Rep. Michael Chippendale, R-Foster, is calling for changes to a proposed bill that would make Rhode Island’s free tuition program permanent. In a letter Tuesday to House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, Chippendale called the full-time requirement a "grave injustice. " He noted he and Sen. Jessica de la Cruz have a constituent with disabilities who would not qualify for the Rhode Island Promise program because he.
Big changes are afoot in the nation’s smallest state.
In the middle of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s second term, the chief executive was tapped by the Biden administration for the position of U.S. commerce secretary. After a friendly Senate hearing Jan. 26 and a 21-3 vote in Raimondo’s favor from a preliminary committee, the Ocean State native is expected to advance to Washington once the full Senate body votes on her confirmation in the coming days or weeks. Now, amid a global pandemic that has caused dangers such as suicide, malnutrition, and severe learning loss to spike among youth, Lt. Gov. Dan McKee, a former small-town mayor, prepares to assume the state’s top job.
Ruggerio chief of staff leaving for job with Cox Communications Published Thu Feb 11 2021 02:03:13 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) by Ian Donnis
Stephen Iannazzi, a longtime Statehouse staffer who most recently served as chief of staff to Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, is leaving to take a job as Northeast director of government affairs for Cox Communications.
Iannazzi’s departure is one of a series of staff changes announced by the Senate.
Jake Bissaillon, currently legal counsel to Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey, will succeed Iannazzi as Ruggerio’s chief of staff; Nicole M. Verdi is poised to succeed the retiring Richard G. Sahagian as the Senate’s chief legal counsel.
PROVIDENCE - Senate leaders have canceled a confirmation vote for three of Governor Gina Raimondo s re-appointees to the Coastal Resources Management Council, mid-controversy - and mid-investigation - of a behind-the-scenes Block Island marina-expansion deal.
In his email to colleagues explaining why he was pulling the three names from Wednesday s Senate calendar, Ruggerio wrote: The Attorney General raised concerns regarding a closed-door mediation between the CRMC and Champlin s that would allow for a marina expansion. He asserted that the settlement agreement recently presented to the Court for approval was formed outside of the public regulatory process and does not account for the factual findings that formed the basis for the CRMC s 2011 decision denying Champlin s application to expand.