RI General Assembly Calls it a Session

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Gambling, wind energy, pension reform and education aid dominated the agenda of the Rhode Island General Assembly this year, as lawmakers scrambled for ways to find extra revenue and cut costs.

Lawmakers wrapped up business early Friday.

In the frenetic final hours of the session, lawmakers approved a voter referendum on converting the state's licensed slot parlors into full-scale casinos and passed what they said was a predictable funding formula for school aid.

They also revived the prospects of a proposed wind farm off the coast of Block Island.

Among the measures that failed was one that would have asked voters to restore the state Ethics Commission's power to investigate and fine state lawmakers for their votes at the Statehouse, and one to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.
      
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