Issue Position: Economic Development/Business

Issue Position

The Assembly passed a central component of the Senate's "Rhode To Work" legislative action plan, repositioning and empowering the Governor's Workforce Board to administer and coordinate all workforce development in the state. The new Workforce Board replaces the Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council and will be charged with breaking down barriers, bottlenecks and other challenges to provide a unified, cohesive and responsive training system.

Legislators gave final passage to legislation that would stop the state from taking a 10 percent cut from the employer-paid Job Development Fund, or JDF. The JDF, which provides money for workforce training, is subject to a 10 percent indirect cost recovery charge that most of the state's restricted receipt accounts pay to the general fund. The initiative is part of the Senate's "Rhode To Work" legislative package and is featured in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget.

Lawmakers passed a regulatory reform bill that amends the process for submission of economic impact statements, eliminates a number of exclusions in the existing statute and improves the procedure for adoption of proposed regulations. The Assembly also approved another bill synchronizing the Office of Regulatory Reform's upcoming regulatory reviews with the Secretary of State's re-file process.

Lawmakers extended the expiration of a program to provide child-care to low-income parents while they participate in training and work-readiness programs.

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