Rhode Island

HOLIDAYS AND DAYS OF SPECIAL OBSERVANCE -- HOLIDAYS - Changes the name of the holiday on the second Monday of August from Victory Day to Peace and Remembrance Day.

HEALTH AND SAFETY -- STATE BUILDING CODE -- RHODE ISLAND INCLUSIVE HOME DESIGN ACT - Addresses any single-family construction, townhouse construction, and multi-family construction complying with the Standards for Visitable Units of the ANSI' Standards for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities.

EDUCATION -- SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS - Changes the maximum term of employment for a superintendent from three (3) to five (5) years.

EDUCATION -- CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS - Allows emergency preliminary certificates for teaching to be issued for up to a total of five (5) school years.

HEALTH AND SAFETY -- STATE BUILDING CODE - Increases the additional permit fee cap on residential construction that supports electronic permitting and residential construction workforce training from one hundred dollars ($100) to one hundred fifty dollars ($150).

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.

EDUCATION -- HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PUPILS -- STUDENT AND TEACHER CLASSROOM SAFETY - Establishes provisions for student and teacher classroom safety and provides the authority to remove students from classrooms. This act provides for student and educator protections from said removals.

EDUCATION -- HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PUPILS - Requires all schools and educational institutions to develop and implement a school safety plan that would provide for immediate access to school facilities by first responders in an emergency.

EDUCATION -- THE CHILDREN'S CARDIAC SAFETY ACT - Establishes "The Children's Cardiac Safety Act", and provide for childhood cardiac screening based on modules that incorporate current best practices.

EDUCATION -- HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PUPILS - Requires the installation and use of a weapons detection system at every public entrance to any school building, gymnasium, school event facility, sporting event site and any site where a school hosts or participates in an event even if off campus.

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES -- QUALITY OF EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION AND SCHOOL-AGE CHILD CARE THROUGH VOLUNTARY QUALITY RATING SYSTEM - Would establish certain presumptions pertaining to early childhood education programs operating in RIDE-certified school buildings.

EDUCATION -- HEALTH AND SAFETY OF PUPILS - Permits students diagnosed with asthma, a condition that may lead to bronchospasm or anaphylaxis, or both, to carry and self-administer asthma medication or auto-injectable or intranasal epinephrine, or both.

EDUCATION -- RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF TEACHERS GENERALLY - Broadens the definition of "teacher" and create a comprehensive bill of rights for school teachers.

EDUCATION -- SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS - Provides that the school year for all public schools, including traditional public and public charter schools, independent charter schools, and mayoral academies, would start on the same date of each calendar year.

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES - Requires BrightStars QRIS ratings for licensed child care facilities to be based on an average of all standards, ensure transparent scoring methods, and preserve automatic five-star ratings for nationally accredited programs.

TOWNS AND CITIES -- HOUSING MAINTENANCE AND OCCUPANCY CODE -- NOTICE OF VIOLATIONS - Requires a housing code enforcement officer to give a copy of any housing code violation notice to all tenants of the building affected by a housing code violation along with any hearing dates scheduled for the violation.

STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT - Merges the coastal resources management council with the department of environmental management and creates the bureau of coastal resources management within the department of environmental management.

COMMERCIAL LAW -- GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS -- AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT RIGHT TO REPAIR ACT - Provides that original equipment manufacturers, implemented by/with surrogate distributors, of agricultural equipment, provide to independent service providers repair information and tools to maintain and repair electronics-enabled agricultural equipment.

AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY -- OLD GROWTH FOREST PROTECTION ACT - Enacts the Old Growth Forest Protection Act to provide protection for state-owned forestland in their natural state prohibiting extractive logging and clearcutting in any forest on state-owned land.