Rhode Island

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- PEACE OFFICER MAXIMUM WORKDAY AND OVERTIME COMPENSATION - Establishes a maximum hourly workday for all peace officers as defined in § 12-7-21 and a violation rate of pay of double time and a half.

TAXATION -- LEVY AND ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL TAXES - Enables the town of Portsmouth to adopt, repeal, or modify their tax classification plan for any tax year on and after December 31, 2026.

TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION - Authorizes the town of Middletown to adopt by ordinance, a veterans’ property tax exemption to any veteran, who was honorably discharged, or discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, regardless of dates or periods of service.

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT - Increases the minimum wage amount for any person committed to the adult correctional institution from $3.00 to $5.00 a day for every day the person shall labor.

HOLIDAYS AND DAYS OF SPECIAL OBSERVANCE - Designates the month of May, annually, as "Rhode Island Native Plant Month," with appropriate ceremonies and activities to recognize and educate people about Rhode Island's native plants.

BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- ARCHITECTS - Amends how architecture firms and individual architects are registered.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES -- RETAIL LICENSES - Requires that applicants for a retail liquor license in the town of Westerly acquire commercial, general-liability, liquor liability and property damage insurance coverage in the amount of $300,000.

LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES -- OVERTIME - Requires small employers with one to fifty (1-50) employees and large employers with fifty (50) or more employees to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salary exceeds varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty (40) hour workweek.

FOOD AND DRUGS -- SINGLE-USE PLASTIC STRAWS - Allows customers to directly take single-use plastic straws from single straw dispensers at food service establishments.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS -- LENDERS AND LOAN BROKERS - Removes the licensing exemption for a lender that originates less than six (6) loans in twelve (12) consecutive months.

TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION - Authorizes the town of Jamestown to authorize, by ordinance, the expansion of the local tax exemption ordinance for seniors.

EDUCATION -- RHODE ISLAND LITERACY AND DROPOUT PREVENTION ACT - Redefines dyslexia to mean a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both and vary depending on the orthography.

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- PEACE OFFICER MAXIMUM WORKDAY AND OVERTIME COMPENSATION - Establishes a maximum hourly workday for all peace officers as defined in § 12-7-21 and a violation rate of pay of double time and a half.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES -- RETAIL LICENSES - Allows for the issuance of a Class B liquor license for the property located at 150 Broadway in the city of Providence.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES -- RETAIL LICENSES - Requires that applicants for a retail liquor license in the town of Westerly acquire commercial, general-liability, liquor liability and property damage insurance coverage in the amount of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000).

EDUCATION -- STUDENT CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM - Directs the department of elementary and secondary education to provide a two-year pilot program that coordinates a national cultural exchange program for students of this state.

LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- MINIMUM WAGES - Effective January 1, 2028, Increases the hourly minimum wage in accordance with the Consumer Price Index for the Northeast Region for the previous four (4) fiscal years.

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.

TAXATION -- PROPERTY SUBJECT TO TAXATION - Authorizes the town of Middletown to adopt by ordinance, a veterans’ property tax exemption to any veteran, who was honorably discharged, or discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, regardless of dates or periods of service.

BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- PLUMBERS, IRRIGATORS, AND WATER SYSTEM INSTALLERS - Grants hourly credit of 288 hours against 576 hours if graduate of accredited trade school/raises to 4 years of work under master plumber and requires 8,000 hours of on-the-job training plus 5 years of registration with DLT.

HOLIDAYS AND DAYS OF SPECIAL OBSERVANCE -- DAYS OF SPECIAL OBSERVANCE - Provides that the month of September in each year be designated "Rhode Island Senior Center Month" with appropriate exercises in public places.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES -- RETAIL LICENSES - Allows for the issuance of a Class B liquor license for the property located at 150 Broadway in the city of Providence.

HUMAN SERVICES -- MEDICAL ASSISTANCE - Provides that services provided by graduate student interns who work under a supervisory protocol would be eligible to be paid from Medicaid reimbursement.

PROPERTY -- MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE AND SALE - Increases the time that mortgage foreclosure notices are required to be provided to active military service members, from nine (9) months to one year, after completion of their active duty.