.50) per year commencing on January 1, 2018 until the tipped minimum wage is not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the regular minimum wage
 
H.5596 – An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Overtime Wages, 
          Increases the wage threshold that requires employers to pay overtime pay for executive and administrative professionals from $200 per week salary to $1,036 per week beginning January 1, 2020. This means that employers would have to pay overtime to salaried employees making up to $53,872 per year instead of up to $10,400 per year.
 
H.5057 – An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Minimum Wage, 
          Increases the minimum wage to ten dollars and fifty cents ($10.50) commencing July 1, 2017.  H.5595, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Minimum Wage, increases the minimum wage to $11.00 commencing January 1, 2018, $12.00 commencing January 1, 2019, $13.00 commencing January 1, 2020, $14.00 commencing January 1, 2021, $15.00 commencing January 1, 2022, and then increased based on the cost of living.
 
 
Senate Labor Committee Hears Overtime Bill
 
Last week the Senate Labor Committee posted various bills for hearing with 48 hours’ notice.  S.505, An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations – Overtime Wages, was one of those bills.  The legislation is identical to H.5596 (see explanation above). The Chamber opposed the passage of S.505.  The bill was held for further study, meaning it remains alive through session. 

The following bills were filed:
 
House Bill No. 5964, AN ACT RELATING TO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES-RETAIL LICENSES (Permits retail Class A alcohol license holders, wholesalers, and suppliers to provide liquor, malt beverages, wine and other alcoholic beverages at tastings to be conducted on premises.)
 
House Bill No. 5979, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION - RHODE ISLAND SALES AND USE TAX REIMBURSEMENT ACT (Provides that in the event sales and use tax revenue exceeds projections, then in such event the tax administrator would reduce the sales tax rate by one percent (1%) until the end of the fiscal year.)
 
House Resolution No. 5996, JOINT RESOLUTION MAKING AN APPROPRIATION OF $500,000 TO THE COMMERCE CORPORATION TO PROMOTE BEER TOURISM AND THE CRAFT BEER INDUSTRY IN RHODE ISLAND (Authorizes the appropriation of the sum of $500,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018, and annually thereafter, to promote the growth and development of the craft brewing industry and beer tourism.)
 
House Bill No. 5997, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- PENALTIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS (Adopts a penalty of twelve percent (12%) per annum on administrative penalties that are in default.)

Rep. Regunberg (D-Providence) and Sen. Maryellen Goodwin have filed H.5413 and S.290, Acts Relating to Labor Relations – Healthy and Safe Families and Workplaces Act.  These bills are very similar to the mandatory sick time bill introduced last year and opposed by the business community.  The bills require every employer to provide employees with 1 hour of paid sick and safe leave time for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 56 hours a year.  If an employee is not an hourly employee, then it is assumed that the employee is working 40 hours a week in order to calculate sick/safe leave.  Leave begins to accrue on the first day of employment; and employees can start taking time off after 90 calendar days.

Unused sick/safe time must be carried over to the following year, unless the employer choses to pay the employee for the unused time.  However, no employee can accrue more than the maximum 56 hours in any year.  Additionally, if the employee moves to another division of the company, or if the employee is seasonal and comes back to the employer within a year, the unused sick times carries over as does the accrual of time.  If a company is sold to another entity, that entity must honor the sick/safe time accrued.

So what can the time be used for….1) an employee’s illness, preventive care appointments 2) care of a “family member” illness or preventative care appointment 3) closure of the employer’s business due to a public health emergency or caring for a child whose school or day care was closed for a public health emergency 4) time off needed when an employee or employee’s family member is a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking.

The key is the definition of “family member.”  It applies to any child, step-child or foster child regardless of age; parent, step-parent or legal guardian; spouse or domestic partner; and “Any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.”

Lastly, employees are required to give the employer notice of the leave if it was reasonably foreseeable; otherwise, an employer can ask for a doctor’s note or proof of domestic violence after the passage of 3 consecutive work days missed by the employee.  The doctor’s note cannot state the details of the reason for absence, and an employer may not ask.  In the business community this concept is referred to as no call, no show, no problem (at least for 3 days).

If you have concerns about this bill, the Chamber strongly urges you to contact your legislator and share those concerns!

