General Assembly works its way down agenda

PROVIDENCE – After dealing with the Pawtucket Red Sox’ proposed stadium financing and other major bills on Friday, the R.I. General Assembly attempted to wrap up the 2018 session by voting on a number of bills Saturday.

The General Assembly passed two pieces of legislation introduced by Speaker of the House Nicholas A. Mattiello (D-Dist. 15, Cranston) and Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Dist. 28, Cranston, Providence) that would empower patients to curb the possibility of opiate addiction. Both bills now head to the governor’s office.

The first bill (2018-H 7416, 2018-S 2541) would give patients the option of only partially filling their prescription for painkillers. It would allow a pharmacist to dispense a partial fill of a Schedule II controlled substance at the request of either the patient or the prescriber.

“The opioid epidemic is one of the biggest tragedies of our time, and finding new ways to tackle it continues to be a challenge,” said Mattiello. “This legislation will allow and encourage prescribers, patients and pharmacists to work together, and empower patients to limit the number of unused pills that are left in their medicine chests, which is where opioid addiction begins.”

Under the provisions of the legislation, subsequent fills would have to be dispensed at the same pharmacy where the original prescription was partially filled, and the total quantity dispensed could not exceed the total quantity prescribed. After 30 days, the prescription would expire.

The second bill (2018-H 7496A, 2018-S 2539) would establish a procedure for individuals to file a revocable voluntary non-opiate directive form with the patient’s licensed health care practitioner. The form would indicate to all practitioners that the patient would not be administered or offered a prescription or medication order for an opiate.

“We have to take a multi-pronged approach to limit the quantity of opioids that are on the market,” said Miller, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. “The problem with opioids is that they hang out in a lot of people’s medicine cabinets, so it will take a combination of efforts, such as these two bills to rein in what has become a serious problem.”

The Centers for Disease Control published guidelines for the prescribing of opioids for chronic pain. Among the agency’s recommendations are limiting the dosage and coming up with a plan to mitigate the risk of addiction. While the CDC’s guidelines are a set of voluntary recommendations aimed at health providers, some states have begun to explore how to combat the crisis through legislation.

Last year, Massachusetts passed comprehensive legislation based on the guidelines, including the creation of a non-opiate directive form.

“This is a crisis that is tearing apart families and communities, and the next step must be strengthening our prescription laws,” said Mattiello. “These bills will attack the epidemic right where it starts by putting a speed bump in the prescription procedure, forcing all parties to slow things down and take a closer look at the danger of opiates.”

The Assembly also passed legislation to alter the boundaries of a parcel within the I-195 Redevelopment District. The change is necessary in order for a potential construction project to move forward.

President of the Senate Dominick J. Ruggerio (D – Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) and House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) sponsored the legislation, (2018 S-2556, 2018-H 8356).

New York developer Jason Fane has worked with the I-195 Redevelopment Commission on a proposal to construct a 46-story high-rise tower on Dyer Street. The proposal, known as Hope Point Tower, represents a reported investment of about $250 million by the developer.

The envisioned parcel reconfiguration would allow for greater depth and better positioning of the project in order to allow access and visibility for the proposed building from Dyer Street. The Commission has worked with The Fane Organization to develop a preliminary site layout.

The Federal Highway Commission has confirmed that the envisioned parcel change complies with other necessary land use limitations in the vicinity. The legislation amends the enabling statute so that the I-195 Redevelopment Commission can make the change needed for the construction project to proceed.

The measure now moves to the governor’s office.

In other business:

• Rhode Island’s domestic violence prevention fund will be renamed the Deborah DeBare Domestic Violence Prevention Fund under a bill sponsored by Mattiello and Sen. Donna M. Nesselbush and approved by the General Assembly.

The bill (2018-H 8188, 2018-H 2948), which now heads to the governor, honors the longtime executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who stepped down this spring to take a position as the senior deputy director at the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

“Rhode Island owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Deb DeBare for her tireless efforts to protect and assist domestic violence victims and to prevent domestic violence in our state,” said Mattiello. “For decades, Deb fought to ensure that victims had the resources they need, and she relentlessly and very effectively advocated for laws that better serve to protect them. She was a clear and articulate voice for the many who were afraid to speak up, and she left an enduring legacy in the many improvements we’ve made to the way the state approaches domestic violence. It’s a fitting tribute to name this fund after her, so it will forever serve to honor her with its work to eradicate domestic violence in Rhode Island.”

