Woonsocket Radio News Room

Senate adopts McKenney rule change to post committee testimony online

 

STATE HOUSE — The Senate today passed legislation introduced by Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick) adopting its rules for the 2025-26 session.

The resolution (2025-S 0594) requires the online posting of written testimony received by Senate committees, similar to the process for the House of Representatives and joint legislative committees.

“As leaders, it is essential we make the legislative process as open and transparent as possible. Rhode Islanders deserve easy access to public information, including written testimony on legislation, and I am grateful the Senate is poised to take this important step forward. It will benefit the public and our chamber as an institution,” said Senator McKenney, who chairs the Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight.

The part-time nature of the Senate committee clerks has prevented this practice in prior years. However, President of the Senate Dominick J. Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence) notes that he believes the increased transparency this change would provide for the public warrants the investment it will require. 

“Our Senate leadership team is proud to support Chairman McKenney’s rules resolution and the proposal to post committee testimony online. Responsibly balancing our available resources with the many demands on staff is always a challenge, but it is time to take this important step forward. Improving access to public testimony will strengthen the committee process, improve public transparency, and foster trust in government, all of which is essential to the work we do at the State House,” said President Ruggerio.                                                  

The government shutdown will continue. The Senate voted 50-43 on Monday against a House-passed resolution to reopen the government, marking the 11th failed attempt. Despite recent public pressure from nationwide "No Kings" rallies over the weekend, there is little indication of progress, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reaffirming that Democrats' position remains unchanged.        Amazon Web Services says its systems are mostly back to normal after technical issues impacted users worldwide. AWS, which is the leading provider of cloud computing services, experienced a major outage earlier today. The issues started overnight with Amazon Web Services, which provides the online infrastructure for scores of sites and services.        President Trump again said there will we be no U.S. troops in Gaza to help Israel. Trump was asked about the possibility after there have been deadly clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas. The clashes took place just days after both sides signed Phase One of Trump's peace plan.        Prosecutors are laying the groundwork to possibly disqualify former FBI Director James Comey's lead attorney. In a court filing late last night, prosecutors told a judge that Patrick Fitzgerald's alleged involvement in giving information to the media after Comey was fired by President Trump in 2017 could be a potential conflict. Comey's legal team accused prosecutors of looking to defame Fitzgerald by suggesting he may have been involved in criminal activity.        FIFA now says the U.S. government will have the final say if cities are safe enough to host World Cup matches. This comes after President Trump once again said last week that he would look into moving matches out of cities like Boston if he felt there were unsafe conditions. Soccer's governing body said, "Safety and security are obviously the governments' responsibility and they decide what is in the best interest for public safety."        The NBA tips off with a doubleheader on Tuesday. Kevin Durant dons Rocket red for the first time in a game of consequence when Houston tries to spoil the defending champion Thunder's banner-raising party in Oklahoma City. The nightcap features a Golden State showdown between Luka Doncic [[ DON-chitch ]] and the Lakers against Steph Curry's Warriors from Los Angeles.       

Old News Archives