Woonsocket Radio News Room

Rep. Vella-Wilkinson Bills Would Keep People, Businesses Empowered During Declared Emergencies

            

STATE HOUSE — The House Committee on State Government and Elections heard testimony this week on legislation introduced by Rep. Camille F.J. Vella-Wilkinson (D-Dist. 21, Warwick) that would empower people during declared emergencies as well as aid businesses financially.

The first bill (2021-H 5287) would establish a joint General Assembly Emergency Council, which would be activated 90 days after the governor declares a state of emergency. The council, which would consist of 10 members, would determine if the state of emergency has ended and address the restoration of the state’s economy, if necessary.

“One of the biggest issues we have struggled with during the COVID pandemic is the lack of representative government during an emergency,” said Representative Vella-Wilkinson. “Emergency declarations were established to give the governor broad powers when action needs to be taken quickly and decisively during an emergency, but it’s quite a different matter when that emergency gets drawn out for an extended period of time. When that happens, it’s imperative that the General Assembly stand up and provide oversight to make the decisions that need to be made legislatively on behalf of the people.”

The second bill (2021-H 5288) would aid small businesses by establishing a restricted receipt account within the Commerce Corporation for all fines collected from individuals and businesses violating policies or procedures during a state of emergency. Those funds would be kept for distribution to small businesses in the form of forgivable loans or grants by the corporation. 

“COVID-19 has spurred an ongoing economic crisis, and small businesses have borne the brunt of it,” said Representative Vella-Wilkinson. “While it may be necessary to fine businesses that shirk their responsibilities to the public health, at the same time we should be doing all we can to help small businesses financially. This legislation would ensure that the money collected in fines would be used only to help those small businesses.”

 

President Biden is preparing to sign a new foreign aid bill into law. On Tuesday, the Senate passed a 95-billion-dollar emergency foreign aid package, which included funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the Indo-Pacific. The bill also laid the groundwork to ban the social media app TikTok in the U.S. Biden praised the Senate's decision and said he would sign the bill today.       Former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial resumes Thursday in New York City. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker is expected to continue testifying for a third day, after explaining to the court how he paid people for the rights to negative stories about Trump only to never publish them in order to protect the presidential candidate. He's also expected to be questioned about Stormy Daniels, the adult film star whose alleged affair with Trump is at the heart of the criminal case.       A bill allowing Tennessee teachers to carry guns is heading to the governor's desk. The bill allows for specially-trained teachers to carry handguns in their classrooms, and parents would not know if their kids' teacher was armed or not. The measure passed the State House Tuesday along party lines, with only four Republicans voting against it. Republican Governor Bill Lee has indicated support for the measure, but says he needs to see all the details before signing.       The Federal Trade Commission is banning noncompete agreements. According to the FTC, about 18-percent of the U.S. workforce is covered by these agreements, which stops them from working for competitors or starting a new competing business when leaving a job.        Tesla is reporting its lowest quarterly earnings since 2021. Despite the report, shares soared after hours as the electric automaker suggested more affordable models are on the way. First quarter earnings fell 47 percent. Stock prices jumped more than ten percent after the market closed.       A new Johnny Cash album is coming out more than two decades after his death. Universal Music is issuing "Songwriter," a collection of eleven previously unreleased demos Cash recorded in 1993. All of them are self-written originals, according to "Variety."        

Old News Archives