Legislative Updates Advocacy in Action March 2, 2026     This Week at the State House   Tuesday, March 3rd   Tax Amnesty; Tax Rates   The House Finance Committee will convene at the Rise (approximately 4:30 p.m.) in Room 35.  The agenda includes the Governor’s tax amnesty program as well as the increase in…

Legislative Updates Advocacy in Action February 16, 2026     What is in the Governor’s Budget? In the coming editions of Advocacy in Action, we will highlight and summarize key articles of interest to the business community.     Article 8 – Relating to Medical Assistance https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText26/HouseText26/Article-008.pdf   Article 8 provides for changes to certain…

Legislative Updates Last Week at the State House   The Chamber provided testimony on four bills last week.   Prohibiting Credit Card Surcharges – Opposed Passage H 7409 would make it a deceptive trade practice for any retail establishment to impose a surcharge fee on a customer for the use of a credit card.   The…

Legislative Updates Advocacy in Action February 2, 2026 What is in the Governor’s Budget? In the coming editions of Advocacy in Action, we will highlight and summarize key articles of interest to the business community. Article 2 – Relating to State Funds https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText26/HouseText26/H7127.pdf Article 2 provides for changes to certain state funding accounts. Section 1…

Legislative Updates This Week at the State House   Tuesday, January 27th   Credit Card Fee Notification   The House Corporations Committee has on its agenda for Tuesday at the Rise (approximately 4:30pm) in the Room 101, two bills of interest.  H.7022 http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText26/HouseText26/H7022.pdf  requires any business that charges a fee to customers for the use…

Legislative Updates Governor McKee’s “Affordability for All” Agenda   In his 2026 State of the State Address last Tuesday, Governor Dan McKee laid out his vision for the year ahead, which was followed on Thursday by his Fiscal Year 2027 budget Proposal, comprised of H 7126 (FY26 Revisions), H 7127 (FY27 Appropriations). See also the…

Legislative Updates 2026 Legislative Session Begins   The 2026 legislative session kicked off January 6th, with the House Speaker and Senate President addressing their respective members.  On the House side, the Speaker stated, “Let’s buckle up and buckle down. It’s going to be a very challenging year.” He referenced the significant changes made on the…

Legislative Updates 2026 Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce Policy Platform 2026 Policy Platform Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce Introduction The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce represents businesses across Newport County and works to strengthen our regional economy by advocating for pro-business policies, offering direct technical support to entrepreneurs, and providing critical data and insights on…

Legislative Updates The General Assembly session recessed in the early morning hours of June 21. Over the last couple weeks of the session, legislators passed bills increasing the minimum wage, banning the sale of assault weapons, increasing funding for primary care, hospitals and nursing homes, measures to address housing development and affordability among many other…

Legislative Updates Advocacy in Action from the R.I. Chamber Coalition   The House Finance Committee passed a budget at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.  The $14.334 billion budget includes $45 million for primary care doctors, $38 million in extra money for hospitals, $12 million for nursing homes, and more money for education than provided for…

Legislative Updates The House Finance Committee passed the $14.3 billion budget last night on an 11-3 vote. The budget will be debated by the full House of Representatives on June 17. Here is a preliminary summary of some of the items in the budget that was passed by the House Finance Committee last night.   The…

Legislative Updates House Committee Passes Amended Minimum Wage Bill The House Labor Committee passed a bill to increase the minimum wage. House bill 5029, Substitute A will increase the minimum wage to $17 per hour effective January 1, 2027. Rhode Island already has the 7th highest minimum wage rates in the country. This increase would…