Standoff at State House leaves a lot of legislation in limbo

The fate of several high-profile bills was thrown up in the air Friday when cooperation between the House and Senate derailed over the state budget and proposed changes to House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello’s plan to cut car taxes.

Topping the list of bills in limbo were long-running efforts to guarantee paid sick days for most workers in the state and to take guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.

In both cases, the House and Senate have passed different legislation, and only a return by one chamber to accept the other’s language would allow them to become law.

Responding to pleas from the business community, the House passed a version of the sick-days bill Thursday night that expanded an exemption for businesses with 10 or fewer employees to include businesses with 17 or fewer employees. It also phased in the sick-days mandate over three years instead of the two years that was in the prior version of the bill.

Read more: http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170630/standoff-at-state-house-leaves-lot-of-legislation-in-limbo