General Assembly to reconvene Tuesday

HOUSE SPEAKER Nicholas A. Mattiello has said that eliminating the car tax is his priority in the coming year.  / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
HOUSE SPEAKER Nicholas A. Mattiello has said that eliminating the car tax is his priority in the coming year. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

PROVIDENCE – The General Assembly is expected to open its 2017-18 session on Tuesday, starting the new year with fresh appointments to key committees and 16 new members.

The months-long session is expected to consider discussion of whether to phase out the unpopular automobile tax across Rhode Island, among other issues.

House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, D-Cranston, who narrowly won re-election to his seat in November, told his constituents, and has since said publicly, that eliminating the car tax is a priority. He is expected to propose a phase-out over several years, and has told media outlets that communities would be reimbursed for lost revenues.

In Rhode Island, the motor vehicle excise tax has a $500 state-paid exemption, but individual communities decide whether to provide additional exemptions that shield the car owner from taxation. Some communities have fully-phased out the car tax, others provide only the state-reimbursed exemption.

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Mattiello is expected to be elected as speaker for a full, two-year term on the opening day of the session.

Sen. M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, who also won re-election, is expected to be elected as president of the senate for the new session, as well.

Both chamber leaders are expected to address members immediately following the vote.
Within two weeks of the session opening, Mattiello is expected to announce the House committees and respective leaders, according to his spokesman.

Mattiello has said previously he plans to revise his own process for selecting leadership teams, including a new vetting procedure that could review whether potential committee members have completed financial disclosure filings. He has not announced any new rules to date.

The House, which has 75 members in total, will include 12 new representatives. The Senate, with 38 members, has four new members.

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