Opinion/Gorbea: The Let RI Vote Act keeps us moving forward Nellie M. Gorbea © Sandor Bodo, The Providence Journal At a time when we see states working to restrict voting options for their citizens, Rhode Island must continue to be a leader in voting access.
Nellie M. Gorbea is secretary of state of Rhode Island.
A chief tenet of my administration has been to increase civic participation and make government more accessible and accountable to the people it serves. I firmly believe that the primary way citizens hold their government accountable is through elections. That is why I strongly support the Let Rhode Island Vote Act.
Opinion/Gorbea: The Let RI Vote Act keeps us moving forward
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New push to expand early voting meets GOP pushback
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UpdatedTue, Mar 2, 2021 at 4:55 pm ET
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Any penalties collected from utility companies as a result of the bill would be paid back to customers. (Shutterstock)
PROVIDENCE, RI A Rhode Island lawmaker is calling for utility companies to be held accountable for storm related outages and restoration.
House Majority Whip Katherine Kazarian s bill would give the state s Public Utilities Commission and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers emergency powers during weather-related outages, allowing them input on operations until power is restored, should it be deemed necessary. As I have referenced before, East Providence, the community I represent, has had five power outages over the last year while communities over the border like Seekonk are able to keep the lights on for their ratepayers, Kazarian said. Something clearly is not working and the ratepayers of Rhode Island deserve far better service when one considers the high amounts of money that we all pay for our u
RI Senate votes to exit marriage business
PROVIDENCE Rhode Island Senators voted Tuesday to exit the marriage solemnization business.
State law allows a long list of people to perform marriages from clergy members and state judges to town wardens on Block Island, but a special law must be passed to allow anyone else to perform a wedding.
A favorite uncle. A friend. An out-of-state judge. The occasional legislator. Among the special officiants requested this year: Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin and former Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian.
Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey and House Majority Whip Katherine Kazarian both introduced bills to get lawmakers out of the decision-making, and not for the first time. But this year, the drive appears to be picking up steam.