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 state funding accounts.

 

Section 1 – Hospital License Fee

• Makes technical corrections to, and extends the license fee system for community hospitals into FY2027 at the 2023 base year resulting in revenue estimates of $228.5 million.
• These provider taxes are required to phase down from the prior 6% level to 5% by FY2029, and 3.5% by FY20232.

 

Section 2 – Hospital and Nursing Home Rates

• Restricts statutory inflation indexes for Hospitals and Nursing Homes at 2.5% for FY2027 to align with state revenue growth, saving $2.6 million in general revenue and $4 million in federal funds.

 

Section 3 – Hospital Uncompensated Care

• Provides for $23.9 million in uncompensated care payments to hospitals, a $10 million increase above FY2026.

 

Section 4 – AHEAD Model

• Requires EOHHS, in coordination with OHIC, to implement the Achieving Healthcare Efficiency through Accountable Design (AHEAD) Model Grant program, supported with $581,260 in FY2026 funding and $1.4 million for FY2027.

 

Section 5 – Family Care Community Partnerships

• Codifies the current FCCP regional service coverage to provide critical prevention resources, to ensure DCYF continues to receive Medicaid reimbursement upon adoption of a new rate payment methodology.

 

Section 6 – Medicaid Resolution

• Establishes the legal authority for EOHHS to review and coordinate amendments to the state’s Medicaid plan that include:
  • Aligning rate increases with state revenue growth
  • Eliminating rate increases for substance abuse residential services
  • Removal of Medicaid coverage for GLP-1s except for type 2 diabetes

 

 

Article 9 – Relating to Leases

https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText26/HouseText26/Article-009.pdf

 

Article 9 authorizes leases for certain office and operating spaces:

• Rhode Island Department of State @ 148 West River Street, Providence
• Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management @ 235 Promenade Street, Providence
• State of Rhode Island Office of the Public Defender @ 160 Pine Street, Providence

 

 

Article 10 – Relative to Health and Human Services

https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText26/HouseText26/Article-010.pdf

 

Article 10 revises policies and funding relative to school construction, the education funding formula, and the Hope Scholarship at Rhode Island College.

 

Sections 1 & 2 – 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

• Codifies the 988 program under the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disability, and Hospitals (BHDDH) to comply with federal rules ensuring citizens have access to crisis behavioral health services, and provides $1 million in state funds and $5 million in all funds for FY2027 to run the program.

 

 

Section 3 – Pay for Success

• Extends the EOHHS pilot program from five to six years to provide supportive housing and services to a cohort of 125 people experiencing homelessness.

 

Sections 4 – Ladders to Licensure

• Provides flexibility to the program by reducing the required number and types of partnerships, and provides $750,000 for the program.

 

 

This Week at the State House

 

The General Assembly is on break this week. Upon their return next week, we expect another large volume of bill introductions.

 

 

The following new bills have been filed

 

 

Senate Bill No. 2522 BY  Burke, Felag, LaMountain, Raptakis ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- INTERCHANGE FEE RESTRICTION ACT (Creates the interchange fee restriction act prohibiting interchange fees on sales and use tax or excise tax when payment is made with a credit or debit card.)

Senate Bill No. 2523 BY  Gu, Tikoian, Bell, Britto ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS-VEHICLE SAFETY BARRIERS (Requires commercial property owners to install vehicle barriers at their retail establishments when new construction or renovations are being done and permits insurers to consider the installation to provide a discount on the owner's insurance policy.)

Senate Bill No. 2536 BY  Felag, LaMountain, Burke, Britto, Ciccone, Tikoian, McKenney, Appollonio, Famiglietti, Bissaillon ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Allows a modification to federal adjusted gross income of $25,000 of social security income for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027.)

Senate Bill No. 2539 BY  McKenney, Tikoian, Felag, Britto, LaMountain ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Gradually phases in modifications to federal adjusted gross income over a four (4) year period for social security income, from twenty-five percent (25%) up to one hundred percent (100%), beginning on or after January 1, 2027.)

Senate Bill No. 2549 BY  Euer, Gu, Ujifusa, Bell, DiMario, Mack ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- TAX ON GAINS FROM THE SALE OR EXCHANGE OF REAL PROPERTY (Creates new tax on gains from sale or exchange of real property held for short periods of time, 6 years or less, establishes a comprehensive framework to calculate and implement enforcement and provides imprisonment and/or fines for those who evade taxes.)

Senate Bill No. 2567 BY  Kallman, Murray, Lauria, DiMario, Mack, Valverde, Ujifusa, Zurier, Acosta ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- UNIVERSAL AND UNIFIED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM ACT (Establishes a universal and unified healthcare system and reform the current payment system for healthcare coverage in this state.)