DeBare was instrumental in advocating for the state-supported fund that was created in 2016, and the coalition administers the programs it supports. She was also a leading advocate for the 2017 law that disarmed perpetrators of domestic violence, and many other laws aimed at preventing domestic violence.

DeBare joined RICADV in 1995 and transformed it into $4 million agency that supports victims across the state and helps to educate Rhode Islanders about domestic violence in order to prevent it. Her advocacy and action to help domestic abuse victims predates her role as leader of the coalition, when, as an undergraduate at Brown University, she was, along with Nesselbush, part of an underground network that would rescue women from abusive partners and bring them to safe houses. She later worked as a courtroom advocate for abuse victims.

“Deb’s commitment to feminism and to ending domestic violence began during our years in college. Her life’s work has been dedicated to stopping domestic violence through better education and more effective laws, and helping victims escape and rebuild their lives,” said Nesselbush (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, North Providence). “Deb absolutely has been the catalyst for our progress from a culture where spousal abuse was still legal in the 1980s to one where we now have an education and prevention fund worthy of bearing her name. Rhode Island has been so fortunate to call Deb our own for so long and to benefit from her passion and incredible dedication to reducing domestic violence. I’m proud to be her friend and proud that we will now honor her by naming the fund for which she advocated the Deborah DeBare Domestic Violence Prevention Fund, so that it will forever honor her legacy here in Rhode Island as she moves up to the national stage.”

• The Assembly has approved legislation to restructure the Coastal Resources Management Council to reflect separation of powers.

The legislation (2018-S 2955A , 2018-H 8319A) was sponsored by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski and Rep. Kenneth A. Marshall.

Rhode Island voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2004 that established that the powers of the three branches of state government must be separate and distinct. That amendment meant that legislators could no longer serve on boards with administrative functions or directly appoint people to them.

Subsequent to the approval of the amendment, legislators approved many laws reconstituting state boards and commissions to remove legislators or members appointed by them. But until now, the Assembly had never passed one to address CRMC, which is charged with the primary responsibility for the continued planning and management of the resources of the state’s coastal region. The Assembly simply stopped appointing the two representatives, two senators specified by the law, as well as public members that the law says are to be appointed by the speaker of the House.

The result essentially complied with separation of powers, but left the council with 10 members instead of 16, and a law that requires seven of them for a quorum.

Sosnowski, who served as a Senate member of the CRMC years ago, introduced similar legislation for CRMC for a number of years following adoption of the separation of powers amendment. She called the legislation “long overdue.”

“I’m elated that this bill has now passed. While legislators brought a lot to CRMC in terms of accountability and representation of our communities, the voters spoke clearly on separation of powers. CRMC is a hardworking council with vital responsibilities, and it’s done very well operating for many years under an outdated, unconstitutional law that doesn’t reflect its actual membership. Finally addressing this situation will help CRMC carry out the important work it does balancing coastal preservation and development,” said Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, South Kingstown, New Shoreham), who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture.

The legislation eliminates the two representatives, two senators and the four public members appointed by the House speaker, and increases the number of municipal officials appointed by the governor from four to six, at least five of whom must be from coastal communities. The bill leaves the three members of the public already appointed by the governor, as well as the director of the Department of Environmental Management, or her designee, who serves in an ex-officio capacity. It also changes the quorum from seven to six members, and gives the council more flexibility in bringing in outside experts in nonvoting, advisory roles when needed.

“CRMC, as the agency that manages coastal development, has a tremendously important role in a state whose identity is so closely linked to our coastline. Addressing this longstanding issue with its establishing legislation will help the council function efficiently, and will help ensure it has members with expertise in all the areas pertaining to its responsibilities. This is more than a symbolic gesture; it will actually give CRMC greater flexibility and help it fulfill its duties of protecting and enhance the Ocean State’s coastal areas,” said Marshall (D-Dist. 68, Bristol, Warren).