After flurry of R.I. bill signings, some you might have missed

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a flurry of signings that saw high-profile Pawtucket ballpark and drug-induced homicide bills become law, Gov. Gina Raimondo last week also put her signature on legislation making it easier to launch a food truck, ban teens from tanning salons and preserve gender identity after death.

Raimondo signed 66 bills last week after the General Assembly wrapped up its 2018 lawmaking session and sent a stack of legislation to her desk.

The newly signed laws prohibit credit rating agencies from charging fees for a security freeze, re-configure the Coastal Resources Management Council and promote the use of non-regulated electricity suppliers.

The gender identity bill requires death certificates to list the deceased’s gender identity at death, rather than their gender at birth. It took effect immediately.

“This represents a critical victory for transgender and gender-nonconforming people in Rhode Island,” said Wendy Becker, a spokesperson for the LGBTQ Action RI advocacy group in a news release. “No one should have to live with the fear that their identity will be erased in death, whether by an unsupportive relative, or by someone involved in the funerary process who simply lacked appropriate guidance. This law will serve to protect transgender people in death just as our existing laws protect them in life.”

Food truck owners and promoters worked with the Raimondo administration to develop a streamlined statewide food truck permit.

Supporters of the bill said that under the current system, food truck proprietors have to get sign-offs from multiple state agencies and usually multiple municipalities before they can hit the road. The new state permit would provide a one-stop shop for food safety, fire safety, auto registration, insurance, proof of financial responsibility and sales tax permits. The bill takes effect in January.

State law already requires anyone 17 years old or younger to get permission from a parent to use a tanning salon, but the law signed by Raimondo makes it illegal for teens to go under the tanning lights even with a note.

The CMRC bill spells out who the governor can appoint to the 10-member board that oversees coastal development, something that was never done after the General Assembly was cut out of the process in the 2004 separation of powers amendment to the state Constitution.

At least five members of the CRMC must be officials from coastal communities.

Raimondo also signed a consumer electricity bill that could feature in the campaign for lieutenant governor this year.

Proposed by Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee, the bill would allow the Public Utilities Commission to order electric utility National Grid to buy power from “unregulated power producers” if it finds the rates being offered would save customers money.

“The bill enables the Division of Public Utilities & Carriers to create a program that reduces the barriers competitive electric supply companies face in entering Rhode Island’s energy market,” McKee said in a news release earlier this year. “Reducing the barriers enhances retail competition and improves access to low cost energy options for Rhode Island electric customers.”

But state Rep. J. Aaron Regunberg, who is challenging McKee in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, called the bill a profit guarantee for non-regulated producers, potentially leading to scams.

“While Massachusetts looks to ban this industry, Lt. Gov. McKee — in his first piece of legislation to pass both chambers of the General Assembly — instead called for ratepayers to backstop alternative suppliers’ profits, allowing bad actors to target those who can least afford their predatory practices,” Regunberg said in a news release. “I am committed to opposing these kinds of bad deals, and fighting for real utility reform that gets corporate greed out of our system.”

Other bills in the group signed last week extend a foreclosure mediation program, crack down on counterfeit airbags and allow newspaper delivery vehicles to use flashing lights on their routes.

Raimondo signed 74 bills in the last two weeks.

She has also let more than 100 become law without her signature. Although the vast majority of those bills are either local measures, permissions for non-clergy to officiate weddings or restorations of corporate charters, they also include legislation freeing political party conventions from approving a platform and new rules for prosecuting unregistered contractors.

According to the General Assembly website Sunday, another 126 bills are waiting on Raimondo’s desk.