Legislative Updates
May 29, 2025
RIPEC Report on Needed Reforms of Housing Resources Commission
This week, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) released a report outlining recommended reforms for the Housing Resources Commission (HRC). Among the report's recommendations:
- Change the HRC’s statutory authority
- Remove all HRC funding authority
- Reconstitute the HRC as an advisory body
- Reduce HRC membership and ensure members adhere to term limits
House Committee Hears Wealth Tax Proposal
On Wednesday, the House Finance Committee heard testimony regarding a proposed tax on worldwide wealth. The bill proposes an additional one percent tax on Rhode Island residents with more than $25 million in assets as defined in the legislation. This proposal would make Rhode Island an outlier, not only in the country, but the world. Coalition testimony noted that Rhode Island has often lagged the rest of the country in creating jobs and population growth. As a state, we should be enacting laws to incent people to move here to create jobs and invest.
Individual Health Insurance Market Bill Funded By Additional Assessment
The Coalition provided testimony in the House Finance Committee in opposition to H5996, the Rhode Island Individual Market Affordability Act of 2025. The bill is the result of a study commission to address affordability concerns in the individual health insurance market. The Coalition noted that the work group recommendations were not unanimous as members of the business community raised their concerns with the proposed approach. Among the Coalition's concerns are the proposed funding mechanisms for this program, which rely on additional assessments on the entire health insurance market, could adversely affect businesses in Rhode Island, particularly small businesses, who are already facing challenging economic conditions. See the full Coalition testimony here.
Improve Business Climate for Insurance Companies
On Tuesday, the Coalition submitted testimony in support of Senate Bill 1047 introduced by Senator Andrew Dimitri on behalf of the Governor. The legislation proposes to strike the cap on certain investments for insurance companies. Current law limits the amount insurance companies may invest in assets that are reported in Schedule BA of the annual statement, including long-term invested assets such as LLCs, partnerships, private equity, hedge funds, and joint ventures. This bill would remove the investment cap and make Rhode Island more competitive with our neighboring states. The House version passed the House Corporations Committee on Thursday.
Proposals to Increase the Local Hotel Tax
The Coalition submitted testimony in the House and Senate regarding bills to allow municipalities to increase their local share of the hotel tax up to an additional two percent. The Coalition expressed concerns regarding the potential for communities across the state to increase the tax at different rates. In addition, while it is a two percent increase in this bill, that could easily increase should the financial situations of cities and towns become more challenging in future years.
Interest Rate Reduction on Tax Payments
Senate Bill 655 introduced by Senator Brian Thompson, reduces the interest rate charged to delinquent payments from 18% to 12%. In addition, the bill would have the state follow the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines regarding tax audits. The IRS can go back three years from the date of the audit notice to conduct tax audits on taxpayers unless fraud is a question, at which point the IRS may go back seven years. Coalition testimony focused on the benefits of these changes for businesses who at times owe more in interest than actual delinquent taxes as well as clarify records retention requirements.
Bill Would Waive Interest on Overdue Property Tax Payments
On Tuesday, the Coalition submitted testimony in support of Senate Bill 330 introduced by Senator John Burke. Currently, any city or town may choose to opt in to a program to waive interest on one quarter of overdue residential property tax for owners that meet certain conditions. This program seeks to assist property owners that have a positive track record, but experienced a temporary economic shortfall, perhaps missed a payment by mistake or encountered an illness that placed the payment of taxes on the back burner for a brief time, resulting in the payment of interest. Senate Bill 330 gives cities and towns the option to extend the same program to commercial properties.