By Stephanie Osborn
PR Team 

Debbi-Jo Horton has been an entrepreneur for over 40 years.  She is a CPA with an international tax practice, and most recently became an independent Nerium Senior Director.  Her passion for skincare began when she first learned about the Nerium skincare and wellness line from one of her tax clients. In 2012, a client asked her to do a 7 night trial of the night cream.  After 7 days Debbi-Jo found that her crow's feet were gone, and she's been hooked ever since. 

DJ started her Nerium business part-time in April of 2013.  By June of 2014 she had become a senior director and earned a car.  Today she has a team of 14 people.    Nerium allows DJ many benefits and opportunities.  One of the benefits of this business is that she gets to travel.  She has been to many places including most recently St Louis and Dallas. 

DJ loves helping other people look and feel better about themselves. Nerium has a targeted line of skincare products for anti-aging as well as dietary supplements for health, wellness and anti-aging.   One surprising fact about DJ's business is that 50% of brand partners are men and slightly over 50% of Nerium customers are men!

By Brian Barrett
PR Team member
​
Michelle Hughes is one of the most caring, unique, intelligent individuals I have had the pleasure to meet since relocating to the beautiful East Bay of Rhode Island. She has been an active member of the community for years and many of you probably already know her from her successful work as a Certified Public Accountant or because she is the Founder and an active member of the highly popular organization W.E.B.O.N.D. I’ve only known Michelle for a couple of months now and can’t speak highly enough of her character and personable professionalism. When speaking with Michelle you get a feeling that she genuinely cares about what you’re saying. 

As a member of the PR Committee I jumped at the opportunity to write this article about Michelle. We had lunch at a local restaurant and I had the privilege of learning more about what makes her so special. She is highly family oriented and glows when talking about her husband and sons. 

At one point in her life she was not exactly where she wanted to be and found an escape through education. While raising her first son she put herself through school and the rigorous testing to become a CPA. Although I can’t personally relate to raising a child or becoming a CPA, by all accounts they very difficult tasks to undertake. She successfully does both and so much more! 

She’s had multiple successful jobs on her career path and started her own accounting firm in April 2014. Her firm recently merged with RichardsTimko, P.C. where she is the Senior Tax Manager. The merge has allowed her to expand the area in which she helps small businesses, condominium associations, non-profits, and individuals with their tax/accounting needs.

She was dubbed The Gardening CPA because of her love of horticulture at the beauty she creates with nature. I saw her creative mind at work first hand when coming back from lunch that afternoon. We pulled into the parking lot of her office on Metacom Ave in Warren and there was construction debris hanging out of the dumpster. Where some people might have seen an old junk door, Michelle saw the opportunity to create something beautiful. I fished the old door out of the dumpster for her and placed it in her car so she could take it home and use it in one of her art projects. 

Michelle Hughes is an excellent choice for all of your business/personal accounting needs and an excellent resource for opportunities to become a more active and informed member of our community. 

The East Bay Chamber, its membership, and members of the community, celebrated Casa Margaritas' opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony, recently.
With its complete menu online, customers of this delicious Mexican Restaurant can order online for easy pick-up. 

The Mint Gallery was welcomed into the East Bay Chamber of Commerce membership, and to our community, with a ribbon cutting celebration recently. 
The Vision for The Mint Gallery was founded in a unique blend of visual artistry and artisan food experiences.

The East Bay Chamber of Commerce, along with members of our community, welcomed Dancing the Dream Productions to our Chamber membership, with a ribbon cutting celebration, recently.

DTD offers private lessons, group classes, wedding dance packages, dance support services, and dance events in both Latin and ballroom dance styles. There's something to interest all dancers but there is never a need for prior dance experience or a partner to join. Beginner classes start from the fundamental level, breaking down the steps in easy to understand terms. Then more experienced dancers can add technique and styling to their dancing.

​Congratulations to AT&T on their opening at 630 Metacom Avenue in Warren.
​AT&T is a telecommunications company providing cell phones, data plans, tablets & more!

​     The East Bay Chamber welcomed Neville Fine Art & Framing in Warren to the community with a ribbon cutting recently. 
     Neville Fine Art & Framing offers an ever-changing exhibit of contemporary New England art. Their exhibit includes original watercolors, oils, acrylics, pastels, etchings, mono-types, photography, jewelry, and limited edition prints by some of RI's finest artists. 
     Neville Fine Art & Framings custom frame shop offers the finest quality design and materials and a personalized touch.