Senate Bill No. 2573 BY  Bell, Ujifusa, Valverde, Kallman, Murray, Mack ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- THE RHODE ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM (Establishes a universal, comprehensive, affordable single-payer health care insurance program and help control health care costs, which would be referred to as, "the Rhode Island Comprehensive Health Insurance Program" (RICHIP).)

Senate Bill No. 2620 BY  Kallman, Acosta, DiMario, Mack, Euer, Britto, Gu, Lauria, Thompson, Vargas ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Sets the minimum wage for 2027 at twenty dollars ($20) per hour.)

Senate Bill No. 2624 BY  Ujifusa, Bell, Euer, Murray, Mack, Acosta, Valverde, DiMario, Lauria, DiPalma ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- RHODE ISLAND NEW QUALIFIED JOBS INCENTIVE ACT 2015 (Sunsets/discontinues the Jobs Development Act rate reduction as of July 1, 2026.)

Senate Bill No. 2626 BY  Gallo, Tikoian, Ciccone, DiPalma, Burke, LaMountain ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- SANITATION IN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS (Establishes a restricted receipt account at the DLT for hospitality industry workforce training grants, funded by an annual $50 dollar fee to be charged by RIDOH to food service establishments.)

Senate Bill No. 2628 BY  Kallman, Bissaillon, Gu, DiMario, Rogers, Lauria, Mack, Zurier, Valverde, Raptakis ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES -- MINIMUM PARKING REQUIREMENTS (Implements statewide parking standards.)

Senate Bill No. 2632 BY  Ciccone, Tikoian ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- STATE BUILDING CODE (Amends the state building code and would require that the state adopt the 2024 International Residential Code and prohibit the state building committee from adopting amendments for one to four residential dwelling units until 2030.)

House Bill No. 7607 BY  McEntee, Caldwell, Fogarty, Spears, Shallcross Smith, Phillips, Cortvriend, Costantino, Voas, Casey ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW--GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- SWIPE FEES (Prohibits the charging of swipe fees on taxes and gratuities.)

House Bill No. 7611 BY  Lima, Costantino, Brien, Casey, Noret, Hopkins, Shanley, O'Brien ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- RENEWABLE ENERGY STANDARD (Amends the obligation of entities to sell at retail to Rhode Island and use customers.)

House Bill No. 7622 BY  Cortvriend, Carson, Boylan, Spears, Speakman, McGaw, Kislak, Bennett, Handy, Fogarty ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- REFUSE DISPOSAL (Authorizes the department of environmental management to issue and enforce rules and regulations to implement and enforce the provisions of the food waste ban.)

House Bill No. 7632 BY  Cotter, Spears, Chippendale, Caldwell, Speakman, Carson, McNamara, McGaw, Read, Noret ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- AGE-APPROPRIATE DESIGN CODE (Requires that any covered entity that develops/provides online services, products, or features that children are reasonably likely to access shall consider the best interest of children when designing/developing such online service, product, or feature.)

House Bill No. 7645 BY  McEntee, Craven, Casimiro, Bennett, Edwards, Caldwell ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS -- ARBITRATION (Extends time for a party to apply for stay of arbitration to180 days; invalidates any provision that penalizes a party for seeking legal representation; requires arbitrator to provide notice of default to a party for failure to pay fees.)

House Bill No. 7664 BY  Casey, Brien, McEntee, Corvese ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES -- RETAIL LICENSES (Allows holders of a Class P license to purchase alcoholic beverages from either a retail or wholesale establishment in the State of Rhode Island.)

House Bill No. 7695 BY  Bennett, Edwards, Shanley, Phillips, O'Brien, Cortvriend, Slater, Fellela, Messier, Furtado ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND COMMERCE CORPORATION (Establishes property, tangible, sales and use tax exemptions as incentives for the location of qualified data centers in Rhode Island.)

House Bill No. 7696 (Lieutenant Governor) BY  McEntee, Spears, Craven, Bennett, Diaz, Edwards, Caldwell ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP TAX CREDIT (Establishes a tax credit for businesses transitioning to employee ownership.)

House Bill No. 7699 BY  Costantino, Santucci, Lima, Brien, Casey, Noret, Chippendale, McEntee, Phillips, Hopkins ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- ESTATE AND TRANSFER TAXES -- LIABILITY AND COMPUTATION (Eliminates the estate tax in Rhode Island.)

House Bill No. 7719 (Lieutenant Governor) BY  Noret, Kazarian, Azzinaro, Kennedy, Corvese, Fascia, Paplauskas, Read, Fogarty, Carson ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- UNFAIR SALES PRACTICES (Provides that stores offering food product discounts must provide the same discounts to in-store customers that are offered to customers using electronic digital coupons.)

