As the days grow shorter, I hope you and your family have enjoyed another wonderful Newport Summer. And I hope this finds you well.
It was a busy legislative session, and my priorities are always to meet the legislative requests of Newport. As such, I passed legislation that required state authorization of the two-tier residential tax rate for the city at the request of the City Council. Under it, owner-occupied housing will be taxed at a lower rate than non-owner-occupied properties. The two-tier system was a recommendation of the city’s ad hoc Tax Relief Committee, which was created by the City Council to study ways to provide relief to year-round residents.
I continued my work on creating support systems for special needs students and their families and I worked extensively with the Newport Waterfront Commission to begin a conversation on the expansion of houseboats in municipal harbors.
I co-sponsored many bills, including the beach access bill; a series of environmental bills to reduce plastic waste and incentivize the expansion of renewable energy; bills to mandate insurance coverage for any additional screenings deemed medically necessary for proper breast cancer screening; and a bill to permanently establish standards governing the municipal regulation of outdoor dining at food service establishments.
I will chair two new House Study Commissions over the next year: the first to make a comprehensive study and provide recommendations for state programs for older adult Rhode Islanders; and the second to study policies around the economic and social impact of short-term rentals in our communities.
Please feel free to contact me anytime about these or any other State issues at laurenhcarson@gmail.com