PROVIDENCE – State lawmakers convened on Smith Hill Tuesday to officially start the 2024 legislative session, in which House and Senate leaders delivered opening remarks in their respective chambers on the second floor of the Statehouse.
The $14 billion fiscal year 2024 state budget approved last summer was an all-time record. And while an economic recession seems unlikely this year, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi touted public investments made during previous legislative sessions that he said "prevented our economy from floundering.
"The painstaking choices made in this room have given the state great tools to grapple with many critical ongoing issues. But we are not out of the woods yet," he said. "This year's budget will look different than the last few years."
In addition to new legislation and the crafting of the fiscal 2025 state budget, the six-month session is expected to include the reintroduction of several leftover bills from last year.
To streamline the legislative process, Shekarchi announced Tuesday that House members had voluntarily agreed to a 15-bill limit per legislator.
At the top of the list for Shekarchi is a bill to increase density on residential lots through the creation of accessory dwelling units.
Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio in his remarks said the Senate has some "unfinished business" of its own and called for additional tax relief to Rhode Island residents while balancing projected increases in education and health care expenditures.
"We will redouble our efforts to strengthen the workforce," he said. "But it is crucial that Rhode Island's long-term fiscal health remains a central consideration."
Among the priorities for Senate leaders is a property tax relief package of enabling legislation to allow cities and towns to implement homestead exemptions without first receiving General Assembly approval, offsetting revenue with a 1% municipal tax on abandoned properties and providing standing authorization for periodic property tax amnesty events. There are also discussions of potential reform of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights and increasing reimbursement rates to Medicaid providers.
While the state is projected to end the 2024 fiscal year with a $98 million surplus, in a recent advisory to state departments, Brian Daniels, director of the R.I. Office of Management and Budget, warned that the end of federal pandemic aid and uncertain economic conditions this year will require "a conservative and cautious approach to budgeting."
"The give-and-take of balancing is much different when we are forced to live within our own means," Shekarchi said. "Difficult choices must be made ... there are some very tough decisions ahead."
According to a Tuesday press release by the Legislative Press Bureau, beginning next week the Senate will meet weekly on Thursdays at 4 p.m. The House is scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday at 4 p.m. next week and will resume its regular schedule of Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 p.m. beginning Jan. 16.
(UPDATE recasts the lede, with additional changes throughout the story.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