House Bill No. 7725 (Dept. of Transportation) BY  Voas ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES GENERALLY (Requires every vehicle that operates in intrastate commerce be permanently marked with a US DOT Number effective April 1, 2027.)

House Bill No. 7735 BY  Carson, Spears, Cotter, McGaw, Cortvriend, Speakman ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- ORGANICS DIVERSION AT CATERED EVENTS ACT (Creates the "Organics Diversion at Catered Events Act" to require caterers to submit an annual diversion plan for food and organic waste to the department of environmental management for approval prior to permitting for covered events.)

House Bill No. 7738 BY  Cortvriend, McGaw, Speakman, Boylan, Spears ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- STATE BUILDING CODE (Establishes a moratorium on changes to the state energy conservation code from the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code until January 1, 2031, unless approved by the legislature and made effective by the governor.)

House Bill No. 7739 BY  Cortvriend, McGaw, Handy, Carson, Boylan, Bennett, Kazarian ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- THE GREEN BUILDINGS ACT (Creates the green buildings act commission to consist of 17 members, responsible for the implementation of the green buildings act.)

House Bill No. 7745 BY  Santucci, Chippendale, Place, Newberry, Fascia, Fellela, Read, Cotter, Tanzi ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- THE RHODE ISLAND HEALTH CARE REFORM ACT OF 2004--HEALTH INSURANCE OVERSIGHT (Requires health insurance commissioner to conduct a review of health insurance benefit mandates, including an analysis of the impact on premium costs, conducted every 5 yrs and report findings and recommendations to governor, senate president and speaker.)

House Bill No. 7750 BY  Shanley, Potter, Craven ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE -- PROCEDURE GENERALLY -- CAUSES OF ACTION (Provides for punitive damages in civil actions where there is willful or wanton conduct or a reckless disregard for health, safety and welfare.)

House Bill No. 7752 BY  Cortvriend, Boylan, Speakman, Handy, Carson, McGaw, Kazarian ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS -- CLIMATE DISASTER ACTIONS (Creates legal cause of action for persons/insurers to recover losses resulting from climate disaster against petroleum product producers based upon strict liability for deceptive/false statements as to climate impacts.)

House Bill No. 7767 BY  Noret, Dawson, Felix, O'Brien, Bennett ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USE AND FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES (Creates a comprehensive statutory framework to address and regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, considering the interests of employers and employees.)

House Bill No. 7768 BY  Edwards, Shanley, Potter, Ackerman, Newberry, Craven, Bennett, Slater, Kislak, Voas ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES (Prohibits an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or employee, to commit any act declared to be an unlawful employment practice; individuals would be held personally liable for such conduct.)

House Bill No. 7769 BY  Furtado, Kazarian, Stewart, Messier, Kislak, Cruz, Alzate, McGaw, Felix, Ajello ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Sets the minimum wage for 2027 at twenty dollars ($20) per hour.)

House Bill No. 7770 BY  Bennett, Edwards, Potter, Alzate, Messier, Furtado, Corvese, McNamara, Fellela, Shanley ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Increases the minimum hourly wage commencing January 1, 2029, by an amount equal to the total percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Northeast Region for the calendar year 2027.)

 

House Bill No. 7771 BY  Sanchez, Cruz, Felix ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES (Provides that commencing January 1, 2027, the minimum wage shall be twenty-four dollars ($24.00) per hour.)

House Bill No. 7773 BY  Potter, Craven, Read, Edwards, Bennett ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WORKERS' COMPENSATION -- PROCEDURE (Amends the workers' compensation reimbursement provisions related to the liability of third person for damages.)

House Bill No. 7804 BY  Caldwell, McEntee, O'Brien ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- CIGARETTE, OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS, AND ELECTRONIC NICOTINE-DELIVERY SYSTEM PRODUCTS (Reduces the cigarette tax imposed by 75% for any modified risk tobacco product as defined in § 21 U.S.C. 387 k as a tobacco product sold/distributed to reduce the harm/risk of tobacco-related disease associated with commercially marketed tobacco products.)

House Bill No. 7805 BY  Serpa, Fellela, Costantino, Bennett, Read, Fascia, O'Brien, Edwards, Ackerman, Corvese ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Establishes phased reduction of personal income tax rates.)

House Bill No. 7810 BY  Shallcross Smith, McEntee, Fellela, Serpa, Cruz, Noret, Ackerman ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO TAXATION -- STATE TAX OFFICIALS (Caps delinquent tax interest rate at 12%. Prohibits audits beyond 3 years from date of tax filing, 7 years for fraudulent filings, and in no event beyond 10 years from date of filing or required filing date, whichever is later.)