DISMISSAL FILED IN JCLS SUIT

STATE HOUSE – Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio and House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale announce that a Stipulation of Dismissal has been filed today in the Superior Court dismissing all claims in the matter of Filippi v. Mattiello et al.

The suit was originally filed in 2020 by former House Minority Leader Blake Filippi against former Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, who was chairman of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (JCLS) at the time. In the suit, Filippi also made claims against all of the other members of JCLS.

Now that the litigation has concluded, Speaker Shekarchi, current chairman of JCLS, has affirmed his long-standing pledge to hold and participate in quarterly public meetings of JCLS, which functions as the administrative arm of the General Assembly.

When he was nominated as Speaker by the House Democratic Caucus in November 2020, Shekarchi made a pledge to hold public meetings of JCLS. However, on the advice of counsel, he held off on that plan while the unusual lawsuit was pending.

“I look forward to the commencement of the work of the committee with the common goal of efficient management of the General Assembly on behalf of every Rhode Island taxpayer,” said Speaker Shekarchi.

“The Senate has long held that the Joint Committee on Legislative Services should meet on a regular basis and vote on matters before us. Now that the suit is behind us, I expect that regular meetings of the committee will commence,” said President Ruggerio.

“As we move forward with transparency in this process, Rhode Islanders can be assured that the day-to-day operations of the General Assembly will be executed responsibly and in a public forum,” added Minority Leader Chippendale.