Under the Dome: Advocacy in Action

Advocacy in Action May 27, 2025
Price Transparency Last Thursday, the House Corporations Committee voted favorably for H 5247 SUB A, which narrowly tailored the “junk fee” legislation to be consistent with the Federal Trade Commission rule that took effect May 12, 20205, and which specifies that it is an unfair and deceptive practice for businesses to offer, display, or advertise any price of live-event tickets or short-term lodging without clearly, conspicuously and prominently disclosing the total price. The original bill was broad sweeping across all industries and would have been extraordinarily difficult to implement. The Sub A resolves the concerns expressed by the Chamber. It has not yet been scheduled for action on the House Floor. The SubA can be viewed at: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/Proposed25/H5247A.pdf

House Budget Update
Last Wednesday, House Fiscal Advisor Sharon Reynolds Ferland provided a briefing on the budget status. It provides an overview of the May Revenue and Caseload Conference, updates information on pending issues and budget initiatives, and provides context for the Governor’s FY26 and revised FY25 budgets. The slide deck from the presentation is available at: https://www.rilegislature.gov/housefiscalreport/2020/Budget%20Status-%20May%2014%20Briefing.pdf

Tuesday, May 27th
Tax Credit Reforms
The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to consider two bills impacting tax credit programs at 3pm in room 211. S1002 would amend the Rebuild Rhode Island tax credit program to allow for sales and use tax exemptions for qualified development projects related to affordable and workforce housing in addition to the maximum program credit for which a project is eligible. S 940 would amend the historic tax credit program to increase the maximum project credit and raise the direct hard cost threshold for prevailing wage requirements from $10 million to $20 million.
Identity Theft Revisions
The House Judiciary Committee will meet at the Rise (approximately 5pm) in the House Lounge to hear testimony on bills including H 6346, which would change “personal information” to “personally identifiable” information, and require businesses to implement controls and procedures to restrict and manage access to the data “in transit and at rest.” Companies that disclose data to third parties must now have a written contract stating the third party will maintain reasonable security measures. It also adds subcontractors of the third party as well. Lastly, the bill increases the penalties for reckless violations of the Act from $100 per record to $1000 per record; and for knowing and willful violations, the penalty increases from $200 per record to $2000 per record. It also gives the courts the ability to impose additional penalties as it deems warranted under the circumstances. Companion legislation, S 1037 was held for further study by the Senate Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies Committee on May 12th. To submit testimony on H 6346, email it to [email protected].
New Employment Tax
The Senate Committee on Health & Human Services will meet at the Rise to consider S 50, which would place a $1.50 per employee tax on businesses in order to finically fund a new state program entitled the “Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund.” This fund is meant to financially aid families of children with serious illnesses. According to the Department of Labor and Training’s February 2025 data, there are 515,000 nonfarm employees in Rhode Island which includes 66,400 government employees. Presumably, this tax would raise over $670,000 for the fund. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0050.pdf

Wednesday, May 28th
The Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming will meet at 4pm in room 212 to hear legislation, S 1058, which would require employers to provide each employee of a warehouse distribution center, upon hire, with written description of quotas and tasks applicable to the employee within defined time periods and adverse employment action for failure to meet the quota. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S1058.pdf To submit testimony on S 1058, email it to [email protected].

Thursday, May 29th
Taxes on Income and Wealth
The Senate Finance Committee is meeting at the Rise (approximately 5pm) in room 211, including two proposals increasing taxes on higher income earners and on world-wide assets.
S 329 would create an additional tax rate of 3% on taxable income over $625,000 beginning in 2026, impacting the top 1% of personal income tax filers. Companion legislation, H 5473, was held for further study by the House Finance Committee on May 6th. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText25/SenateText25/S0329.pdf To submit testimony on S 329, email it to [email protected].
S 779 would impose a wealth tax of 1% on Rhode Island individuals and business entities beginning in 2026. "Worldwide wealth" is defined as “the fair market value of all intangible assets, or portion thereof, owned or controlled by a resident.” The first $25 million of assets is exempt from taxation. The legislation includes a tax penalty of 50% of the underpayment if the taxpayer substantially underestimates the tax, and a 30% penalty in all other cases. This 1% worldwide wealth tax appears to be a tax in addition to any other tax owed. Companion legislation, H 6290, was held for further study by the House Finance Committee on May 21st. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText25/SenateText25/S0779.pdf To submit testimony on S779, email it to [email protected].
Phaseout of Local Meals & Beverage Tax The Seante Finance Committee will also hear legislation, S 416, that would phase out the 1% local meals and beverage tax by 0.25% per year until eliminated on January 1, 2029. Since 2003, the hospitality industry’s retail sales have been subject to this supplemental local 1% tax in addition to the state’s 7% sales tax, differently than other retail sales. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/SenateText25/S0416.pdf To submit testimony on S 416, email it to [email protected].