Suicide prevention bill signed into law

In 2018, the Be Great For Nate non-profit organization was born from a group of high school students in Portsmouth after the suicide of 15-year-old Nathan Bruno. He had no history of mental illness and did not appear to be at risk of taking his own life.

After Bruno’s death, Be Great For Nate and the Every Student Initiative set a course for change and to help combat a growing problem.

Nathan’s dad, Rick Bruno teamed up with Steven Peterson to lead and mold the non-profit, and The Every Student Initiative quickly became the first program of Be Great For Nate.

The Every Student Initiative focused on practical ways to help students with mental health challenges and tactics and programs for the educators to support them.

The legislation is modeled around a law in place in several other states after a 16-year-old from Nashville, Jason Flatt, took his own life.

The act would require teachers, students, and all school personnel to be trained on suicide awareness and prevention, and also establish a conflict resolution process between faculty and the student body.

It was passed and signed by Gov. Dan McKee in early 2021. The bill had the support of Rep. Terri Cortvriend, Sen. James Seveney, and Sen. Dawn Euer, who were also in attendance and spoke at the gala.

Senate approves Euer bill to designate environmental justice areas

The Senate today approved legislation sponsored by Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Dawn Euer to require the Division of Statewide Planning to designate population-based environmental justice focus areas throughout the state that would have extra protection from new proposals that would create additional adverse environmental impacts.

The purpose of the bill is to protect neighborhoods — particularly those with lower incomes, more minorities and more people for whom English is not the primary language — from bearing outsized shares of the burden of pollution and environmental hazards from infrastructure and development.

“Far too often, neighborhoods that are already suffering more than their share of pollution-producing infrastructure are targeted with proposals for more of them. Often it’s the poorest neighborhoods, partly because people with more means don’t want to live in such areas, and partly because such neighborhoods are often viewed as having less ability to fight back against environmental hazards proposed in them,” said Chairwoman Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown) in a statement. “That’s environmental injustice, and our state needs to take deliberate action to prevent it. No one deserves to have their neighborhood serve as a dumping ground for multiple pollution-producing facilities, potentially explosive storage facilities and hazardous chemicals.”

Guest View – Rep. Carson, Sen. Euer: Short-term rental safety must be addressed

Summer is upon us, and with the increased vaccination rate making tourism possible now, places like our district in Newport are pleased and relieved to welcome visitors again.

As the tourism industry tries to recover from the devastation impacts of a lost year, our state must get back to work on unresolved issues concerning short-term rentals offered by third-party hosting platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO.

We’ve been working in the General Assembly on several efforts to address their regulation and taxation, and we cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road in the unique challenges faced this tourism season. We’ve already experienced one tragedy this summer – the murder of a URI student at a party held at a short-term rental on Thames Street in Newport on Memorial Day weekend.

Without any interaction between the landlord and the renter who secures the property through the third-party platform, there is little vetting of renters, and rarely any management or other means available to discourage renters from using properties for out-of-control gatherings. The anonymity fostered by the third-party platforms reduces the sense of responsibility between renters and property owners, and complicates local efforts to maintain public safety and peace in the residential areas where they are located.

Senate approves Senator Euer’s bill to remove spousal exemption from rape law

The Senate today approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Dawn Euer to allow criminal charges to be brought when a person is raped by their spouse while the victim is incapacitated.

State law includes an exemption for spouses in the part of state’s first-degree sexual assault law that addresses situations when the victim is incapacitated, disabled or helpless. The bill (2021-S 0834) approved by the Senate today would eliminate that exemption.

“Consent always matters. A person who cannot consent because they are unconscious, drugged or disabled deserves to be protected from anyone who would abuse them in that state, spouse or not. That’s rape no matter who you are, and refusing to recognize it as such is leaving victims subject to repeated abuse. Our state must bring this ancient law into the 21st century and recognize that consent is every person’s inalienable right,” said Senator Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown) in a statement.

Lawmakers want changes at CRMC

Jamestown’s state senator is co-sponsoring a bill that would create the position of executive director for the Coastal Resources Management Council.

Although Jeffrey Willis currently serves in that role, the post is confirmed by the agency’s 10-member board. The legislation by Sen. Dawn Euer would make the position a gubernatorial appointee “with the advice and consent of the Senate.”

Sen. Susan Sosnowski, who represents South Kingstown, introduced the bill to make the council “a cabinet-level agency.”

“This is a positive step needed to modernize, update and reform the agency to achieve more accountability and transparency for an agency that performs vitally important functions that are critical to the future of Rhode Island’s environment and economy,” she said.

Legislators introduce bill to ban new waste incineration facilities

STATEHOUSE – Sen. Bridget Valverde and Rep. Justine Caldwell introduced joint legislation last week which would prohibit new, high-heat waste incineration facilities in Rhode Island.

The bill comes on the heels of outcry and concern from their local constituents, who in large part, have come out in strong opposition against a proposed medical waste facility on the border of East Greenwich and West Warwick. 
In the Senate, legislation sponsors include Senate Committee on Environment & Agriculture Chairwoman Dawn Euer, Vice Chairwoman Alana DiMario, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Chairman Joshua Miller, Sen. Kendra Anderson and Sen. Leonidas P. Raptakis – who represents Coventry, East Greenwich and West Greenwich – along with several others.

Lawmaker renews call to double the membership of RI's Health Services Council

A bill introduced by state Sen. Dawn Euer (D-Newport) would double the membership of a state advisory group known as the Health Services Council.

Euer said she’s introduced a similar proposal before and that it was sparked by concerns related to the closing of Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket in 2018.

“I first introduced this bill in 2018 to restore the strength and intent of the Hospital Conversions Act, which was established to protect patients and frontline health workers,” she said. “This law has been dangerously eroded in recent years and S493 prioritizes accountability for those who seek control of our healthcare delivery. Healthcare is a calling, and we must honor that.

Bag ban, other bills aimed at plastic pollution advance in RI legislature

PROVIDENCE — Efforts to curb trash pollution are moving forward in Rhode Island, with bills taking aim at balloons, plastic bags and plastic straws winning key approvals in the House and Senate on Tuesday. 

The Senate passed statewide bans on single-use plastic bags and plastic straws while the House approved legislation prohibiting the release of groups of balloons inflated with helium or other gases that are lighter than air. All three measures have companion bills that are awaiting committee votes. 

Of the three pieces of legislation, the most high-profile is the plastic bag ban, which has been proposed in every session of the General Assembly since 2013. In the years since, bag bans have been enacted in eight states, including three in New England, while more than a dozen cities and towns in Rhode Island have enacted local ordinances that affect half the population of the state.  

Sen. Euer, Rep. Carson among Clean Water Action’s 2021 Environmental Champions

Today, Clean Water Action is pleased to name Priscilla De La Cruz, Erika Niedowski, Senator Dawn Euer, RI House Majority Leader Chris Blazejewski, and Representative Lauren Carson as their 2021 Environmental Champions. Additionally, Representative Lauren Carson is this year’s recipient of the David R. Gerraughty Award for Lifetime Commitment to the Environment. They will be honored during the 19th Annual Breakfast of Champions, held virtually this year on Friday, May 14th, 2021 at 10:00 am.

Each year since 2003, Clean Water Action has recognized Rhode Islanders that have contributed to the protection and stewardship of the state’s natural resources and public health or have led efforts to enact policies that preserve the environment and fight the climate crisis.