The state Senate approved legislation last Tuesday to amend a new reporting requirement on alcohol sales in the state. The bill was introduced by Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry) and now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. Raptakis represents part of western East Greenwich as well as part of West Greenwich. Raptakis decried the reporting requirement – which was passed last session. He said restaurant and bar owners received notification from the Division of Taxation early in January that they had until Feb. 1 to provide this new report, a detailed two-page …

One month into the General Assembly's 2013 session, things haven't changed very much from this point two years ago, according to Sen. Dawson Hodgson (R-Dist. 35).  "We’re about a month in, we’ve only had one or two calendars since inauguration day," Hodgson said, referring to days in which there's formal action on a bill. "This is the time of year when we show up and there’s no bill pending, there’s no votes ... on state business." Hodgson said inaction on same-sex marriage is one reason for the Senate's seeming "lack of urgency." "Whether you support same sex marriage or oppose it … these …

Now that the state House of Representatives has passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage, the question has become when will the Senate Judiciary Committee – on which Sen. Lou Raptakis (D-Dist. 33, Coventry) serves – take it up.  Raptakis, of Coventry, represents a small portion of East Greenwich. He has said he is against same-sex marraige. On Sunday he said it's up to the head of the committee, Sen. Michael McCaffrey (D-Dist. 29, Warwick), to decide when to take up the bill. When asked if he thought the Senate should act quickly, he said, "Why did the Speaker of the House push it through now…

EG Patch asked our state legislators what they thought of Gov. Lincoln Chafee's 2013 budget, presented on Jan. 16. Here are their responses: Rep. Anthony Giarrusso, R-Dist. 30: I haven't seen the nuts and bolts of Governor Chaffee's budget but I was inspired with what I heard and left the House Chamber with optimism. I was thrilled to hear that there were no proposals of tax or fee increases. I like the commitment to cut corporate income taxes and property taxes to make us more business friendly. I like his commitment to the increase in state aid for the school funding formula. I also like …

The first full week of the legislative session is over and committee assignments have been doled out. Not surprisingly, none of the three legislators representing East Greenwich have committee leadership positions. In the heavily Democratic General Assembly, two EG legislators are Republicans. The Democrat, while not without GA experience, is returning after a two-year break.EG’s senior legislator, Sen. Dawson Hodgson (R-Dist. 35), has retained spots on the judiciary and labor committees and picked up a place on the oversight committee. He is also on the Joint Committee on Economic …