Municipal Leaders Announce Priorities for 2024 Assembly Session, Legislative Scorecard

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns (The League) released its priorities for the 2024 Legislative Session and in the FY2025 State budget today. The League also announced that it will issue a legislative scorecard for each member of the Assembly in August, at the conclusion of the 2024 session.

“The League of Cities and Towns looks forward to working with the Assembly to address issues and understand the true impacts of legislation on the people who live in each community and pay taxes there,” said North Providence Mayor and League President Charles Lombardi. “This year, we are committed to working together to achieve our mutual goals of protecting taxpayers, supporting businesses and operating with fiscal responsibility.”

Rhode Islanders currently experience the eighth highest property tax burden in the country, Lombardi added.

This year’s priorities were announced in the League’s Legislative Priorities booklet, which was mailed to every member of the Assembly. The priorities include:

·       Housing and land use issues;

·       Funding for transportation, infrastructure and resiliency;

·       Education aid;

·       Improving quality of life and streamlining services;

·       Workforce management;

·       Property tax relief; and

·       Fiscal restraint and financial success.

“The priorities described in the booklet were established by a survey of all 39 municipalities and are supported by the League’s Executive Board of Directors,” said Ernie Almonte, Executive Director of the R.I. League of Cities and Towns.  “As we have done in the past, we will work collaboratively with municipal leaders to convey the potential impact of legislation to the Assembly through testimony and direct outreach.”

In a follow up letter to each legislator Almonte provided details of the League’s approach to its 2024 legislative scorecard.

“In recent years, the General Assembly has passed new mandates that have made it increasingly difficult for elected and appointed municipal leaders to manage their workforce and their budgets,” he wrote. “Following the session, The League will issue a public scorecard tracking legislators’ key votes in the General Assembly on legislation affecting cities and towns. We will communicate with you regularly, and with the voters, via traditional and social media, to highlight what specific legislation is a priority for the League.”

The scorecards and analysis will be released in August, Almonte sai